Break Day in Colorado Springs.. 7/9/09

WOOO HOOOO!!! This morning we got to sleep in until 9:30! It felt nice and it was great to get a bed to sleep in last night. So we ate breakfast watched some tv until the cleaning lady needed to clean the living room. But that's ok, we had errands we had to run. So our first stop was the bike shop. There we got my bike looked at and it was super cool, they didn't charge us! We also chatted with them a bit about our trip and told us about a bike shop to hit when we went to Salida, CO. So then it was up a nice hill to REI to pick up some other needed items for the rest of our journey. Then guess what up yet another hill to the grocery store to get some snacks and sun screen. We go through sun screen very quicly so we always need some on hand. Then guess what???? You got it, another hill back to Jerry and Gayles house. When we arrrived back there we noticed a different car in the drive so we figured it was their son Travis. So Chance went around back to let us in and yea Travis was probably like who the yankee doodle are you. But Chance introduced himself and we were all good! So from there we did some things on the computer and even got to take a very nice nap! Oh how break days are so nice! Once Jerry came back he asked if we were hungry and again was ever so kind an made us dinner. It was great and consited of; steak, baked potatoes and rice! Yummy! Lucky for us it was Thursday and that meant we got to watch our two favorite shows. So Jerry, Travis, Chance and myself sat and watched Burn Notice and Royal Pains. From there we were quite tired and it was time to call it a night so we could get ready to hit the rockies in the morning! Overall, we would like to thank Jerry, Gayle, Travis and Mozart for taking us in and all of their very wonderful hospitatlity!

Limon to Colorado Springs!

Today we again woke up a bit later then normal. Not something good by any means. We packed up as quickly as possible and hit the road. Yet again we were unlucky and had a horrible head wind the whole way. This head wind was so mean that we actually had to peddle down a hill. Now who wants to do that, going down hill is suppose to be a break. So we continued on the lovely rolling hills and as we got closer the traffic started to get more and more. We are still lucky and have people honk and wave at us giving us their support and well being! At least they see us on the road, that is about all we can ask for! So we rolled into a little town called Calahan to eat lunch at a little place called Taste Buds. The food was quite good and we enjoyed some good converstation with our server and the cook. This other older guy started talking to us and we did not know whether he was trying to scare us or be informative in his own weird way. So from lunch we had about 28 miles left until Colorado Springs. The ride in was pretty good, we had more downhill and less hills. We then got to our location. We are staying with my Aunt Sues friend from college. Jerry and his wife Gayle have been very kind to us! Upon arrival we took showers and had a nice little rest. Once Jerry was done with his staining of his back patio he was so nice and took us on a car tour to the Garden of the Gods, Balancing Rock and on Gold Camp Road. Gold Camp Road is this really cool winding dirt road through the mountains! It was a lot of fun and places we would not have been able to see if he did not take us there. From there we stopped and picked up some Chinease food and brought it back to eat. The dinner was great. To end the night we sat on the patio and shared stories along with showing them our route the rest of the way! Thank you so much Jerry and Gayle for having us! Thank you to everyone else out there for supporting us. We are about to hit the rockies so wish us luck!

Road to Limon, Colorado.

