America the Beautiful – By Scott High

OUR ADVENTURE OUT WEST

By Scott High

For this month’s installment of America the Beautiful we decided to write about the trip we took in August/September and share the photos we took along the way. For me, there is no better way to see this big, beautiful country of ours than from the back of a motorcycle. Our good friends Ron and Sandy Giddis from Smoky Mountain Thunder met at our house, and the next morning we headed for the Grand Canyon. Denise had to stay behind for the first part of the trip to finish some magazine business and fly out to meet us later. So, 3 of us on 3 bikes made it to Sallisaw OK the first day. The first 3 days were mostly making time on the interstate to get out west because we only had 15 days to ride and sightsee.

The next day we rode to Tucumcari NM and stayed in a very cool restored 1950’s era Route 66 Motel called the Motel Safari, and the owner is from Knoxville. Day 3 we stopped in Winslow AZ, once again we found another restored Route 66 Motel called Earl’s 66 Motel. Before we left for the Grand Canyon, we were standing on

a corner in Winslow AZ. and after seeing as much of the Grand Canyon as we could in the short time we had, we raced the monsoon rains back to Williams AZ for the night.

Day 5 we rode from Williams to Cortez CO. I think I had decided this was just a travelling day, so I wasn’t expecting much. I couldn’t have been more wrong. If you know me you know I’m happiest when my floorboards are scraping the road, I usually head for the twistiest curviest roads I can find, but the mostly flat mostly straight Hwy 160 across the Navajo Nation of Northern Arizona after a rain is one of the most incredible rides I’ve ever done. It was almost spiritual! Finally, we made it to the 4 Corners Monument, stopped and took a few photos standing in 4 states and raced dark into Cortez CO.

The next day we split up, Ron and Sandy wanted to do some shopping and wash their bikes, but I wanted to ride the Million Dollar Highway, so we planned to meet in Ridgeway for lunch. Somewhere between Durango and Silverton it started getting cloudy and by the time I got to Ouray it was raining pretty hard. I almost put on a rainsuit to finish the road but because I had already ridden the best part I decided to turn around and ride it in the other direction knowing I would soon ride out of the rain. I met Ron and Sandy at Mesa Verde National Park, we rode through the park and checked out the ancient Pueblo Cliff Dwellings.

The next day we headed to Colorado Springs. After we rode over Wolf Creek Pass we tried to wait out some rain on the west side of Pike’s Peak, but we realized it was going to be dark before the rains let up so we rode on into Colorado Springs and put on some dry clothes.

Day 8 we picked up Denise at the Colorado Springs Airport, it was Labor Day Weekend and Colorado Springs was packed with people, so the 4 of us decided to head to Idaho Springs just west of Denver for a couple of days. Idaho Springs is a very cool little town and the entrance to Mt Evans. Our motel, the Argo Inn had a stream called Clear Creek about 40’ from our patios and a fire pit. I even heard there was some whiskey continued...

passed around the fire but that must have been after I went to bed because I can’t seem to remember that.

The next day Denise and I rode up Mt Evans, the highest paved road in North America and the 5th highest in the world at 14,130 feet. All I know is when I got to the top, I had no hydraulic clutch, so I had to bump my bike in to neutral and pump it up.

We left Idaho Springs the next day headed to the Black Hills. We spent about 4 hours doing 80 with a 40mph side wind through Wyoming and made it to Deadwood SD for dinner. The next day we went to Mt Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Monument, then through Custer State Park on Needles Hwy and Iron Mt. Rd. The next 3 days we rode through the Badlands of South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, and after a quick stop at Patti’s 1880’s Settlement for a 2” pork chop we finally made it back home to Tennessee. It was an epic trip with great friends!