Made
it as far as Springfield, CO, last night.
Back on the Final Four bike trip we’d stayed at a hotel in Springfield
that had squeaky wood floors and a cowboy flavor…the Stage Stop Hotel. Kim requested that this time we find another
motel, if possible. Don’t know why…I
thought the squeaky wooden floors were quaint.
But there was a life-sized poster on a door at the end of a hallway that
I didn’t like. I can’t remember if it
was Ronald Reagan dressed as a cowboy or some random cowboy dude but I had a
second of thinking it was a real person every single time I saw it. Other than that the Stage Stop was fine by me.
Anyway, it was full on dark and we knew from
experience that the next available services along our route were in Trinidad
which was 122 miles down the roads. Just down the road from the Stage Stop was
the Starlite Motel which had vacancies.
One room, please, for the couple from Michigan!
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We were both a little jet lagged due to
changing time zones but mostly tired from hours on the road...it felt so good
to stop. I could have gone to sleep as
soon as we got in the room but 7:30 was way too early for that. Of course, my body was certain it was 9:30
but that didn’t matter….I adapt to the time zone I’m in. Going to bed at 7:30 simply because I was
tired would have had me awake at 4 a.m. with nothing to do. So we managed to make ‘til 9:30 and as it
was, we were awake at 6:30 a.m. It was a good thing because the
people above us were awake shortly after. 😏
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Our truck is a dark green but lately it’s
been looking sort of white and feeling gritty.
Time to get the Michigan winter road salt off! Kim asked about a car wash at the hotel so that was first on the list of things to do when we left the
hotel. Next up was eating breakfast at
the Longhorn Steakhouse which according to the hotel clerk had a really good
breakfast skillet. I wouldn’t know about
that as I had the breakfast tacos. Yum!😋 And finally, we fueled up on our way out of
town. One hundred twenty miles of open
range and good roads to Trinidad and then south from there into New
Mexico.
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| Hwy 160 in Colorado...a good start to our day |
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Kim and I have joined the Fitbit craze and
have really been enjoying the challenge of getting those steps in. We each have an hourly goal of 250 steps and
a total daily goal…10,000 steps for me and about 25,000 for Kim. Yes, he really does have that as his goal and
he usually makes it plus some. Now one could make the argument that we don’t
need a fancy gimmick to get us exercising, we only have to develop strong
self-discipline about it. Yeah, easier
said than done on that one. See, there’s
something magical about that little vibration from the Fitbit reminding me that
I only need X amount of steps to make my hourly goal…when it alerts me I
actually get up and walk around the house until it indicates that I’ve made it.
I feel like I’ve let myself down if I
don’t. And hello! There’s a vibration
plus fireworks when I hit 10000. Time
for a happy dance when that happens! It’s
fun to watch my step count rise as I go about my day and from that I’ve
determined that 10,000 steps doesn’t come naturally for me…doing alterations
requires a whole lot of sitting time. So
I appreciate the nudge I get from the Fitbit to get up and move.
Needless to say, there’s a whole lot of
hourly reminders that have gone unanswered as we’ve been traveling cross
country. We take advantage of the
opportunities when they arise, though…a walk around a parking lot not only
stretches the legs but adds to the step count.😎 And we’re not even coming close to our daily
step goals…I think I walked around the hotel room last night simply to get to
2000 before I went to bed. 😒
Last year we brought our bicycles along for
exercise and did fairly well at taking daily rides. This year we have our water bottles, walking
sticks and Fitbits instead. I know it’s
easy to say that we’ll get up early to take a daily walk; it’s another thing to
actually DO it. But with the Fitbit
gently nudging us along, it could happen…it really could happen!!
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Last year when we left Picacho, we reserved
campsite #35 for the month of March 2019.
Our goal has been to arrive in Picacho on March 1st, but
leaving early afternoon on Monday and taking the time to meet with Callie and
the kids on Tuesday plus the route we chose left us wondering if we’d make
it. But thanks to some steady driving
from Kim, it looks like we’ll be there tomorrow in time to set up in the
daylight. Yay!!
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As long as I mentioned Kim’s steady driving,
I have to give him kudos for the excellent job he’s doing with this
trailer. He’s pulled the trailer
through some tight spots…I mean, like, inches to spare tight spots. Of course, every tight spot he’s gotten us
out of, he’s also gotten us into…but, still, I’m talking major trailer
maneuvering skills here. 👍
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Although it was about 25o when we
left Springfield at about 8:30 this morning, it was pushing 50o
within two hours. And while driving through
New Mexico it was in the 60s until well after sunset. Grateful for the warmth of the sun….
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Wildlife sightings: Pronghorn…lots of
pronghorn.
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| Today's route... |
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