We did it

Thur: Tried out 3 Harleys. Several folks said to look at some other brands, but I just kind of had my heart set on a Harley. If you're going to do it... do it. :)

Heritage Softail Classic: Sits low. Nice handlebar placement. Very nice ride. Went up to Tina's work, then down through Garden of the Gods, up 24 to I-25, Fillmore back to the dealer. Nice.

Road King: Didn't really like how it sat or the handlebar placement. Was definately sold on the Softail. Took it to Tina's work. As I pulled in, two other bikes pulled in behind me. One of the guys was a client of Tina's and one was his friend up from San Fransico. We probably talked for 30 minutes. All kind of info, how they love their bikes, how great Harleys are, etc. One had a Softail and a Electra or Ultra Glide. Said if we were going to tour (and we are) then a touring bike is the way to go. One had a Road King - about $1500 to $2000 cheaper than the other bike, but had thousands of upgrades in it. Said if he had it to do over, he'd go for the dressed out bike.

Electra Glide: Based on their recommendation, I took out an Electra Glide. I liked the ride. Took it up to Castle Rock to show Jaime. Pretty sweet.

Fri: We already had a Heritage Softail Classic reserved. Would have liked to take out a touring bike, but like the one guy said, "Take out the Softail. You'll end up getting a touring bike - but at least you'll know and not wonder - did I make the right choice, what if, etc."

We had a blast.

Fri: Left at 4:00, up the pass to Woodland Park and out to Buena Vista. Hit a bit of rain on the way, but not bad. Got to Buena Vista pretty early. Checked into a motel and got dinner. Cyrgio (? - something like that). Excellent food. Very good. Then headed north and then west toward Cottonwood pass. Got back and went to bed pretty early.

Sat: Up early and back riding. We were going to go up to Aspen, Carbondale and then down to Gunnison, but we were worried about the weather. So went south to Gunnison and over Monarch Pass. Fun ride and got into Gunnison by about 10:30 or so. Wandered around for a bit and were going to go to Salida, but we had reservations and couldn't cancel them. So headed west for a ride. Down towards Lake City for about 20 miles, then back and out to Blue Mesa Dam. Very cool area and nice ride. Then back to the hotel at 2:00 and checked in. Took a nap and then out for dinner and to bed early.

Sun: Up early, out to Salida, then on to Canyon City and up 115 back home. Home by 2:00. Another beautiful ride.

Getting the feel of the bike. Tina's butt was very sore, so definately need a touring bike - but still a great ride. We both loved it. So peaceful. Didn't want to stop. Just touring w/o hotel reservations would be great. Ride till the weather gets bad or we get tired and stop for the night. Just hard to do on 4th of July weekend.

I'm still going pretty slow on corners and a bit worried about rain, but getting the feel for it.

Monday, returned the bike first thing in the morning... and went back to buy one that night. :) Got an Ultra Classic. Yup - the one with everything. Cost a pretty penny, but it will be worth it. Its something that both of us really enjoy... and we really don't do anything else. So we figure we'll do a lot of day trips, I'll ride it to work, and we plan on doing some tours. Probably down to AZ to see Tif, etc. Maybe out to MI in 2009.

Today put about 100 miles on it. Just mostly riding around. Went up to Larkspur to show Steve and Lana. Robert was working so he came over. Told us about the Palmer Lake Poker Run on the 22nd (something like that - a week from Saturday). We might do that. It would be fun.

Also reading the manual, the HOG member's manual, etc. Some cool stuff.

So anyway... mid-life crisis or whatever. We now have a Harley and are HOG members. :)

Its Black Pearl. Very sweet. :)