Motorcycle touring has some distinct advantages that come with being seen to be different (clothes and bikes). Standard entry lines included "where are you from; where are you going; did you ship the bikes from Australia etc etc?" But the noticeable comments always indicated that everyone wants to visit Aus. They love the accent and they adore the many unique mannerisms that are truly Australian. The one trait that we noticed is that Americans are sooo polite and respectful no matter what age or where they come from. Travelling is about who you meet and where you choose to stop. And in Colorado and Wyoming one could not wish for two more different places. Colorado on one hand is expensive and very oriented toward tourism. It also has some of the most spectacular scenery throughout the Rocky Mtns. Wyoming on the other hand is sparse, lonely even desolate in places where the Rockies appear to sink back below the surface turning the landscape into extensive shrubby rangeland much akin to that of South Australia

After leaving Colorado Springs (BMW dealer) at 4pm, we spent the remainder of the day riding to Woodland Park and Mangel Creek State Forest reserve. En route we stopped for dinner at a roadside cafe that served fresh trout, roast beef or spare ribs. I had a bread wrap with a half pound trout embedded with a fresh salad. The owners were delightful towards us insisting that we try everything. He drove a 1949 GMC pickup which had recently been acquired from an auction. It must have cost many thousands of $ to restore as it looked like it was just off the show room floor. The next morning we rode into Cripple Creek a mining town that still operates today but has a rich recorded history dating back to the gold rush days of the 1890's. We enjoyed riding the back roads all day with never a straight road for more than one mile all the way to Leadville.

Leadville was another town that appeared to have a mining history with large lag heaps and many areas with disturbed or restored vegetation outcrops all around the town. It was situated at over 8,000'. We had ridden up to Independence Pass just to experience a high altitude pass at 12,093' that afternoon and by sunset the temp plummeted to freezing. Despite this we ventured into town where we met a gal who had worked in bars most of her life. I believe the appropriate term is 'mutton dressed up as lamb'. Her Harley Davidson (Night Train) was parked out the front. She was planning to accompany her 78 year old Dad up to the summit of Mt Elbert (14,280') the highest mountain in Colorado. We noticed that next door was a Barber's shop. Having missed out on a snip before departing I decided order what was called a 1/4 incher from a guy who looked like he had just escaped from the State Penatentiary. Quincies Steakhouse was recommended by everyone as the place to eat in Leadville and so we lashed out and lived it up. There was only one steak on the menu which was grilled using hickory flavours. It was sensational!! I also discovered a beer called Flat Tire whose logo on the label boasted "Drinking Flat Tire brings out the beast in me. Just like those Platypusses". I am not sure what sort of beast they thought a Platypus was but it sure involked a loud laugh from me.

The campsite was very quiet where we had pitched our tent and I was never sure whether these places had fallen on hard times or that people just didn't seemed to care. Although Americans are proud people there is a strong sense that many peoples lives are out of control. Wthout exception we noticed that every householders yard was littered with new and old machinery, pickup trucks, caravans and remnants from the not too distant past. It was as tho' if something didn't work, just park it out the front and buy a new one. The debt levels must be astounding as there were few signs that these country folk were doing well. Perhaps the feelgood factor just kicks in when president Obama says we want everyone to go on spending using credit. It looks like a timebomb just waiting to go off!

Whilst travelling even on the back roads, one is never far from information about the history, landscapes and culture of the region. There is a dearth of 'pull-offs' with rich and colourful descriptions for us to read. They're well signposted and always informative. I learned so much about the indian cultures that existed prior to white settlement. Altho there is precious little remaining of many tribal groups(Apache's, Utes etc) as many suffered complete desicration due to western diseases introduced by the spanish in the 17th Century and later by white settlers initially looking for gold or trapping beaver fur to be used by European hat trendies. Perhaps the Navajo nation is the Indian culture that has benefitted the most as they appear to have been given huge tracks of land in Arizona, New Mexico. Their presence can be appreciated by a massive distribution of abandoned sheds, caravans and make-do shelters littered across the reservations. Whether they prefer to live the life of loneliness was never very clear to me. But I suspect it more about being required to establish a base through which 'handouts' could be derived. Either way there seemed to be a majority of have-nots and a minority whose presence could only be appreciated behnd high walls and large houses.

Our travelling rarely began before 10am as meeting fellow travellers and generally getting organised was not a priority. We headed north via Vail and taking a 40 mile gravel road to reach Kremmeling for lunch. It is true to say that Americans like their food. We lunched at a Mexican cafe that served individual meals whose proportions would have served two persons comfortably. Nevertheless, we downed the lot as it would be our only substantantive meal for the day. Because the weather was cold and windy it was not worth planning to do much cooking at the capsite at night. In fact it was just as well we had eaten up big for we ended up scaling the road up Rocky Mountan NP to 12,300' during the afternoon. Altho Timberlake Campground was much lower, the wind was horrendous making it difficult to erect the tent let alone cook a meal. We ended up camping next to an Aus bloke (Neil) and Nigerian wife (Patricia) who were touring around in a campervan. The locals (resident Elk) proved to be pretty friendly too, deciding that the tent flaps needed attention. According to the Park Ranger one young Elk was regularly seen trying to nibble on tent flys. No explanaton was offered as to why only one had adapted this strange practice.

Once we entered Wyoming, the weather turned on a gail for us. With screaming head winds and wide open plains there was nothing to do but put ones head down and grim and bear it. I enjoyed the scenery despite the torment as it reminded me much of my travels through out inland Aus. There was lots of bikes on the roads that day and it seemed like a popular route for bikers to smell the fresh air. It was long trip to Lander and we made it in time to enjoy an Italian meal where we met a local pair (Tim and Cindy) sitiing next to us in the cafe. We got chatting and offered a tour of Sinks Canyon just on dusk. It was short 10K trip from town. The canyon river came tumbling down to an abrupt stop and disappeared into a cave to emerge 300m down the hill out of the ground taking a timely 2 hours to travel underground. The resident trout had to be managed by NP's as there was no way for them to continue their upward journey past this gelogical barrier. We camped that night in a public park disignated for free camping that had been taken up by several hundred particpants in a Brewers Festival that were meeting in Lander that weekend. Judging the by the age of the campers most of these 'freeloaders' were there to taste the beer and not brew it.

The trip from Lander to Yellowstone NP and beyond proved to be our first real test of inclement weather. This road gradually climbs into the moutains and as we ascended into Dubois for a warm and welcome lunch stop, the weather turned freezng. Out came the artic gloves and eventually the waterproofs not before encountering our first snow fall on Jackson Pass. By the time we arrived at Yellowstone NP it was cold and raining and not good for stopping to admire the hot thermally heated sulfur blowholes. Fortunately for us we had visited this NP previously and therefore did not think we were missing out on much by riding through. Hence we persisted and continued on to Livingston. By the time we arrived at the Ossen RV Campground at 9pm, Dell and I were frozen through. It had been the first real test of lousy cold and wet weather. And I was quite sure this would not be the last of it. We opted for a log cabin accommodation that night as we waiting for a good friend Rex Mongold to turn up. He lived nearby in Miles City, Montana and had agreed to ride with us for a few days.