June 6th 2008-Day 4

High country cattle round up
That it were I am heading first thing this morning
Monarch pass, still plenty of snow
Me at the top of Monarch pass, no that is not my motorcycle
View of Blue Mesa Reservoir
We are in Mesa Country!
Black canyon


What a difference a day makes! My evening in Buena Vista CO was very enjoyable, other than an over priced Chinese dinner which was horrible. I left Buena Vista at 9:00 am it was beautiful weather in the valley and you could see for miles. I had intended on taking at secondary road out of Buena Vista that would cross Cottonwood pass at over 12000 feet, I soon found out that the pass was closed until mid June. Normally it is open at this time of year, but I guess global warming is making things colder in Colorado this year!
I took 291 hwy to 50 hwy and headed west, I crossed the Continental Divide at Monarch Crest pass, 11,312 feet. It was a fantastic ride, yes it was cold and there was snow on the top of the mountain, but it was out of this world! I stopped at the gift shop, picked up a sticker for my gear box and took some pictures.
After descending the other side of the Continental divide the the landscape began to change. While the elevation remained high, it was more of a desert type landscape, rather than lush forests. More high mesas were noted. The ride into Gunnison Co was really nice.
I got into Gunnison around 12:00, it was a really nice town, but I decided to continue on. I took 92 hwy through the Gunnision National Forest. It was 60 miles of a motorcyclists dream, long winding ascents and descents. Passes at 10,000 feet and descents down to 7500, feet. There were very few other cars, a few motorcyclists and more importantly no "Trucks". The pictures I took cannot begin to give the beauty justice.
At about 4:00 I drove through the town of Delta CO. I was intending on camping but as I passed through town, there was a nice big Elks Lodge, with a sign that said open. A block down there was a little hotel, it was kind of seedy looking, It was called the El-D-Rado hotel. I think if I would have asked I could have gotten an hourly rate, if you know what I mean. I thought what the hell, I has stayed in worse places and I figured I would share some camaraderie with my fellow Elks, have a few drinks and crash for the night.
The hotel room was passable, the Elks Lodge was a disappointment. I took a shower and put on clean clothes and was ready for some fellowship, it wasn,t like I parked my bike out front and walked in with a bug covered grin. It was what I call a grand old lodge building, it had been there for many years, the number was 1235 so it has been around for a while. It had a nice big lounge area, there were probably 20 people there when I got there at about 5:00pm, I sat a chair down from of group of three younger guys in their 30s there was a spattering of other people seated at the bar and at tables. There were two bartenders on duty, as they were expecting a big crowd. I thought this was going to be a great time.
The bartender looked at my membership card, had me sign the register and gave me a 2nd drink free card the usual stuff. I sat there and drank my beer, It was not busy and the other bartender was talking to a member and my bartender went to the far end of the bar and started filing her nails. On a couple of occasions I tried to strike up a conversation with the group next to me, and while they responded, they took no interest. I introduced myself to the guy closest to me, he shook my hand and did not even offer his name. During my second beer a man and his wife sat next to me, we make some small talk about weather, politics etc. I told him I was riding my motorcycle to Alaska and was an Elk From Kansas City, his next story was about how he had gotten screwed from an equipment supplier in Kansas city that he had bought a backhoe from. I asked him about his lodge and how it was doing. It was the same old story about how membership was down and how they were having some problems attracting new members, the old members were dying off etc...BLAH,BLAH,BLAH.
I felt like telling him, "You lodge cannot even be nice to passing through brothers, how do you expect to attract new members"? I am sure that there are many fine members in lodge 1235. Their lodge is a microcosm of the problem with the Elks nation wide. I have traveled and visited many lodges in my 16 years as a member of the Elks, those of you reading this that know me, know that I am an affable and interesting person, as well as generous to the cause. There were a number of fund raisers going on at that lodge that I would have been glad to have donated to if someone would have just asked.
I find it disappointing that the above experience is all to common at Elks Lodges. On the other hand I have been to many lodges that fall over themselves to greet you as a visiting member. My own lodge is one of the best! It is rare that a traveling Elk who visits our lodge in not brought into the fold of everyone there within a few minutes of arriving. Hats off to our lodge.
I don't want to berate that point, but as a business man and from a business perspective, the Elks is a nation Brand, just like McDonald's, Wal-mart etc. It is a shame that more time and money is not spend on simple things like customer, or should I say member service. Every bartender should be trained how to handle all situations, as well as visitors, make sure they know, who they are, were they are from, what they are doing in the area, and them introduce them to others. I would also implement a mystery shopping type of program. Grand Lodge could send out visiting Elks at random and see how they are treated, if they are treated well, the lodge and the bartender gets an award, and prize. If they fail, they are admonished for their poor treatment of their Brothers!
Enough about that. Tomorrow I am heading to Moab Utah, I will keep you posted.

Tim