Previously…..
This is day 3 of a 4 day trip from my home outside of Houston, TX to Colorado and back. Here are the links to the rest of the series. Day 1, Day 2, Day 4
If you read the “Day 2” entry in this series, you know that I had holed up for the night at the Days Inn in Trinidad, Colorado, hiding from a flash flood. I hoped that the rain would have passed by when I got up Sunday morning, but no such luck. When I got up, it was somewhere between a heavy mist and light drizzling rain.
Pueblo bound!
My next stop was Pueblo, for no reason other than I had heard the name over and over and wanted to see what the place looked like! A quick look at the weather radar showed that I could escape the hard rain if I headed out pronto. I grabbed a quick cup of coffee, checked out, and saddled up!
As long as I have been riding, I’m almost embarrassed to say that I never really used “rain gear” before this trip. Back when I had my RoadKing, I had my leather jacket (of course) and leather chaps, but that was mainly for cold and secondarily for rain. I bought a set of Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite rain gear for this trip. It was impressive how well the set worked! I wasn’t bone dry, but I rode for an hour and a half in steady rain, and the only parts that were wet were the edges of coverage. (Cuff of the jacket, hem of pants, and my neck/collar area.)
The first 10-15 minutes, I felt a little awkward with the unfamiliar gear, but I was happy to have even the torture helmet. After that, I settled in and thought, wow – this is not bad at all! Of course, you look like you are wearing grey hefty bags with that basic set, but I’m old enough to desire comfort more than looking tough.
When I got to Pueblo, I had left the rain behind, and the day was looking up! I explored Pueblo’s downtown looking for a good brunch place to have a bloody mary and some food. Sadly, most places didn’t seem to open up for at least another hour. Considering I was a day behind schedule, I needed to make some choices concerning destinations.
The “Original” Plan
Originally I had planned on making Trinidad late Friday night, not Saturday night as I did. Then I intended to ride to Pueblo and cut over on US Hwy 50 to Montrose, then ride Spur 550, aka “The Million Dollar Highway,” to Durango on Saturday. That would have left Sunday and Monday to make it home via Albuquerque and Lubbock. Good plan, huh? Too bad there was no way to pull that off sitting in Pueblo at 11 am Sunday. Too many detours, unplanned stops, etc. Good thing I gave myself permission to just wander around this trip!
An email I received while riding also changed my plans a bit. Frontier installed a new fiber optic line at my employer’s new Dallas branch office. It made zero sense to ride through DFW to get home Monday and then turn around and drive right back on Tuesday. I decided to stop in DFW Monday, work Tuesday and then head home.
Sealing the deal was the ugly rainstorms hanging around the Montrose area. I had reasonable confidence in riding in the rain. However – riding a two-lane mountain road with no guardrails in the pouring rain with flash flood warnings just sounded dumb!
Alrighty then – NEW PLAN!
New Plan!
I charted a ride up US 50 to Penrose, then Colorado 115 past Cheyenne Mountain into Colorado Springs. It was a nice scenic ride off of the interstate, and an hour and a half later, I was pulling into the ‘Springs,’ as the locals say. The weather was a nice range of the mid-’70s to mid-’80s depending on elevation, big white fluffy clouds, and sun. PERFECT.
Once I got into Colorado Springs, I was in serious need of something to eat! A quick stop for fuel and a look at the Google list, I headed off to Phantom Canyon Brewery downtown.
Colorado Springs
I really like Colorado Springs, even though I’ve only spent a few hours there. It doesn’t feel like it’s a city of over 400,000. It has kind of a college town vibe, at least downtown does. Based on my 45 seconds of research, I went to Phantom Canyon Brewery for a late lunch. Good choice! At 1:30 on a Sunday, they were that pleasant three-quarter full that tells you they are good enough to be popular but not insanely busy.
I found a seat at the bar, and after a brief consultation with the bartender, ordered an Alpenglow – a Hefeweizen brewed in-house. It’s a wheat beer similar to Blue Moon but unfiltered, so the flavor is a bit bolder. VERY tasty! Of course, to accompany a good beer, one needs a shot of the local whiskey, right? Another consultation with Mr. Bartender netted me a glass of Axe and The Oak’s Colorado Mountain Bourbon. Quite nice, smooth, and velvety. Just what I needed to fortify my journey. I had a light lunch of appetizers and plotted my next move. By now, it’s after 2 on Sunday afternoon. Amarillo is about a 6-hour ride from here, so that’s my next destination.
Back to Texas
The ride back to Amarillo was relatively uneventful. I was basically retracing my steps once I got to Pueblo. I did note that it’s a much nicer ride without all the rain and flash flood nonsense! It was a pleasantly partly cloudy day, not too hot, not too cold. At least until I dropped out of the higher elevations. I stopped to send a Snapchat to the family when I crossed back into Texas, and the heat was rising again. No problem! Strip off the jacket and back to t-shirt weather!
By the time I hit Amarillo, it was around 9 pm. I checked into the Hilton Garden Inn, unpacked my gear, and set off in search of sustenance. I asked the guy at the front desk if there was a good local place with food and whiskey. He immediately offered directions to a place just down the road.
Amarillo night life
When I walked into the Texas Firehouse, I noticed all the signs of a bar closing down. If you’ve ever walked in a bar at last call, you know the vibe. Customers are in various stages of finishing up their drinks, and the staff is hustling around cleaning and closing tabs, etc.
I grab a barstool and ask the bartender if I’m too late for a quick drink and a bite. He tells me they are about to do last call, and the kitchen is closed. So I order a beer and a shot and start thinking about other options at 10 pm on a Sunday. I rolled the dice once more and asked the bartender if he knew of anything else open nearby. Win! He said that all of them went down the road to J’s Bar and Grill after work. He warned me that this late on a Sunday, the only thing available might be pizza. That earned him a puzzled look, but ok, I’m game. I paid my tab and headed to J’s.
Walking in, I could see that this place wasn’t closing soon or even slowing down! There wasn’t an open spot at the bar, so I grabbed a table within sight of the bar and all of the TVs. I flagged down a waitress and discovered that the kitchen just closed, but I could order a pizza. Ok, I needed clarification on that. If the kitchen is closed, where’s the pizza coming from? It turns out that they have an agreement with Arnie’s Pizza Place next door!
With food and drink ordered, I sat back to people watch. It can get interesting this late when you are the soberest customer in the place. The guy at the bar, who I swore was asleep, but raised his head and spoke whenever someone spoke to him. The girl who was blessed with good friends that hilariously but successfully steered her out the door. They narrowly avoided knocking over some tables, but they made it!
The beer was cold, the pizza was ok, and the service was good. I usually sit at the bar when I’m alone, so at least I can chat with the bartender if they aren’t too busy. Sitting at a table starts to get boring after a while. So I finished my food and a couple of beers, then made my way back to the hotel for a shower and soft bed.
Stay Tuned!
There will be one more day to this series! That one will be shorter because it’s just as boring to write ” it was hot as hell and nothing happened” as it is to read.