Day 30 and 31

So after a miserable night of trying to sleep in temperatures in the mid twenties I woke up and tried to get going. I say tried because it takes such an effort to do anything when you're that cold. As I was almost done packing up, a semi pulls into the rest stop and as it passes by it gives me a honk. Over the past month I've gotten pretty used to this so I don't pay too much attention and give a quick wave.

A quick tangent... As great as it is to get the support from total strangers when they give me a quick honk, I personally also freak out a tiny bit when it happens. A honk can mean too many different things. It could mean that something fell off my bike, I have a flat that I may not have noticed or that a grizzly bear is charging at me and they're warning me. So each time it happens I tend to run through a quick check to make sure. All I'm saying is, maybe throw a wave out the window just to be crystal clear. Haha

Anyway, back to the semi that was honking at me. Come to find out it was Lance from the previous night! We got to chatting again and he ended up offering me a ride about 20 miles up the road. I was a little bit behind so I accepted. And don't worry I took precautions to protect myself.

It was a weird experience being in a motorized vehicle and traveling so fast. We even stopped to grab some coffee and he still managed to shave about an hour off. Lance was a really great guy and I was so grateful for the ride.

As the day wore on, I stopped for lunch and to charge my phone. Since I was getting closer to the Rockies I decided to take the time to check the weather and try to work out the logistics. Let's just say that I was trying to figure out a way to make it work for about two hours and things weren't looking good.

After that, I got caught up in conversation with a father and son for a while. All this time spent on my "lunch" break meant that I wasn't going to make it as far as I had hoped. I ended up stopping in Las Animas, CO.

When I got there I asked the guy from the motel I was staying at where a good place to eat was. He referred me to a Mexican-American place called Carmen's. They had good food and everyone was so friendly. I swear the staff probably knew everyone's name in the restaurant but mine.

When I got back to my motel room. I was sitting back thinking that the room was REALLY nice for what I had paid for it. I was thinking "what a steal!" and then I was snapped back to reality by two cockroach looking bugs crawling across the ground. I don't know what it is about bugs but out of all the dumpy places I have stayed at during this trip, I found the bugs the grossest thing of everything I've come across. I've even come across a used towel with curly hairs still in it and it didn't bother me as much as the bugs. Haha And these bugs kept popping up. Needless to say, I was very careful when getting into bed that night.

On Day 31 I got off to a really late start but my ride for the day would still be manageable. Before heading out, I stopped for some food and this is where I met Dianne and Gary. They were a really nice couple and we talked for a little while about my adventures. After I was done eating I had to say my farewells because I needed to get on the road.

I was a couple miles outside of town and I was calculating the number of miles I had to put in and how many hours of daylight I had left. I figured as long as I hustled and didn't run into any significant snags I would probably make it to Pueblo just after the sun went down. At most I would have to ride in the dark for maybe an hour. And guess what... That's when I noticed I had a flat. Wonderful!

As I was going through the motions to fix it, I was running through all the possible adjustments I would have to make. Just after I had gotten the wheel off, a truck pulls off the side of the road and who was it? Dianne! She figured it was me and pulled over to see if everything was ok. I was fine with changing the inner tube but I was even further behind schedule now so I asked where she was headed. She was headed 15 miles down the road in the direction I was headed! When I asked if I could get a lift she didn't even hesitate in saying yes. I was elated!

I was now back on track and even gained a little bit of time.

Later on in the day, shortly after stopping for a late lunch, disaster came very close to striking. As a truck pulling a trailer was passing by I heard something unfamiliar. Then, in the corner of my eye, I see a piece of plywood flying at me. It was a sizable piece, measuring about 2 feet by 5 feet. The thing was coming right at my head when in the last second the wind caught it and pulled it down. At this point it was no longer going to hit me but it still could possibly cause me to crash because it was positioned right in front of my bike. I don't know how it happened but it ended up just falling flat, I ran right over it, and all I ended up with was a banged thumb. And it wasn't even hit hard enough to bruise. Talk about a sigh of relief/flip the bird type of moment (I didn't actually flip him the bird).

I got to my destination in Pueblo just as it was getting pretty dark. Thanks again Dianne! When I got to my room I looked over everything again regarding the weather in the Rockies. And with a heavy heart I decided to rent a car. Therefore, the next couple days I will be in a car. I will still keep you all posted but I almost don't want to post anything from those two days since I feel like I'm cheating. Anyway, until next time!