You can never have too many good friends

July 16

Mac came to the motel the next morning (Tuesday, July 16), at 6 a.m. It was perfect timing since he got off work at 5 a.m., and we wanted to be on the road by 7 a.m. He was worth staying at the second-worst motel I'd stayed at on this trip. Except, the shower was new, so I was way okay with that. We had an excellent, though short, visit, and we were off again. The Hoka Hey Cowboy was in my rearview mirror, shoes, black socks, shorts, cowboy hat and the ghost bike. What a guy! A very special guy!!!

Mac and me in Wamsutter, Wyoming.  Where?  Don't think I could find that place on my own.

We were moving right along, antelope appeared right and left. They were like ants at a picnic. We've seen a great number of them, some deer, and a few chipmunks or something that don't know better than to try to cross the road. The timeline for the Henke meet was noon to 1 p.m. We were on track to get to Rifle on time … and even stopped now and then to get out of the sun and kill a little time. Then we heard about the construction. Oh, good grief!!!

Sure enough, a wait, a pilot car, but wait, there was no more. No water truck. The construction folks were falling down on the job. We got through it, only to run into more construction, but this time we didn't have to wait, and there was no gravel.

This volcanic uplift of rocks is known as Fortification Rocks.  (Hobbs misread that ... if you know what I mean.)  It's believed the several Indian tribes would gather here prior to going into battle.  Today its known for the large number of rattlesnakes found there.

Into Rifle we rode, turning down one street, then another. A car honked. At us? Nah! Could it be? A car honking, honking, honking. I looked to my left, and there racing their pickup erratically through a parking lot was Jerry driving, and Andi hanging out the window waving and hollering. I tried to catch up with Hobbs. By now we were cutting in and out of traffic, moving with another bike getting in between us. I finally caught up with him. We'd all found each other. What a reunion … handshaking, hugging.

It was so special to see our friends. Jerry had been to Anchorage but it had been so long since we'd seen Andi and it was enough to make your heart swell … and tears flow.

I sure do miss these folks!!!  Jerry and Andi Henke, and Hobbs in Rifle, CO.

Lunch, talk, talk, talk, hugs and then, once again, two hours later, we hit the road. This time we headed to the Harley shop on i-70. For an Interstate it's absolutely beautiful. It runs along what I think is the Colorado River. The east lanes run low near the river and the west lanes run higher nearly on top of the east lanes. We ran through some tunnels and it was just great up until the point the truck nearly crushed Hobbs.

This 18-wheeler was in the right-hand lane; we were in the left, going to pass him. Three cop cars had a vehicle pulled over on the right shoulder. The truck put on his blinker, so we figured he'd wait for us to get by. Nope. Not at all. Came right on over. I saw him coming, hit my brakes semi-hard and backed off. Hobbs had to hit his very hard since the truck was in his lane and coming on over. A near miss, but all ended well. We caught up to the truck, passed him and let him know he was Number 1 in both our books.

Harley shop. Check. More great roads. Check. And we got within striking distance of Rocky Mountain National Park. Hot Sulphur Springs.

I should never have gotten up at 5 a.m. to meet Mac. Now Hobbs knows I can do it. Wednesday, July 17. 5 a.m. wake up call, with a 6 a.m.-ish departure to go to the park and find elk.