Six of us from the Denver area (Randy, Carey, Rob and Susan, Clark (brand new 2002 Connie), and Mike) met at Castle Rock on a cool, but promising morning. After rolling down I-25 for an hour or so, we swung off at Fountain to pick up folks from Colorado Springs, and found Roamin' Carloski (from Denver) waiting for us. Back onto I-25 to Pueblo where we were met by Tom and Sherri, Paul (with Hyder Alaska experienced BMW) and Becky, and Sam (Kawasaki Voyager). From warm, sunny Pueblo we headed east on US-50 through the agricultural areas and towns along the Arkansas River and then stopped in La Junta for lunch at Felisa's Mexican Food where we enjoyed some excellent food and green chili sauce.

After lunch it was a quick jaunt out of town to Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site. With a long ride awaiting us back to Denver, and with a threatening weather report we allowed ourselves just one hour to "scout" the Fort. After spending some time paying the entrance fees (and two more COG members buying National Parks Passports), we walked down the trail and back in time to Bent's Fort, which was once a major trading post on the Santa Fe Trail. We joined a very informative and interesting tour that was in progress, and quickly figured out that more time is definitely in order to fully explore the Site.

But it was time to leave the sunny 80-degree temperatures and hit the road. We were burning daylight. The Pueblo folks headed back on US-50 and the rest of us headed north toward Punkin Center and Limon. Talk about a windy ride! At Limon we stopped to zip our jackets, then further west we stopped at Kiowa to put on electric vests and polar fleece jackets. By the time we made it to the Denver area we were riding in light rain and 45 degrees.

It had been another fun COG ride. About 350 miles of riding, good company, great green chili sauce at lunch, and an additional stamp in our NP Passports.

-- Randy Bishop