Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Road Trip Day 2: Durango to ... June 2012

The plan ... Get up early.  Ride.  Drive to Mission Viejo, CA.  Two out of three isn't all that bad right?  I Woke up early and despite the sinus infection I got a few z4 hill intervals done.  Along the ride route I found this cool covered wagon on the route. It's smaller than it might appear in the picture.  It's about 1/2 the size of a sedan.

Ride done.  I found and chowed down breakfast, got in the car and headed W on US160 toward Cortez.  There was talk of closing US160 because of a wildfire but that didn't happen.

I stopped at a Subway and got a sandwich for lunch later and somehow I knocked my phone off the bathroom counter and it lands glass down on the slate tile.  The glass it broken, but the phone still works.  It's just really hard to read.  No biggie.

I got to Flagstaff, AZ with no problem and stopped in the National Forest for a little lunch.  The trip was really uneventful until I got to the AZ/CA boarder on I40.  The folks in CA waved me through and as I accelerated away the car made a horrible wooshing sound and simultaneously the check engine light came on and the cruise light started to flash and I lost all acceleration. I'm not about 5miles out of Needles, CA and it's 109 degrees out.  Assuming I blew the radiator I pop the hood and see some steam, but it wasn't gushing out.  I tried turning the engine over and it just sat there.

Being I was outside Needles, CA cell coverage was weak and I of course earlier in the day broke my phone.  Not a big deal, except I couldn't use the r or t keys ... which makes searching for car repair or auto repair or towing services difficult.  But, I finally got it to accept the search and called for a tow.  It's now past 6pm and no service stations are open in Needles, CA.  The tow driver helped me find a hotel, which was conveniently across from the repair shop.



Road Trip Day 1: Denver to Durango June 2012

It's been a while since I've taken a leisurely solo road trip.  So I decided to combine a work trip with a fun trip and drive out to Southern CA.  The plan ... visit shops, visit with Insulindependence at their U of IN as UCSD, and visit friends in Orange County and in LA.

Day 1:  Drive from Denver to Durango.
bikes on top of HeadsUp Subaru
I was happy to escape the 100+ temps in Denver.  I got a later start than I originally planned but with the bikes (road and track) on the roof, a car full of gear and a plan what could go wrong.  Day 1 went well.  I got to Durango later than I planned and it was just at hot there as it was in Denver, but I went over my favorite passes and into the town of Silverton, CO.  I was hoping I'd have time to ride the pass, but it was to hot to ride when I arrived and I was getting over a wicked sinus infection so I waited until morning.  I was still quite sick in the AM, but got a couple hours on the bike in the much cooler early morning before hitting the road again.




Margarita Cupcakes


Margarita Cupcake Recipe: