The Blood Moon

Tonight I got to see a rare occurrence - the Blood Red Moon (or Super Moon).  While I tried to take pictures of the total lunar eclipse, the camera did not capture the true beautify of the event.  I find that often the camera does a great job of capturing the images, but they are nothing like the memory I have of the image, place or event.  NASA information shared that the last lunar eclipse occurred in 1982. Previous eclipses occurred in 1910, 1928, 1946, and 1964.  NASA predicts the next eclipse to occur on October 8, 2033.  I have lived during three lunar eclipses. I was age 2 for the first one, age 20 for the second one, and age 53 for this one. If I live to see the next one, I will be 80.  

People often think that the Blood Moon is associated with the world ending.  Acts 2:20 states, "The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day."  Joel 2:31 states, "The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes."  Through out history - in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 people were probably thinking the same thing, "the world is going to end".  Is this moon a sign of the end of the world?  I don't know.  However, I do know that the Bible includes so much more about the end times that to take any one "sign" or event such as this and predict the "end" would be a bit premature.  I do think we are living in times that the Bible speaks about.  However, I believe each person needs to examine the Bible for themselves to determine if they believe we are living in the end times or not.  So, I just enjoyed watching the lunar eclipse from my back yard and reflected on my humanity and spirituality.  

Day 6: Ouray to Durango via Million Dollar Highway

     Today was another opportunity to ride the Million Dollar Highway to Durango and back.  I had ridden the Million Dollar Highway on our way to Ouray.  I wasn't happy with my first ride of the famous road.  It includes several switch backs and many climbs and descents along with a number of curves.  It had been a while since I had ridden a motorcycle on a long trip and I have only had this bike for a month.  These two factors meant me tentative on our Million Dollar Highway on the ride in.  So, today was an opportunity for me to get into my grove and just enjoy the ride.  We left early in the morning with a destination of Silverton.  We had heard that the city was a wonderful place full of interesting shops and great restaurants.  So climbed aboard the bikes and begin to climb out of the valley and onto the infamous Million Dollar Highway for the first 21 mile leg of our journey.  Ouray to Silverton is the most "intense" part of the highway.  I settled into my first curve and suddenly the "rust" on my riding skills and the love of my new bike took over.  I glided in and out of the curves as if I had been doing this my whole life.  I felt comfortable and any tentativeness I had from the first trip into the  valley was gone.  Before I knew it the 21 miles passed in no time.

     We arrived in Silverton and parked at the southern part of the city.  We begin walking the stores.  We found wonderful shops full of interesting gifts, T-shirts, and my favorite - local history books.  I carefully selected the one local history book for my reading pleasure - a book on the history of the Million Dollar Highway.  Very appropriate, I thought.  We then found a lunch stop at the Handlebars Saloon.  The Handlebars Saloon seemed appropriate given that I work at New Mexico State University and the mascot, Pistol Pete has a handle bar mustache.  The soloon was also appropriate in that it was decorated with a number of preserved animals from local fish to deer heads.  The saloon also included patches from a variety of police departments.  We ordered lunch.  I had a pulled pork sandwich with ham and bean cowboy soup.  Both were wonderful and amazingly satisfying.  After paying we crossed the street and explored the shops on the other side of main street.  Before we knew it our time was up and we needed to return to the bikes and mount up ensuring we arrived at the Durango Harley Davidson Dealer in time to wipe down the bike and participate in a bike show.
     The 50 miles stretch between Silverton and Durango does not include as many switch backs as the stretch between Silverton and Ouray, but the portion was no less challenging.  This section of the highway included a wonderful climb and descent, but on several stretches there is no side rail.  The road even narrows at one point.  The ride was still amazing and the comfort level with my bike through the curves made me look forward to the return trip to Ouray later in the afternoon.  We arrived at the Durango HD dealer and lined our bikes up with the other bikes from the GTG (Get toGether) that we were participating in this week.  It was very cool to see all of the Harley CVOs in one spot.  The workers at the dealership each picked their favorite bike and an award was given to the first and second favorite bikes.  It was a great little opportunity for us to interact with the HD dealer.
 

   After the favorites were picked, we mounted up to head north on 550 (the Million Dollar Highway) to Ouray.  The GTG event and day was culminated with a group dinner.  What a wonderful ending to a great day and great event.  Tomorrow many of the participants head for home.  We are fortunate in that we have a few more days in Ouray visiting our friends from Denver. 

Day 5: Alpine Loop by Jeep

After taking day four off and getting caught up on laundry, a little shopping in Ouray and completing a work out, I was ready to get back to the road.  However, the road today was not to be taken on two wheels but in a four wheel jeep.  The Alpine Loop can be accessed off of 550 near Ouray and takes us through some of the most beautiful country in this area.  We also took the Loop through

Cinnamon Pass to Lake City and then back through the Pass to Silverton where we caught 550 on the Million Dollar Highway to Ouray.  The Alpine Pass tests drivers with the rocky, steep road.  Needless to say this was not the smoothest ride of the week.  However, it may have been one of the most beautiful rides.  One of the sights along the way included old mines, broken down by time and inactivity.  The mines were reminders of the days when these mountains were the home of the some of the braves adventurers hoping to get rich.  The snow was still present and so were the snowmobile tracks reminding us of the winter adventures that these mountains provide for the current residents.  The roads are relatively clear of snow, but there are portions of the road where you ride along a snow wall, reminding you just how deep the snow can get during the winter months.  With the warm temperatures, the winter snows are melting so there were many times along the road where the water crossed the road.  There were also many times where the water falls were running, providing for some wonderful views and pictures.  The road also included opportunities to see the wildlife.  We were fortunate enough to see marmot, billy goats, deer, moose, and many little chipmunks.  The loop was a wonderful way to experience the area and appreciate the well paved roads of our normal travels.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.