Day 51 - July 24, 2013 - Eads, CO to Ordway, CO

Miles - 61

Total mileage - 

It was a cool start to our day today, and we were thrilled to check the weather and find that today's high was under 90 degrees!  It was overcast as we hit the pavement, and  stayed that was almost all the way to a small town called Haswell, which we were hoping had a convenience store that we could grab some lunch at, since it was really our only option for the first 56 miles of our ride!  And we thought the wind would be blowing in our favor today, but it was just our luck that it turned into a headwind or crosswind for the entire day - lucky us!!!

We lucked out in one way, and the propane store/gas station/antique store also sold pre-packaged sandwiches, other snacks, and cold drinks.  They also had a sweet Pomeranian to love on, and the most adorable 6 week old Border Collie pup!  Getting to hang out with animals always brightens our day.

The terrain is definitely different here than it was in Kansas - fewer farms, more cacti and scrub brush, more dust, and probably even fewer trees dotting the landscape.  We arrived at the one-house town of Arlington, and they thoughtfully put a pit toilet and picnic table in a little rest area for cyclists.  Some people even camp here, but without water or anything else around, it's a bit too primitive for us!

Sugar City was the next dot on the map - it was only 5 miles from our goal for the day, Ordway, but had a cafe so we stopped in for a quick sandwich and cold drink, and I may have had pie and ice cream too...

The stretch of road between Sugar City and Ordway might be the winner for the smelliest stretch of road on the trip.  Big feed lot full of cows that stretched nearly the entire 5 miles...and we were downwind.  Yuck.

We grabbed snacks at a truck stop in Ordway, and headed toward the hotel since storms were forecast for this evening.  We got settled, and not long after that heard thunder...full on storm rolled into Ordway.  These things follow us...they have been in a drought, and we arrive and bring the downpour!  The gutters were overflowing by the time it stopped raining.  We went out to try and hit up the grocery store (more food, seriously, some days we could eat everything in sight!), but they closed at 7:30.  The restaurant was closed too...I wouldn't survive in a small town!  Someone told us the VFW was having Mexican night, but we decided to pass.  We are some granola bars in our room, and are getting ready to pass out now.  50 miles to Pueblo tomorrow, with the possibility of thunderstorms, lets hope they hold off!!!