July 5 - Jeff

July 5, 2013

Last night we went to the parade.  It was Americana at its best.  No Kahn’s Wiener wagon though.  Bikes, a float, a BMW, an ambulance, a water/fire truck, and some kids on 4 wheels and dirt bikes.  Then there was a flag burning ceremony that was very powerful.  Really neat with the boy scouts placing the flags one by one into the fire.  Went on for about 25 minutes with patriotic music and stories being played while they did it.  There were no fireworks because Colorado has a no burning policy in effect.  Then we went to the potluck dinner.  Jack made rice.  It was a smorgasbord.  For 3 hungry bikers, it was like heaven.  People could not have been more accepting or nicer.  Lots of people talked to us.  After the dinner, like true Von Handorfs, we helped clean up.  Then a lady who writes in the local paper starting talking to us.  She wanted to get our story and get our picture.  She went back to our place at the Church and interviewed us.  We felt like celebrities.  She is going to send a copy of the paper to Jerry and Sue.  She said it would be emailed to several other local newspapers.  It was without a doubt a Fourth of Jooly we will never forget.  Hard to put into words how unique and rewarding our experience was in Sheridan Lake.

We left Sheridan Lake reluctantly today.  It was a nice place to stay.  We left about 5:30.  Went through Tribune (pop 741) and Leoti (pop 1,534), and ended up in Scott City (pop 3,800).  We are camping in a city park.  Got showers at a local athletic club for $4. We are now in the Land of Oz (Kansas).  Roads have been good.  No café in Tribune.  Gas station coffee again.  Ran into a guy heading East like us from San Francisco. His name was Josh.  He had a broken spoke and needed a tool.  Fortunately, Sue was just ahead and Jerry and Jack helped him out.  I talked to an ex John Deere salesman who sat down next to me on the curb.  When he was ready to leave, I had to pull him up.  He couldn’t get up on his own.  Landscape is getting greener.  Wind is very heavy.  Mostly from the South, so it was more of a crosswind today.  I think tomorrow, it may be a headwind.  No fun.  Lots of stockyards along the way.  Traffic picked up later in the day.  Another musical note, “against the wind”.  Saw a wind farm.  I thought I saw about 100 windmills.  Jerry said he counted 33.   At the park, I talked to a guy, Hugh, who was 88 and going to walk 3 blocks.  He was from a nursing home nearby.  He said he liked to talk, and when he got finished, he said “thanks for listening”.  He told me about getting lost as a child, his experiences in WWII, his daughter and son, and how the wind only dies down at night.  Jerry, Sue, and I went to DQ to get ice cream.  Jack went to get his har cut.. Guess he has plans on going to a prom or something.  I don’t get it.  Going to be hard to put up tents in this wine.  Jerry is going to grill brats and metts that we didn’t get to use for the 4^th.  About 75 miles today.  Not sure what tomorrow will bring or where we will end up.

Jeff, Jerry, Jack, and Sue