Day 43, 44, 45

Day 43, 44, & 45
So as I said before, it was really difficult to leave the condo! I spoke with a friend of mine, Ryan Bowlby, with whom I used to live with. He currently lives in Alma, Colorado which is 7 miles from where we were planning to stay and he graciously invited us to stay with him and his roommates! Now that we had a place to stay and it was seven miles closer, we procrastinated even more! We didn't leave the condo until around 4:30 and headed to the bike shop in Frisco where I got new grip tape and new padded cute pink gloves! Three fingers on my left hand have now been numb for a good three weeks so hopefully these purchases will be the perfect remedy! Mark bought new tires and by the time he switched the old ones out for the new ones it was 6:30! Ha... We were in Breckenridge at 7:00 and had 17 miles to go over Hoosier Pass! It was a really nice time of day to be riding but the sun was setting quickly so we had to hurry! The first six miles up the pass was very gradual and we had set a good pace, however when the sign in front of us said, 4 miles to the summit, I knew we were in for a treat! After the sign, the crazy steep switchbacks began and didn't cease until the tippity top of the pass, where we caught the last glimpse of the valley below in daylight! The temperature dropped and we had a straight shot downhill into Alma, however it was getting darker and darker! We put on our safety flashers and bolted to the lights below us in the distance. We were able to run into the grocery store seconds before they closed to grab some pasta! Alma is such a quaint little hippie town of about 200 people and very dog friendly too! I will have to go back someday! Ryan picked us up and loaded all of our stuff into his Yukon and took us back to his sweet house equipped with three balconies, plenty of bedrooms and chill roommates, Dan and Steve-o! We made some dinner, took showers and watched Ironman, a surprisingly good flick starring Robert Downy Jr.! I slept on a very comfy pullout bed and didn't wake up till around 10! I made coffee in a real coffee maker for the second day in a row and Dan made us delicious breakfast sandwiches which I ate basking in the sun on the balcony! Oh the life! We used the internet for a hot minute and we were on our way once again!

We caught an awesome tailwind for about a half hour and practically flew to Fairplay! We grabbed some snacks, Mark ate pudding, sour gummy o's, chocolate milk, pringles, and chocolate doughnuts... Sounds healthy huh? We reached Hartsel after I got a flat tire! Mark was riding in front of me and I knew even if I screamed on the top of my lungs he wouldn't have heard me! I couldn't switch my flat because he had all the innertubes so I just waited until he realized I wasn't behind him! He finally came back for me about 15 minutes later and fixed the tire to find out that the tube wasn't patched correctly... Ah! We patched up another tube and well after about a forty five minute detour on the side of the road, we headed towards Hartsel! We ran into two guys from Indiana who were westbound, we exchanged some stories and they told us they had a funny evening in the small town of Guffey, and recommended staying there. We headed over Current Creek Pass and waved goodbye to the Rocky Mountains! As it was getting to be evening, the air was getting colder and some storm clouds had formed above. We decided we would stay in the town of Guffey! We veered off our route a mile uphill to discover a happening little town! There was live rock music by two guys in a band by the name of Up To No Good, at the Freshwater Saloon where we enjoyed a ten dollar steak dinner and a cold brew! Dancing in my spandex with the locals was a sight to see as my dads favorite song was played, I couldn't help but sing! One lady asked me how I knew all the words, she said I was too young to know them!! I asked an old guy named Jim to dance and he said no, if he dances, he falls in love! Thought that was pretty funny! We also met Bill who owned some cabins and bunkhouses along with what seemed all the other buildings in town! He offered us a place to stay, gave Mark a ride in his old buggy, and gave me a sweatshirt from his garage with a bunch of holes in it from welding! We became quickly acquainted with the small town gossip and pretty much everyone who lived there! We slept in one of the bunkhouses and didn't wake up until 10! I swear, we just keep waking up later and later and need to get out of the habit! I guess it is our last summer! We grabbed some food at Ritas Cafe and Deli, where we saw Bill and Ed and Don who we had met the previous night! When we were riding out of town, Jim was in his pickup and gave us a friendly hello! Only one night and we felt like family!

It was in the low 90's and we had plans of riding 80 miles to Pueblo! We made it about 22 miles and Mark yelled back to me asking if I wanted to go rafting after seeing a sign! I have lived in Colorado now for four years and have never been rafting! The tours had already left for the day and I left it up to Mark to decide what our next plan of action was. We could of either kept riding to Pueblo or have stayed the night at Junction 50 and take the morning rafting trip! At this rate we will never get to Virginia but then again, who knows when I will ever go rafting! Mark told me we were going rafting and that was the end of the story! We are now staying at Yogi Bears Jellystone Campground with all the little kids you could possibly imagine! We debated going on the hay ride with Yogi and friends, for about 1 second! We grabbed a tent site and the rain began to fall. We decided to wait it out so our tent wouldn't get soaked! The rain stopped and we decided to go for it! Even better, we thought we would time ourselves, however everything was going wrong! We couldn't stake the tent down because the ground was so hard, the wind picked up, and guess what else... The rain! Our tent was soaked, the rain fly was on backwards and the vents were opened as well! So much for that record, 8 minutes to be exact, pathetic! We found shelter under the neighbors canopy while they were away and that's when it began to hail! The weather finally calmed down and we were able to dry our tent out! We were about to make some dinner when the rain started up again so we just decided to go to sleep, at 7:30! We woke up 2 hours later and made some food and now I am going back to bed! Our rafting trip begins at 9 am tomorrow down class 4&5 rapids, whatever that means! I pretty much signed my life away so hopefully I will survive! Night night!!

Kree