To Grand Junction

Now I know why the guys I met at Border in 2009,  recommended I went to Moab after Green River. When they said i70 was dull they weren't exaggerating. Windy again, hot and boring.

The section to Green River is as good as I remember it. Great sweeping curves through the canyons of the San Raphael Swell were fantastic. Stopped again at the viewpoint to take a picture of the birthday boy.

Not a good day for Rachael. Too much wind, too many trucks, too many roadworks, and too long without anything interesting to do.

Stopped tonight somewhere there is a decent hotel and real restaurants. So it's off to a steakhouse to celebrate Marks birthday. Dropped into the Harley dealer to buy some new boots. Very sad to see the old ones go but they had a damned great hole in the side caused by the 2009 crash. I didn't know until a couple of weeks before the trip. The ones I ordered from the web turned out to be fakes they went straight back. So I set out with gaffer tape covering the hole but it was peeling off today which meant new ones (oh dear, what a pity! And it's not even my birthday).

Grand Junction is at the junction of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers. The Colorado used to be called the Grand before it was renamed. Thus the full city name. A few weeks ago I picked up a second hand copy of a book published in 1965, one hundred years after the first run down the Grand all the way from the Green River and through the Grand Canyon. The book is the diary written by the explorer and supplemented by 12 x 9 inch photographs taken of many of the places written about. Amazing what you can pick up for £2 at Powis Castle....

Over to Rachael....

So on my c.v somewhere it says I like a challenge. This needs to be removed as I clearly don't. Have spent most of the day thinking about tornado valley and traffic and wind and how all of those things can equal disaster. A massive melt down was had. Breakfast was good though!!

I am loving the scenery the company and the bits not on the bike but this is much tougher than I ever anticipated!!! The boots were a consolation for mike because at the time of him purchasing them my main thought was on where one can fly to from Grand Junction and how odd I would look going through an airport carrying a crash helmet and whether it goes in the hold or is hand luggage!!!

Mike as ever was brilliant during my melt down and now that I have been quite clear that I must make it back home in one piece and we have discussed ways for me to get a grip, it's on with the show. I would hire a car but I don't understand American road systems enough so as they say in for a penny in for a pound and tomorrow is another day!