Day 48 & 49

Day 48 Olney Springs to Eads

After leaving Betty and Jerrys house we got on the road at 7:30 am! We rode 11 miles to Ordway and grabbed some last minute snacks, the heat was sweltering to say the least! The winds started up again, stupid wind, aaaahhhh! Mark ended up getting a flat tire on the trailer and as he was behind me, he was apparently screaming my name, I couldn't exactly hear him because of the head winds. I finally realized that the hoarse screaming wasn't a part of the Bob Marley song I was listening to but in fact Mark needing an innertube and the pump! We fixed the tire and headed East to the next town! We stopped in Arlington, a town with one house and a picnic bench with an outhouse, aka a wooden seat over a hole! There was a guestbook, mostly with all cyclists in it, that I definitely signed! We then made a stop in Haswell, a town with a few more houses and a gas station. We caught a glimpse of the Tour de France and met two kids Blake and his sister who showed us some pop wheelie tricks on their huffy bikes! We met a guy named Scott who let us use his hose to cool off before the last stretch of our ride!

We rolled into Eads, Colorado and found the city pool! Mark was amped to do a front flip off the diving board, after he was reminiscing about his good old lifeguarding days. He approached the board, ran to the edge, bent his knees, and collapsed! He helplessly dog paddled into the air until he hit the water, in front of all the cute girl lifeguards! As you could imagine, I loved every second of it and was in hysterics!

We went to the restaurant in town, actually the only one, and had some tasty treats! We met up with Phil randomly, a guy we had previously ridden with, after we both took some time off! It was nice to see a familiar face and we camped out at the city park, which had amazingly fluffy soft green grass! Another guy named Craig, was headed west and was chatting with us. I was looking for an outlet and he mentioned the post office always had outlets! So I walked to the post office so I could charge my iPod and cell phone and was a happy camper, literally! Off to bed!
Kristen

Day 49 Eads to Tribune

We packed up and grabbed some breakfast at the gas station and started riding! We made it to Sheridan Lake which was barely a lake at all and took an hour break there, eating trail mix and sipping on some mountain dew, recently Marks favorite! We got back on the road about noon and headed towards Kansas!

Now here is a good story for you all, I would have to classify it as the best yet!

We were about a mile west of a town called Towner, when I looked to the left side of the highway to find a blur of a car and an animal rolling beside it! I dropped my bike and ran across the two lanes in a hurry, while Mark, I'm sure was rolling his eyes and wondering what I was getting myself into. It was a kitten! A cute, harmless, scared kitty cat who seemed to be okay but was bleeding a bit from his mouth and had an infected eye of sorts. I carried the cat with me into Towner and knocked on about five peoples doors to find out where the cat belonged. Nobody seemed to know or were that interested really at all. I couldn't leave the poor thing on the side of the road as he would probably get eaten or run over within the hour so I decided I would take him with me to Tribune, Kansas! I conviently named the kitty "on the border" since he was so close to the state border as well as close to dying! I bungeed my helmet to the front of my handlebars and set "on the border" in my helmet so I could pet him and make sure he was okay! We took pictures with him when we crossed into Kansas and had about 15 miles to go! 5 miles down the road "on the border" was trying to get out of his bike seat. I clipped the chin strap around his body like a seatbelt so he wouldn't escape! He kept meowing and after a wind gust blew a not so appealing smell my way, I realized he had shit in my helmet!!! I swear, I don't know if I will ever be able to wear that thing again! At this point, Mark is seriously questioning what I am doing with the kitten, he asked me where and who I was planning on giving "on the border" to. I knew he was a bit frustrated and probably wishing he was with another guy, who probably would have left the poor thing to fend for himself, but I just had to make sure he would be okay! All I said was it would all work out, as most things usually do. I cleaned off "on the border" with the rest of the water and put a plastic bag down in the helmet.

