Tag: Mesa Verde

A note from Peter…

We had a nice note from our good buddy Peter today, an ardent ADV rider, Norton fan, and fellow Mesa Verde enthusiast…

Joe, I enjoyed your post about Mesa Verde today. A few years ago Sara and I spent the night there and toured the ruins. We agree, photos don’t give the appropriate scale. Our guide made the whole place seem alive! With that said, there are at least two notable things about Dolores. First, they have a pretty decent motel right on the main drag. It’s owned by a Swede (cannot remember his name) and about 4 blocks away they have a good brew pub. Second, just outside of town you’ll find Colorado Norton Works.   Matt Rambo (another Swede) is the owner. He has a very small shop that, as I recall, lacks any kind of sign. Inside you will find a motorcycle shop that closely resembles an operating theater, it’s that spotless. Matt will take your Norton and totally rebuild it from the frame up. The end product is absolutely beautiful and improved in so many ways I cannot remember them all. Matt and John Snead (owns a CNC machine shop in Jacksonville, FL) have also designed an improved electric start system for Nortons. I mention all this because you owe it to yourself to visit the shop, meet Matt, and drool over his rolling jewelry. You’ll love it!

Matt and John are both friends of mine. I have visited Matt’s shop three times and even stayed at his house on one trip.

Peter

Thanks for taking the time to write and convey your thoughts, Peter.  I had heard of Colorado Norton Works from Gerry Edwards, another good friend.  He spoke of them in reverential terms.

For those of you who don’t know, Dolores is a nice little Colorado town just up the road from Mesa Verde.   When my good buddy Marty and I rode the Three Flags Rally in 2005 and visited Mesa Verde (my first time there), we rode along the Dolores River into the town of Dolores.  It was pouring rain that day, but we had decent weather during our earlier stop at Mesa Verde.

Somewhere in New Mexico, with good buddy Marty on the 2005 Three Flags Rally. One of these days I’ll post more photos from that trip here on the ExhaustNotes blog. It was one hell of a ride!

Ride safe, Peter, and again, thanks for your note!

Mesa Verde, Colorado…

Sue and I stopped at interesting spots on our way home from Tinfiny Ranch earlier this month, and one of them was Mesa Verde National Park.   I first went there on the 2005 Three Flags Rally with my buddy Marty.  On that visit, Marty and I were only there for a quick stop, and I knew it was a place that needed more time.

At the Mesa Verde National Park entrance. It would be another 1000-ft climb and 14 miles of glorious twisties to get to the good stuff.

Mesa Verde is just outside of Cortez, in southwestern Colorado.  It’s a great little town.

The whole idea behind Mesa Verde National Park is that Native Americans lived in advanced cliff dwellings about a thousand years ago.  It’s real Indiana Jones stuff.

A shot I showed on Facebook a week or so ago. Folks told me it looked fake, and I needed a photo with some people in it to give a sense of scale.
As requested.

The place was amazing.  We were up on a huge mesa looking down into dramatic canyons, and these dwellings were built into overhangs and crevasses in the canyon walls…

The Tower structure. Several of these little villages had a tower like the one you see in this photo. Maybe the chiefs lived there?
Another hamlet.
A view from across the canyon at another set of dwellings, this time with my 70-300 lens. All of the other photos were with a 24-120 lens.

While we were there, we met a nice young guy named Tom, a Canadian artist traveling through the US on a motorcycle…

Captain Tom…
Tom’s ride, a rented Honda Africa Twin.

Tom was an interesting man and a world traveler.  He gave his card to us and I visited Tom’s website.   He’s been to many of the same spots Sue and I have visited, including Turkey (one of the world’s best-kept tourist destination secrets) and southeast Asia (another best-kept secret).  You should take a peek at Tom’s site; it’s awesome.

Cool stuff, to be sure.   One last Mesa Verde photo today, folks…my signature selfie…

In the painted bumper of my blue Subie…

When we were planning this trip, I asked Gobi (that’s Joe Gresh) what he recommended on the ride back to California. One of his suggestions was the Petrified Forest in Arizona.   That’s next, folks.   Stay tuned!