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Day 34 - July 11 - Pueblo, CO to Haswell, CO - 93 miles Click on the thumbnails to view larger pictures.
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| Eastern Colorado is flat, which makes it suitable for long days on the bike. Our plan
was to get started even
earlier today, trying to avoid as much of the heat and wind
that comes to these areas. Our destination was Haswell, 93 miles
away.
We got started at 6:00 this morning after breakfast at the Country Kitchen Restaurant. The sun was barely up, there was no wind, and it seemed cool. The pleasant conditions helped us make great time to Ordway. While stopped in Ordway we had lunch at the Saucer Block Cafe, and freezies (Blizzards to you DQ people) at the Dairy King on the way out of town. All those calories gave us just what we needed to finish the ride. We were in Haswell early in the afternoon. Haswell is a small community that is on the verge of being a ghost town. It looks as if during it's heyday there must have been a population of 500 or more, but today there are barely 50 residents. Businesses that were once the center of activity in this town are boarded up and falling down. There is a gas station/convenience store, grain elevator, post office, elementary school that has been converted into local government offices, fire hall, and the smallest jail in the nation. Many houses set empty with real estate signs in the front yard. There just aren't any people left to support the town. We stopped at the gas station to get a drink and asked the owner why the town is dying. He told us that there are no jobs, so people are moving away. He talked at great length as to how people would rather drive 50 miles to the nearest WalMart than shop in town, he didn't know how long he'd be able to stay open. The kids were being bussed to a larger school out of town so the elementary school had to close it's doors. It was sad to hear his story about this once bustling community on the edge of extinction. We asked if he knew of anywhere we could stay in town, and he recommended the fire hall. It's always unlocked and has been used by cyclists in the past . We rode over, let ourselves in, shooed out some pesky flies, and made camp for the night. There was no shower, but the restroom was adequate for washing up. Since there was no restaurant in town we had to make do with PBJ sandwiches, bananas, and candy bars for dinner. Soon after we got settled in three west bound cyclists showed up in town, two girls and a guy. They were going to stay at the park, but we invited them to stay inside with us. We had a nice time of sharing stories. All we need now is a good night's sleep for the long ride tomorrow. |
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