Days 25, 26

Bear with me here. The past two days have been really awesome and I’m about 4 Torpedos deep…

Yesterday, as showcased by the photos in the preceding post, we met up with some really awesome upstate NY-area kids (Chris, Emily, & Matt) on a similar trip to ours (they are in the process of moving to the Boulder, CO region by bicycle). We all have lots in common and decided to ride together for the parts of our trips that correspond, which is, roughly, the next week of riding. We had fun ride to Larned, KS, where we camped, ate pasta, and jammed out with their travel-guitar and Karl’s melodica.

Today we broke off from them, however, about halfway through the day’s ride. We had a previous arrangement to couchsurf in Hays, KS that we were definitely not passing up (especially because I had a new, fully-loaded iPod waiting for me!). Again, our arrival was to the tune of a delicious vegan meal. We are staying tonight at the abode of our friend Jessi, and the vegan deliciousness was provided by her sorta-roomate Brendon, who is a super-cool cat.

Tomorrow we do some much-needed laundry and running around, then a half-day of riding. We should be able to catch back up with our riding buddies by Saturday. This trip is getting better and better everyday. We should be in Colorado this weekend, ready to kick the asses of the Rocky Mountains. Karl is insistent that we “taste the Rockies” once we’re in the thick of them (aka drink Coors), since I will most definitely be drinking Sierra Nevada in the Sierra Nevada Mountains (as I am right now). I am not excited at all by the idea, but I will go along with it for the sake of consistency.

After showering for the first time since Farmington, I am now ready for the first indoor sleep session since Farmington, which is looking to be incredible.

Good night!

T.