Day 11

Buena Vista, Colorado, to Westminster, Colorado

135 miles

2501 total miles

Both of your earnest motorcyclists were looking forward to weekend visits by our spouses. Bill's wife Laurel and Bo's wife Fifi were scheduled to fly into Denver and spend a couple of days with us visiting Estes Park and other Denver area attractions. Unfortunately, Fifi developed a respiratory ailment inherited from their teenagers and was unable to make the trip.

So, when we left Buena Vista, Bill was determined to make it to Denver. Domestic tranquility demanded as much. The problem, however, was one we've talked about over and over again: the weather.

Our journey to Denver took us back over some of yesterday's route, including Kenosha Pass. We left Buena Vista in 50 degree, rainy conditions. By the time we reached Kenosha Pass, the temperature had dropped to 40 degrees and the rain continued to fall. The conditions were miserable, to say the least. At one point the rain briefly turned into light snow, but since the roads were still well above freezing it presented no traction problems. Once over Kenosha Pass we stopped at yet another c-store and downed yet another cup of stale coffee.

We arrived in the Denver area just as we began smelling burning oil from Bill's bike. As luck would have it, we turned a corner and there was Foothills BMW Motorcycles, the nation's third largest BMW Motorcycle dealer. A quick visit with the service manager assured us that Bill's bike was OK. Apparently going rapidly up and down in altitude can cause this to happen. After that free information we proceeded to drop a few dollars on various toys for our bikes.

We then drove on to Westminster, a small Denver suburb.

We are now at the Westin Westminster. Laurel arrived at six o'clock. Bo then faced a dilemma. For 11 days he had grown accustomed to two wheels. Then, in a matter of minutes, he became a third wheel. After visiting with our new arrival for a few minutes, he bid the couple goodbye and disappeared into Room 627, for an evening of college football and room service.

Tomorrow we plan to tour Estes Park. The weather, by the way, promises to be excellent.

As this trip journal has developed we have generally divided the duties. Bo does most of the writing and Bill serves as the photo editor. Note that today's report has no photos.