We woke up this morning a little later than normal, packed up and headed out. We stopped at a nearby gas station to fill up our water becuase there would be absolutely no serivices for 75 miles until we got into Limon. So the morning ride started off chilly with a nice head wind. We had decided since we would not be stopping at a place to eat for lunch we would stop every 10 miles and have a snack instead of taking one long lunch break. That was working out fine until we hit the very little town of Last Chance. We stopped there and took a picture for Chance and found a picnic table in the shade. Here we sat and to take a little break and a super duper short nap. The only problem with not being able to stop for lunch is we did not get our Mt.Dew fix for the day. So while we were sitting in Last Chance hoping a Pepsi truck would go by. Now if a Pepsi truck were to go by Chance would run out and try to stop it and we would beg for them to sell us a Mt.Dew. But no luck with the Pepsi truck. So off we were again heading to Limon. The day started to get very hot with no wind and many large rolling hills. We got to one point where we both ran out of water and we still had about 15 plus miles to go. Now we both have 4 water bottles and did not think we would run out. So Chance saw on the GPS that there as a river, so upon approaching this river we were going to get some water to get us through the trip. So we get to this so called river, and what did we find? We found nothing but two puddles. Oh no, not good. So there was a house nearby where we went up to the door and knocked yelled and so on to see if we could get some water. No luck. But there was a hose on the front of their house so we borrowed some water from them. So, to the farm house right out of Limon thanks for the life saving water! If you're ever in MN and need water come find me! So we finally roll into Limon, both starving and hot. We end up eating at Pizza Hut. It was pretty delicious! From there we went over to the KOA camp ground. Let me start off by saying we have tried to avoid KOA's for one reason..... We had to pay $26 for one night tent spot that did NOT include water or electric. So as you can see the price is the reason we try to avoid such places. From there we set up our tent. I went to shower and I come back to find Chance holding up the tent. He told me the wind flattened it like a pancake. So he had to guide line it while I held it up in this crazy wind and hard rain. But in the end all was good and we did our normal routine at night and hit the hay!

Another State Bites the Dust!

This morning we woke up and got our stuff together. It felt great to get a good night sleep in a climate controlled environment with really comfy beds. When we had everything in order we mosied on down to the amazing continental breakfast! They had waffles, cereal, fruit and even biscuts and gravy! It was awesome to not have to eat pop tarts for breakfast. When we were leaving Shelley was pulling up and we thanked her again and hit the road. We road into a slight head wind and but it was more pleasant than a nussance. The ride went pretty good although we had literally no shoulder to ride on but the white line. The road wasn't too heave with traffic so we managed to do alright. It was a good feeling to see the Colorado boarder sign. So once we hit the sign, we took our picture! Nebraska another state down, so we are on the the 10th state! The morning went well and we pulled into Sterling to grab a bite to eat. Chance also called Garmin to try and figure out what was wrong with our GPS. So after lunch we headed out and the temp was definentaly hotter then it was in the morning. We thought we had 38 miles to go but the sign said 35 so that is awesome!! The afternoon ride continued to go well and the rode was nice, not much traffic so it allowed us to not worry so much about having to ride the white line. This afternoon was the first afternoon that I was not tired and Chance was! So I tried to cheer him up to make it the last 20 miles. Finally we made it to our destination of Brush, CO. We stopped at the gas station, got some COLD water and COLD gatorade then hit up the library. So now we are at the library trying to finish our GPS. We will be leaving shortly to set up camp at a nice campsite we found for free!! Tomorrow we will head to Limon and hope to be in Colorado Springs by Wednesday! Thanks again for all your support and emails!

Here comes the wind... July 5th

Wow, finally caught up on blogs!!! Today was a tough day with the wind coming from the south as we were heading south. Our GPS also decided to crap out today leaving us riding blind. Chance claims he does not like traveling the old way and I say "dude, we are on bikes, have you ever heard of these things called cars with engines in them!" So anyways, we said our goodbyes to our new rodeo friends and headed out. The morning was very long and we got in about 45 miles to Sidney after I got another flat tire. But it's ok, I have not gotten once since Minnesota, so this time Chance was not too unhappy. We pulled into Sidney right as the rain started coming down. We ate at Perkins and then headed over to the very first Cabelas and talked with a man about our GPS. We also found out that some thunder storms were coming in and we did not know if we would make it any further. So we called the day a short day and will just add on the extra miles tomorrow. So our task then was to find a place to stay. We ended up going over to the AmericInn where we talked with the assistant manager Shelley! She is a dear and helped us out very much! She lost her father to cancer and wanted to help the cause, so she knew she could not give us a comp room so she offered to pay for our room out of her own pocket. This was something very kind and we could never ask for anything more!! Thank you Shelley, we wish you all the best. The hotel is very nice and it is great to actually take a shower and get to sleep in beds tonight and have tons of room unlike our little tent where it pretty much fits us. So all in all, today was a pretty short day and tomorrow will be a longer haul into Colorado! Thanks again for all of your support! We have made it about 2200 miles so far and are continuing to have high hopes.

