Lunch at the Dog

Sleep on the lacquered benches of the Trinidad State Junior College was difficult enough. What made it more challenging was when the TSJC Lady Trojan volleyball team took the court below our

sleeping perches for a 5:50 am practice session. (see photo at left) I awoke to the sounds of smashed volleyballs, the squeal of athletic shoes on hardwood and stern lectures from the coach about "moving your feet." I thought she was yelling at me to get out of my sleeping bag. So much for sleeping in.

There were two distinct highlights today besides the fact I didn't have to ride my bike.

1) Trinidad has the friendliest laundry in the world. Seeing a platoon of wrinkled men (and three women) marching on his establishment at 8 am with sacks of dirty laundry must have warmed the deepest regions of the laundry manager's heart. By 9 am we had most of the machines up to speed, the promise of clean and dry clothes only minutes away.

2) Thanks to Steve's connections, we met a friend of a friend who zipped us out of town with the intention of lunching at the Stonewall Café, in the tiny community of Stonewall, about 32 miles west of Trinidad. Roy gave us a running commentary on the history of the town. Turns out Trinidad was built on coal, and now fracking of natural gas.( I remembered the "no fracking signs here" when Russ and I pedaled through a residential section of Las Vegas several days ago.) It turns out this area is pretty fracked out right now. They are still mining the coal, though production is far down from what it once was. Coal seems are easily visible in the mountain cuts. Turns out the Stonewall Café was closed, but we ended up at the Dog Bar & Grill in La Veta, which seemed a reasonably good second choice.

In the afternoon, I found the college library, faked reading a book and tried to make-up for my sleep deficit. Tomorrow we have 85 miles and it better not rain, though the weather report tells us of a major storm is wreaking havoc in other parts of Colorado.

Today's Stats: Miles 0. Road Kill: 0. Live animals sighted: I digress, but Russ tells us he saw a bear at the Boy Scout Ranch when he left the training center after dark in the rain. I was at the training center also, and left a little before him and distinctly remember passing what I thought was a short, hairy Boy Scout who was on all fours looking for something. I said "good evening" but the Scout only snorted back. Perhaps that was the bear. We will refer this to the committee for further analysis.