My Journey Day 3...

 first of all I must say I'm not sure if this will all fit in a message , I've got a lot to say. On that note this third and fourth week of May I will be hanging out in San Antonio Texas catching up on inventory catching up with my cousin and her family. I'm hoping I can talk her into making a few bandanas while I actually create a real blog page. So that being said I left Lexington Nebraska yesterday morning at 8:30 a.m. It was chilly and I had many layers of clothes on. I left early because I knew I had a long day ahead of me and I had a lot of miles to make up because of dumping my bike yesterday and because it took me forever to drive with those winds. I was stopping every hour to get gas which reminded me of what my father says about is Jack Daniels bottle he doesn't know how but it just seems to evaporate out of the bottle lol. I felt the same way about my gas tank. I was thankful that it was not windy when I left because my right shoulder and arm what are very sore. As I rode down the highway I started thinking about it being Easter and how my whole family was together celebrating on this day. I noticed for about an hour and a half there weren't many cars on the road it all not even semis which I found very odd. I just figured they were all having the Easter dinner. At that point I became a little teary eyed because I miss my family already and I'm not sure when the next time is that I will see them. I knew I was probably at the dinner table in spirit though so that helped. I thought about how wonderful my family was and how they truly helped me get through these last two months. It was a difficult time for me but my family was there to support me which made me very appreciative. After I had that little sentimental moment I stopped for gas, called my mom and told her I had about 742 miles to go until I reached Denver! I was thinking what the heck, I thought id through Colorado today not just getting to the middle of it. So I hung up with my mom and once again I hit the road. About 10 miles down the road I saw a sign that said Denver 186 miles. I thought WT?!?! Then I realized I must have misread my new fancy schmancy GPS and the 742 miles must be the total miles to Laughlin. So that made me feel better. 3 hours later I stopped at the Shell station near Denver to have my Easter ham which was a lunchable on the backseat of my bike at a truck stop. I was noticing the snowcapped mountains and how beautiful they were how thankful I was that I wasn't going to be riding through them, but could see them from afar. Well... I was wrong about that! I noticed some people going by on bikes and they were wearing tank tops and I looked at my outfit of choice and I was sporting two hooded sweatshirts, leather coat, jeans, chaps, face mask and gloves. So I thought what the heck I'll take off the chaps, 1 sweatshirt, my face mask and my gloves and I will enjoy this 77 degree day. I enjoyed it for a whole 10 minutes because 10 minutes later I was heading up the mountains and it was getting cold in 20 minutes after that I was pulled over on the side of the road putting back on my chaps, my second sweatshirt, and gloves, and yes... My face mask. 10 minutes after that I was pulled over again putting on my rain gear because it was now its snowing and raining. I must admit at this time I was freaking out a bit. I thought what the hell?! I had checked the weather forecast many times, however I'd checked for Denver not for an elevation of 12,000 feet which was currently where I was and by listening to my weather band I could now here there was snow and rain mix forecasted for anything over 10,000 feet. Oh yeah that's me... Pulling a trailer on two wheels through the mountains to snow and rain. Not my idea of a good time. It took me about 2 hours to go 50 miles at 30 miles per hour with my flashers on up and down 6 and 8 percent mountain grades. Today I rode through Aspen, veil, Silverthorne, and the Copperhead Mountain Ski ranges. It was absolutely gorgeous riding and seeing all of the snow covered mountains surrounding me but it was also tough on my nerves. I saw a sign that said turn here where you could go see the mountain sheep or horned rams from you in station and I thought darn it I wish I had time for that. Then 20 minutes later while it was raining I could see in the distance what looked like to statues of horned Rams standing on the shoulder of the road they were blending in with the rocks behind them so it was hard to see but I thought how cool is that? As I approach them traffic was heavy and I as I turned to look at them as I passed them they turned and looked at me!!! That's when I had my HOLY SHIT OH MY GOSHHHH THEY ARE REAL MOMENT!! I just drove by 2 horned mountain Rams that were 5 feet from me. Crazy!
 
So after my cool experience with the wild Mountain horned Rams I eased on down the mountain into the ski town of Silverthorne. I got gas and called my mom and dad and told him about that part of the journey. I wasactually shaking from the adrenaline of coming down the mountain at 30 miles an hour in the rain and the snow I was definitely white knuckling it all the way down. The whole time I was thinking why did I go this way, why did I go this way? Lol anyway I asked the guy at the gas station how far it was until I was out of the mountains he told me once I hit Aspen I should be heading down he said that was about 38 miles. That 38 miles took me about an hour and a half of going through a torrential rainstorm which you will see pictures of that I came through. I took pictures of the storm behind me with Rocco in the picture and the rainbow coming down over the mountains. The whole time I was driving through the mountains I kept thinking of my parents friend Dale curtain who is an exceptional photographer. I thought oh my gosh I would love to see the pictures he could take here. Then I thought poor LeeAnn, his wife, she would never get him out of here. Lol during this time I passed a town in Colorado appropriately named "No Name". This made me think of a town in Missouri called "Protem". Two families in Missouri one of the town named after their families and they went to court to try to get it settled. When doing this it is called Protem it took so long for the courts to decide which family name the time would be named after that everybody got so used to calling the town Protem that is stuck. So neither family one lol anyway I'm now down the mountain entering a town called gypsum which makes me think of my brother in law who works for Tamarac. Gypsum is another name for sheetrock for drywall. As I pull into the gas station I start a conversation with the attendant and he tells me this is the gypsum capital of the world and this is where sheetrock is made. I hate a lot of the gas stations when you're traveling because when you put your credit card in to get gas they make you see the attendant can you have to tell them how much gas you want. Well I have no idea! So I told him $13 and of course it was less than that so I had to go back in again, this was my third time back into the store I told him I felt like we are family by now he laughed. I told him about the snow storm the rain storm in the wild Rams that I had just seen. He told me and I quote "you haven't seen nothing yet. You're going to see some COOOOOOOOL shit now". He also said I'd probably see a lot more Rams which I thought, oh boy I'm not going to tell my mother yet because it's dusk she'll freak out if there are wild Rams roaming around the road and I'm on a motorcycle. Lol anyway... That's only did not lie. I saw some COOOOOOOL SHIT!!! Oh my gosh it was the most beautiful Canyon I have ever ridden through. If you have ridden needles highway in sturgis this is 100 times more beautiful. The canyon walls are so majestic, colorful and peppered with pine trees and a little bit of snow on top. Most of the road is elevated on pillers and at times you get a peek at the river running through the bottom it takes you through many tunnels through the mountains and it was breathtaking. So it is a must that you put 70 West on your motorcycle roads to travel list from Denver to Grand Junction Colorado which is where I am leaving from today. Okay that sums up yesterday. These last pictures are of the scenery from my hotel last night. I'm on the road to Laughlin within the hour have a great day. Michelle