Days 59 and 60 Tuesday, June 7, and Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Pubelo KOA Kampground

We drove to Pueblo, then decided to spend a couple of days planning, organizing, sightseeing and having Vincent’s bicycle looked at again.  He has continued to have problems with the deraileuir and the wrap on his handle bars came off.  They worked on the derailleur, but if it doesn’t work any better, it may need to be replaced.  We’ll see how it works over the next several days.  We plan to visit a high school of Vincent’s soon, so could have it looked at again if necessary. 

On an entirely different note, I have been taking care of some of my food obsessions while we are here.  We drove up to Colorado Springs so I could get Costco’s dried blueberries.  My breakfast of choice is Old Wessex Scottish-Style Porridge Oats with blueberries.  After I ran out of the Costco berries, I tried a different brand, but they weren’t nearly as good.  Colorado Springs is huge and has every retail establishment you can think of.  We stopped at the Whole Foods (the place I get the oats), but alas, they didn’t have the Scottish-Style oats.  Fortunately, I still have 6 containers left (I brought 20 with me!). 

We picked up a box of Lemon Cookies, at WalMart,  that reminded me of the old Nabisco Lemon Coolers I used to love years ago.  The cookies are distributed by Niche Foods, LLC.  Turns out this company is dedicated to bringing back “Old Time Favorites.”   They have faithfully recreated the lemon cookies and I certainly hope I will be able to find them once I get back to Maryland, although I certainly won’t be able to eat like I can now unless I continue to bicycle 30 to 50 miles a day.

We walked around the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo and the Union Avenue Historic District while we waited for the bicycle.

Arkansas River at the end of the riverwalk in downtown Pueblo, CO.

"Walks Among the Stars"

Day 58: Monday, June 6, 2011

19 miles from outside Tribune, Kansas to Sheridan Lake, Colorado

We biked only a short distance today because Vincent finally decided he could try bicycling again.   We crossed into Colorado which at this point doesn’t look much different than Kansas.  Although the welcome sign says “Welcome to Colorful Colorado,” most of what we saw was pretty brown.  The heat continues (103 degrees today) and we can’t find any RV Campgrounds nearby, so we are going to drive through much of this area.   As a result, we are staying in Lamar, Colorado tonight. 

Day 57: Sunday, June 5, 2011

We spent the day at Scott Lake State Park and explored the site.  It was over 100 degrees for most of the afternoon, so we weren’t able to hike at all.  We did visit the Monument Rocks which were carved from the floor of a vast inland sea over 80 million years ago. They stand over 70 feet in height.  We were able to walk over to the pueblo ruins at the El Cuartelejo site since they are located in the state park.  The ruins  were discovered in 1899 and all that remains now are portions of the stone hearths, two sections of the outer wall and several post holes.  We also went to the Keystone Gallery, a small fossil museum and art gallery run by Chuck Bonner and Barbara Shelton.  Chuck’s father, Marion Bonner, discovered a near complete short-neck Dolichorhynchips in 1955, and the entire family was very involved in fossil hunting.  Chuck was giving a lecture to a group of young fossil hunters while we were there.  Quite an interesting shop and I love their slogan:  Conveniently located in the middle of nowhere.

Day 56: Saturday, June 4, 2011

54 miles from Ness City to just outside Scott City, Kansas

No doubt about it!  The wind is much harder for me to deal with than the mountains.  It was relentless today and never stopped for a minute.  I felt like I had gone 6 rounds in the ring as a punching bag.  So bad, that today was the first day I have walked my bicycle-for several miles- on relatively flat land, for goodness sake!  BTW, one of the women I met yesterday said she has lived in Kansas all of her life and she still curses the wind. 

A couple of Tylenol, a hot shower, and a good night’s rest and all will be better.  Even so, a day off to visit the Cuartelejo Pubelo Ruins about 20 miles north of here sounds like a great idea for tomorrow.  

Art on the trail just outside Ness City, KS

Re-learning history

Whimsical art on the trail

BAK Tent City, Soctt City, KS

Day 55: Friday, June 3, 2011

32 miles from Larned to Rush  Center, Kansas

We drove the RV to Larned yesterday.  It was so hot we couldn’t even go visit the sites in the area.  I was determined to bicycle today, so I got up very early and was on the road by about 6:30 am.  Great time to bicycle since the temperatures were cool and the wind was lighter than usual.  I wasn’t entirely sure how the wind would be blowing, so I decided to bicycle about 30 miles.  I passed by both the Santa Fe Trail Center and Fort Larned.  Obviously, they weren’t open so early, but I was able to take a self-portrait at the fort sign.

I finally saw some of the fence posts carved from limestone.  Kansas farmers and stockmen quarried limestone and used them to erect fences since there were no trees in the area.  Great use of available resources! 

I got to Rush Center about an hour and a half before the pickup time and spent a wonderful time speaking with some local women and one gentleman at Effie’s Place.  Effie is 87 and has been running the restaurant since she was 45.  The group meets every morning for cookies.  When they saw me sitting at the park across the street, they invited me to join them.  On Monday, they will be at the park handing out drinks and snacks to the Bicycle Across Kansas bicyclists.  That ride begins tomorrow in Tribune, Kansas and ends next Saturday in La Cygne, Kansas.  They follow a different route every year, but I expect to be riding in Scott City tomorrow and hope to see them.

Effie's Place

Limestone fence post

Day 54: Thursday, June 2, 2011

Too much wind and too hot to bicycle today.

Day 53: Wednesday, June 1, 2011

52 miles into Cottonwood Grove Campground, Hesston, Kansas

The wind was with me today and I bicycled into the campground an hour and a half early. That after spending an hour at the Newton, Kansas library catching up on emails.    This area of Kansas was settled by Mennonites escaping the rule of Czar Alexander II, who pushed the government policy of “one language and one religion.”  As a result, I saw several Mennonite churches (which I have never seen before) and there are several great stores in the area that specialize in baked and bulk goods.

Corn is getting bigger.

A nice stand of Missouri Primrose.