2010 Joint WCC/SWC Photos – Update

Sep 082010

Deb and I traveled by car as her two leg operations would not allow her to ride. We decided to make a tour out of the trip so we first went to Sedona for a week. It was beautiful as usual. We encountered some Monsoon weather but mostly the weather was great. Deb couldn’t walk a lot but we did our best to do the shopping circuit, amazing how shopping made her leg feel better, if only for that time. We did the restaurant rounds, going to some old favorites and a few new ones. We did a jeep tour which stopped about half way to allow us to walk around the rocks, look in a deep pit at a large rattler sunning itself and to allow me to impress the group with my prowess at rock climbing, as I proceeded to fall off the rock I was on, bounce off several more and land on my camera.

Nothing broken thank goodness, bruises, scrapes and week long aches. Worst thing was my totaled camera and remembering I promised Ron I would take pictures at the WCC/SWC. Luckily for him (or me) Deb had her camera though she was loath to let me touch it. This trip we decided to take the Verde Valley Rail Tour. The trip was about four hours, lots of scenery and narration of history, it included a light lunch. This might not be for everyone, but if you like trains and off the road scenery it was a fun ride.

We ventured from Sedona to Moab, via Kayenta and Mexican Hat on the 22nd. During that time we toured the parks, shopped and tried more restaurants. On other visits we had said we would take the river boat but hadn’t, so this time we did. We did the evening trip which included a chuck wagon diner. The food was spicy but great. The trip is on a large pontoon type boat with chair type seating, this was right at dark. They light up the canyon walls and the guide does a narrative with funny stories and history of the canyon and the Moab area, we enjoyed this very much. We also toured up hwy 128 toward Castle Valley, it is a road which follows the river and for 15 miles or so is enclosed by the cliff wall. This opens into a large valley which is famous for all the motion pictures made there. If you are a movie buff, especially western movies you may recognize many of the rock formations and the valley area along the river. There are some nice places to stay here, the first (and most interesting) is the Red Cliff Lodge, it has expanded and includes a lodge and restaurant, many nice cabins, wine tasting and a movie museum which includes all the movies made the Moab area.

As you face the place from the road you will see a flag pole, this is the original flag pole from the John Wayne movie “Rio Grande” and is the only vestige of the fort remaining. “Rio Grande” took place in the area around the Rio Grande river but was filmed on the Colorado River. A bit farther up the road is the turn off to Castle Rock, a quaint community of small farms and homes and of course Castle Rock, John Wayne’s favorite rock. When we left Moab we went via hwy 128, which follows the Colorado River about ¾’s of the way to Hwy 70, a beautiful drive and a great M/C road.

We arrived in Grand Junction, CO. a day early and some Blue Knight’s had already arrived. The next day most of the group came in so we spent most of the day at the hotel meeting arrivals and talking to old friends. The hotel was very nice, it had a good restaurant and bar and the rooms were well appointed. The hotel set up bike parking in the back of the hotel and provided a wash area and towels. The area was fine, restaurants and malls were close by. Each night there was a hospitality room with beer provided and some snacks and a lot of talk. Since we drove we did not do any of the rides but I was told they were on good roads through some very beautiful country. The ride to the Colorado National Monument seemed to be the favorite.

We met up with Bill Calkins, Harry Barden and Ray and Chris Gedney and heard their adventures, and we all sat together at the Banquet.

We journeyed home via Sandy Utah to pick up our grandson for a two week visit. We stayed in Kanab where a very angry storm was taking place.

Lightning strikes were heavy, one hit near our hotel, it messed up my GPS unit and set off car alarms. I got up about 4:00 am, stepped over the side of the bed into several inches of water, our end of the hotel flooded from the heavy water runoff, so at 4:00 am they moved us to an upstairs room. We found out the next day the lightning hit a hotel down the road, hospitalizing two people. We took the canyon road south to Hwy 89, then headed home. Great trip, lots to remember.

Here are a few photos from the 2010 WCC/SWC Conference held in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Rich Fancher