August 5: Feeling at Home in Colorado
Ever since I started touring this great country by bike in 2015, I fell in love with Colorado’s beautiful colors, friendly people, and wonderful roads. So, as I passed through Texas and New Mexico on my way to Durango today, I felt a palpable sense of excitement as the earth started to turn a brighter shade of red and I began to see the wonderful plateaus and mesas that herald the arrival of the southwest.
Today was the third day of a three-day push of over 1,700 miles from Black Mountain, North Carolina to the Durango Harley Davidson dealership for a service appointment before they close for the weekend. Since time was limited, my focus was on enjoying the scenery around me as I headed west rather than taking side trips to explore.
Today’s ride was blessedly comfortable compared to the previous two days. The morning heat was not too intense and by the afternoon I was far enough west that the humidity had dropped. It is indeed so true that a dry heat is much more manageable.
They call New Mexico the “Land of Enchantment” and I can see why. As I approached Albuquerque, I noticed the beautiful striations in the hills, plateaus, and mesas around me – delightful shades of pink, orange, red, and brown sediment punctuated by bursts of green shrubs and trees. The vistas became more far-reaching, and I could see the beautiful scenery for miles in every direction.
Then as I headed north into Colorado, the road gained in elevation, and I passed over the Continental divide with an elevation higher than 7,000 feet. I felt Colorado beckoning to me with it’s inviting roads winding around the bases of so many different mesas and plateaus bursting with so many beautiful colors.
I treated myself to dinner at 636 Main Avenue as I so much enjoyed my dinner there last year. My steak was cooked to perfection and accompanied by gorgonzola butter, sauteed spinach, and a potato lasagna. I felt like a kid in a candy shop when the waitress who remembered me from last year gave me extra balsamic honey glaze and a cabernet-thyme sauce to dip my steak in.
The Creme Brule I got for dessert was probably the best I’ve ever had – the crust was extra thick and almost had a char to it, the custard itself was much creamier than typical, and there were fresh strawberries inside the custard as well as on top.
The other customers around me were so impressed with the dinner and desert that they ordered the same thing. We ended up having a great conversation and all stayed late to talk. What a great end to the day!
