Dillon Reservoir Dam
6 roadkill
Today is the day Lois is supposed to meet me. She called last night from Grand Island, Nebraska and will find me today!! She'll call on the cell phone when she gets closer. I'm keeping it right in my pocket while I ride.
Today's route takes me north on Rte. 9 from Silverthorne to Kremmling, then east on Rte. 40 (the old Ute Trail - which we have nothing on in our Trails Page) to YES!!!! the beginning of Route 34 at Granby, Colorado.
The first forty miles north to Kremmling were directly into a strong headwind. Very discouraging, especially since I had a late start to begin with and I wanted to meet Lois somewhere on Rte. 34.
After a milkshake in Kremmling, I headed east on 40 with a pretty good tailwind now.
It became mid-afternoon and the phone hadn't rung. After checking it, I realized I was in a dead zone for cellular coverage. Hope Lois figures that out. And I hope she figures out that I didn't make it as far as I wanted to be.
And, of course, she did. About five miles west of Granby, I saw the car crest a hill. She recognized me at the same time I recognized her. Two huge smiling faces. What a great moment. I hadn't seen her since the morning of June 6 when she and Ruth and Alyce took me to the airport.
After leaving the bike, Lois and I drove over Trail Ridge Road. Our destination was the BaldPate Inn, seven miles south of Estes Park. Our friend, Lois Smith is the innkeeper there, and she was holding a room for us for two nights.
The BaldPate is a magnificent old wooden bed and breakfast (22 rooms) hotel built in 1917. No wall is straight, no floor is level, but it is incredibly charming and restful with a magnificent view of Estes Park and its valley, about 1500 feet below. Lois Smith has done a terrific job of running the place. She has great taste and she is a gourmet cook. She cooks for about 300 people a day and still makes you feel like you're the only person there.
The website address is www.baldpateinn.com. There are some great pictures of it. Lois and Bob give it a 5-star rating.
On Thursday, Lois and I drove down to Denver and stayed in a hotel there overnight. We went to a sports bar a block from beautiful Coors Field and watched the U.S. v Germany World Cup quarterfinal. It was great.
The U.S. scored a disastrous own goal minutes into the game. This can destroy other teams (see Colombia v U.S., 1994 Men's World Cup), but not these women. They tied the game, only to have Germany score the go-ahead goal in extra time before halftime. This can destroy other teams, but not THESE women. We tied the game in the second half and scored the winning goal on a beautiful header. Wow!!
If you have not seen them play yet, you'd better catch the best thing happening in sport today this Sunday (July 4). We will play Brazil in the semifinal game in Palo Alto, and it will be a great atmosphere.
At halftime of the game there was an interview with Michelle Akers, the oldest player on the U.S. squad, already named the greatest female player of the 20th century. This is her third World Cup. (She was a teammate, by the way, of Downers Grove North's boys' and girls' varsity coach, Christine Tomek on the U.S. National team through the late 1980's. She's a totally class act. I have her web page linked on my Favorite Links on my Biography page.
Anyway, she has developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and was describing the constant battle this presents her every day. At least twice she alluded to the fact that her disease was similar to climbing a mountain. She just had to keep climbing. I told Lois that since tomorrow I would be climbing a huge mountain, I was going to dedicate that climb to Michelle Akers. And so I will.
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