We were about six miles away from Tribune when Mark slammed on his breaks and started to make a u-turn. I asked him what he was doing and he said he saw a cell phone on the shoulder between the road and the grass. He looked at the missed calls to find the two most recent calls from Dad. He called "Dad" back to find he was only a mile or so away from our location and would come and pick it up! That's when we met Mark Robertson. We returned his son, Clay's, cell phone and happened to ask Mark if he knew of an animal shelter or a veterinarian in town to take "on the border". His response, " well guys, you're in luck, I'm a retired vetrinarian of 20 years!" He gently took the kitten out of the car seat/helmet, mentioned that his late cat of 19 1/2 years had just passed, which was when he decided to retire, and said he would take care of the cat for us! You all can imagine our shocking responses, I got chills and was speechless while Mark yelled, "oh my god!" So is that crazy or what!? We talked about it nonstop for the last twenty minutes of our ride and decided to grab some groceries before heading to the city pool for a shower.

We were looking for travel size body wash when we saw Mark and Judy Robertson again! They invited us over to their house for dinner and to stay the night if we wanted to! Mark said it was just too crazy of a story to end just yet. We were again shocked but of course accepted! We jumped in the pool and Mark redeemed himself and did a gainer off the diving board, in front of some other cute girl lifeguards, I was hoping he would mess up again just for a good laugh! He drank a 2 liter bottle of mountain dew, minus a few sips but still! We took showers and headed to the Robertsons house!

We rode down their long driveway and found Mark mowing the lawn, we stepped into their beautiful home that was air conditioned! We spoke with Judy for a minute and she offered to do our laundry! While drinking some iced tea we got to know their kids, the twins Carly and Clay, 17 yr olds, Shannon, 20 yr old, and later we met Cole, who is 23! They are the perfect family and were so welcoming, we felt right at home and like we had known them for a long time! We had lasagna for dinner which was delicious and I even got the recipe! The meal was complete with garlic bread, salad, strawberries, and wine! Yummy! For us, HEAVEN!

After dinner we played a friendly game of knockout on their basketball court, and I was definitely knocked out both times in about 1 second flat! It's all good though because Shannon was repping for the girls team and she was kicking tushy! Judy and Mark took us for a spin in their awesome yellow jeep, or what Mark liked to call their mid life crisis, on a gorgeous summer night! They gave us the grand tour of Tribune, where they had both grown up and were high school sweethearts! It didn't take all but 10 minutes because the town has only about 800 people! We even got a quick lesson on wheat harvesting and the secrets and hardwork put into farming!

We got back to the house and watched a pretty odd movie called Knowing with Nicholas Cage, we all decided it was bizarre! It was really nice spending time with a family! For both Mark and myself, we both miss our families and life on the road can get tough sometimes! It was so neat to see everyone getting along so nicely and what family is really all about! I forgot to mention the homemade cherry pie a la mode! Sidenote, Mark just found out what a la mode meant, ha! So delicious!!! Judy told us she had a cherry tree in the yard and had made the pie earlier that day! Such a treat! The kids seeemed to like the special treatment and told us it's not everyday they get fresh cherry pie for dessert! They asked their dad what cyclists he would be inviting over the following day! We got some shut eye thanks to Clay for giving up his room for us and laid down our heads on real pillows! We could have slept for days but not after smelling breakfast upstairs! We were definitely spoiled with biscuits and gravy and bacon! And of course, the coffee! So after all of this, you can imagine how we felt, reenergized and not too sure if we wanted to leave just yet! It's truly amazing how things work out sometimes! Whether it was a coincidence or rather part of the big plan of life, it was so strange! Mark had even mentioned to me, after he found the phone, that he was hoping the guy would be a vet so we didn't have to take care of the kitten!

So, the moral of the story; no need to stress because everything always works itself out, even a helmet with cat poop in it! Or, whenever you are saving a kitten, hope that around the corner you will find a cell phone! Thanks again to the Robertson family for taking us in, you guys are awesome!