July 4th the day of Independence!!

What a great day we had today! We left Hay Springs with a very wonderful tail wind that helped push us right along!! On our ride we ran into this wonderful little place called Carhenge, it was like the stone henge only made out of cars. So there we took some pictures talked to a nice couple traveling and played with the very cute kitty!! The morning was like the rest, same old scenery and flying with the wind! Our speed brought us into Alliance very quickly and because it was the 4th of July there was not much for food options. So we stopped at a little Mexican place where we both got BBQ sammys ahhahaha!! They were delicious. After lunch it was on to our destination which was suppose to be Angora. So as we start to see Angora we notice there is nothing there but a bunch of old boarded up buildings. We were both feeling really good and decided we would push our miles to about 86 and stop in Bridge Port. This was a very good decision. This city is full of much history, the Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail and Pony Express were a few trails to run through this great American City! we stopped a small history museum and look around and talked to the nice lady who told us of a few places to get some ice cream. So we were out to find some dairy deliciousness! There we started talking with a nice older couple about the rodeo that was in town and they told us about their grandson who was 2nd in the world for steer wresting. Steer wrestling is something I had never heard of and was very intrigued by the who dealing of such an event. This got me very interested in the rode and I had to see it. So Chance asked about camping and they told us we could camp right at the fair grounds with those folks in the rodeo! This was awesome! We were camping right next to some nice fellas who were part of the wild horse racing. Again something I had never heard of and I come to find out it is a very intense and dangerous sport. I was so very excited to see the rodeo and Chance just laughed at me.. I got my camera ready and watched the rodeo after getting a wagon ride from John and his father around the fair grounds! We got to sit in box seats right by the shoots so we could see all the action! I took lots of pictures and you will all be able to see them at a later time! The rode was wonderful and the best thing I could be doing on the 4th of July. It was so great to meet all these wonderful people watch the rodeo, fire works and celebrate the freedom we are so lucky to have but so many take for granted. So to all of you out there who are so very brave and are fighting for our freedom and for all of those who have lost their lives or loved ones Thank you for allowing us to live the life we live today!! God Bless America, it is truly one beautiful country and I am proud to live here!!

Mountain Dew is addicting!!! July 3rd

Well thanks to the storm I did not sleep well. So when Chance woke up I was very tired and actually went back to sleep for a short while. Once I got up I had trouble staying awake for the morning ride. Chance actually got very tired as well, we stopped to take a break and I closed my eyes and actually fell asleep.. CRAZY!! We ended up eating lunch in the town of Gordon around 11am. After our early lunch we headed out. The afternoon was very difficult to stay awake too. Chance and I tehn decided we had to stop and get a Mountain Dew, which is our only hope to keep us awake. The Dew definently saved our lives! Then the second wind hit and I was having troubles with trying to stop laughing. We also were making up crazy people we were seeing and it helped make the afternoon a bit more enjoyable. Hay Springs was our destination for the day. We pulled in at the right time. Because the thunder stared up and the sky did not look happy. we were directed to the park to camp and I saw a pool so I thought they might have showers. So while Chance was setting up the tent I asked use the shower and they were totally cool with it. The water in teh shower was freezing so it was a very quick shower. The rain then started to come so we hid out in the tent for a bit until the rain let up. We then headed into town to find there was only once place to eat and the only things we could get had to be fried. So that's what we did, we got fried food and we are kind of sick of that, but it was food. Then back to the tent to hang out and get some much needed rest!