Quote of the Day: ".... well it's big enough to have a Walmart!"
Now this is what I'm talking about!!! Thank you Colorado and route 50. Look at this beautiful road - 4 lane, nice smooth breakdown lane and a rumble strip to warn both a driver and the cyclist if the driver is drifting off lane. Cyclists listen for the rumble:
Westbounder in Las Animas. He has a nice drivetrain with a belt drive (no chain) and a Rohloff 14 speed internal hub (no cassette to get road grime on it). He changes the oil in the unit every 3500 miles:
Courthouse in Las Animas:
Not sure what these are all about - don't think they would be a very effective snowfence:
I meet Colleen and her friend Bud at her little store in Hasty. After 9 years of service to this little community Colleen is closing the doors on Sept 1. She volunteers her time at a local place that cares for service men/women.
When I asked Colleen how big Lamar was her answer was "well it's big enough to have a Walmart". So here's another new metric for the trip in addition to the "Freebird".
They asked me if I would take the flies with me when I left and of course I obliged them:):)
Another one of those signs that I so enjoy that remind us that kids do like to work. I'd hire this one - wouldn't you??
Old school house the community is trying to restore:
Can you imagine if all of the trees around your house started dying? This is indicative of the severe drought the area is in - a return to the dust bowl:
Colleen and Bud warned me of another feedlot coming up as I entered Lamar. They mentioned that this is one of the places that McDonalds gets their meat and that they use Holsteins:
This is a view of less than 25% of the animals that they have on hoof here at this facility. Luckily the wind was blowing in the right direction and the smell wasn't too bad:
Entering Lamar CO:
KLMR 920AM - The Voice of the High Plains. I stopped in here to share the story of Soldiers Best Friend. The gentleman there said he would share it with other stations:
Storm brewing up as I entered Lamar:
Took a rain break at the Lamar Welcome Center which is a train station that has a dual use:
I met these wonderful welcome center ladies (Leslie and Kaye) who helped me plan a route through Kansas and Missouri. And thanks for the donation to Soldiers best Friend!!!!!
This is one of the 3 vanes on the GE style windmills that I now see dotting the horizon. I have seen none on the entire trip up until now. Notice the red SUV at the tip of the vane to get a size perspective:
At 6:45pm I made a dash out of Lamar to make the 30 miles to Holly CO. Rain and impending darkness are great motivators and I averaged 16.6mph on this sprint. Not bad with this load.
This is what I saw in the rear view mirror. Glad I turned around to capture these photos. Sorry there are so many but I just couldn't chose only one. The locals are fairly ho hum about these sunsets as they see them all the time:
I can say enough about the Miles Court Motel. They owners donated a room for the cause and what a sweet property it is!! In this town of "population maybe 1300". Only 4 years old and very tastefully decorated. Nice, nice, nice - i recommend it highly:
This is Lorene who handled my reservation last night and served breakfast this morning. Thank you:
Well it's on to Kansas now.
About Soldiers Best Friend ..... If you have been following along you already know that I am trying to collect donations for the charity called Soldiers Best Friend. This is a charity that provides service dogs to Vets that are suffering from PTSD. These dogs can literally be life savers for these men and women.
My blog averages approximately 175 hits per day. I think that suggests folks are interested in the trip and hopefully are being informed and entertained. I am at the half-way point of the trip at 2151 miles. I consider this my job for the summer of 2014. I am putting in the the "blood, sweat, and gears" to steal a phrase - so would you consider a donation to this very worthy cause?
I've done the math for you .... My entire trip is going to be approximately 4200 miles long. Do you think you could donate $.006 per mile (like about slightly more than 1/2 cent per mile)?? If so then that would be a $25 dollar donation to SBF. Or better yet could you afford to donate at $.012 per mile (1.2 cents per mile) then that would be about a $50 donation. And so on .... give what you can - I know this sounds like a Nation Public Radio fund drive but come on - what a worthy cause!!
Please follow the link below to donate and include my name - just "Neil" will do or "Neal" if you like that spelling better:):)
It's time folks please.......
And finally please remember the cause - soldiersbestfriend.org I will go into this in more detail and perhaps some level of haranguing later on, but for now here is the link .... and an additional link for donation SoldiersBestFriend - Donate Please :):) Oh and I would be a lot more comfortable if you use the "honorarium" option vs the "memoriam" option - you'll understand when you click on the link:):).
As you donate please enter my name in the "In Honor of Spot" so the folks at SBF can tally the results to encourage me and let me know WE are getting something done TOGETHER. I recognize we are really trying to honor the Vets but this is the only way SBF can tally the results of this drive (tour).
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