Day 14 - 9/19 - OFF DAY in Salida, Colorado
Good Evening Everyone! I hope that you had as good of a day as I did! Even though I slept poorly, it was an off day, so I didn't have to get up and ride a bicycle for 80 miles! Now let me point out that I enjoy doing that, but not necessarily on bad roads for 4 to 7 straight days without a day of rest! But a day of rest is what I got today!
The first thing this morning, Bob and I walked down to a laundromat to wash our clothes. On the way, we picked up breakfast at a coffee shop. Once the laundry was done, I came back to my room and reorganized all 3 of my travel bags. It felt so good to have clean clothes and less chaos in my different bags that are loaded on and off the truck each day.
Around 12:30, we rode our bikes into downtown Salida for some lunch. I polished off a 12-inch pizza with some homemade root beer and headed back to the hotel. About 30 minutes later, my son Billy appeared at my front door! I knew he was driving down from his home in Golden, Colorado, to meet me, but I was so fired up to see him! I got into a car for the first time since 9/5 and we drove to lunch, where I joined him for dessert! I figured I had to keep eating since I am burning 4,000 to 6,000 calories per day! Then we took a walk along the beautiful Arkansas River. While doing that, we asked a gentleman to take a picture of us. His wife had a Purdue shirt on and since my daughter goes to school there, we started chatting. They had moved out to Colorado from Indiana and it turns out that she had taught at Lawrence North High School, where my son had graduated from! What a small, small world! After that, we came back to the hotel and I got a call from my daughter Mia. It was a wonderful conversation and we talked for almost an hour! Then I was truly exhausted as yesterday's ride, limited sleep, and too much sugar caught up with me and I took my first nap since I began my ride. It was amazing how I felt after a wonderful hour of sleep!
Tonight, Billy and I invited my good buddy Bob Millard to dinner and we ate at a neat little pub down by the river. It was a delightful dinner and conversation and we then went to another place to enjoy giant chocolate milkshakes to finish off the evening! When we got back to the motel, I oiled my chain and rode around in the dark to make sure the bike was ready for tomorrow. So today was relaxing and fun, but I got things done too.
As I say good night, I just want to say how great it is to have such an awesome family and support system. It starts with my wife Mary, but I am blessed with 2 of the most incredible kids (now Adults!) that one could ever have. And I have remarkable brothers and sisters-in-law, and a fabulous daughter-in-law. Last, of all, I have the people that started it all, my parents! Today, I got to talk on the phone with my Dad for 20 minutes and afterward, I realized how great those 20 minutes were! In my opinion, being out here and being away from daily life tends to allow me to think a bit more and truly appreciate the most important things and people in my life. Good night and most likely, I will not be blogging again until Wednesday night as we have a remote campsite tomorrow night! Enjoy your Tuesday and thanks for reading!