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Alaska 2008 Ride Report
Intro *
Day 1
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Day 2
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Day 3
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Day 4
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Day 5
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Day 6
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Day 7
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Day 8
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Day 9
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Day 10
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Day 11
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Day 12
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Day 13
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Day 14
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Day 15
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Day 16
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Day 17
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Day 18
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Day 19
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Day 20
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Day 21
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Day 22
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Day 23
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Day 24
Day 23: North to Alaska
July 4, 2008 - Vernal, Utah to Raton, NM
From this point on, the trip would be over roads I'd been on a few times before, so the anticipation of seeing new things was gone. Still a good ride today though.
Headed east out of Vernal on US40, hung a left at Dinosaur on CO64 and another at Rangley on CO139. Watched my speed into and through Rangley, I'd gotten a ticket there in '99, didn't want a repeat. :)
139 was fun, and better than I'd remembered. For some reason the memory I had was of a mostly flat, straight boring road with just a little twisty bit in the middle as it goes over a pass. In reality it was kind of windy and scenic all the way to the pass, which was really good, and then decent almost all the way to I-70.
Hwy 139
Hwy 139
Jogged east on I-70 over to Grand Junction and US50, then down through Delta and Montrose. Had lunch in Montrose, at an A&W. Now, I have maybe 2 root beers a year, not that big a thing with me. For some reason, passing the A&W all of sudden I wanted a root beer in a big frosty mug REALLY BAD. Dunno where that came from, but that's what I did. :)
Followed 50 east out of Montrose, though Gunnison and then up over Monarch Pass. Absolutely flew up the pass, what a blast. I'd been a little worried about traffic being heavy, since it was the 4th of July, but it wasn't too bad. On the bike, getting around the RVs and boat trailers was easy. In a car, it might have been a slow, frustrating drive.
Monarch Pass Summit
At Texas Creek went right on 69, nice scenic road mostly in valleys. Saw a big herd of buffalo at one point.
Hwy 69
Buffalo Grazing
That took me out to I-25 at Walsenburg, and then down to Raton. Right at 500 miles for the day.
Being the 4th meant most of the restaurants were closed, so getting my green chile fix was hard. Found The Oasis, a motel/restaurant place and had some beef enchiladas with green chile sauce. Not bad, but I won't be in a huge hurry to go back either.
Intro *
Day 1
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Day 2
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Day 3
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Day 4
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Day 5
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Day 6
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Day 7
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Day 8
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Day 9
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Day 10
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Day 11
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Day 12
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Day 13
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Day 14
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Day 15
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Day 16
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Day 17
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Day 18
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Day 19
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Day 20
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Day 21
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Day 22
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Day 23
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Day 24
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