Salida, CO

Salida has many motels and had a huge Harley Rally going on. We found a place on the edge of town on Hwy. 291, just off Rt. 175, called the Backroads Motel & Grill. It wasn't fancy, but was a roof over our heads. The rooms were quite large and inexpensive. We found a bike shop, a Super Walmart, gas & several restaurants in town.
BETH writes - Bethany and I awoke early and rode on another 20+ miles of washboard through the high prairie. At least today there is no headwind. Once again, as has been the case for the last 6 days, Bethany is killing me climbing the rolling hills. It is nice to see another women be a very strong biker - too bad she lives in North Carolina or we might have had to make her join our fun at home. About lunch time we reached our hill for the day. A seven mile climb to a watershed divide at 9,900 ft. The map described a steep climb, but in reality it was not that bad compared to what I have seen over the last 1500 miles. The climb was beautiful through the Aspen trees and granite outcroppings. We spent almost the whole time chasing these crazy cows to the top. A nice 12 mile downhill ended our 44 mile day in Salida. Salida is a cute town with lots of art shops and cafes. We had chinese and hit the hay early. Tomorrow we all go to Pueblo to drop Sue and Bethany to catch a bus to the Denver airport, and pick up Mike Lanigan, my next friend that I will chase up the hills. Thanks Bethany for a fabulous week and 250 miles!!!!
JAN writes - Today is Sue's last full day in Colorado. We were slow to get started today. First we explored downtown Salida and then headed out to do some rock hounding. There are abandoned mines in the hills above Salida, and we ran into several other rock hunters. Sue's Dad (my uncle) is a retired geologist, so hopefully he can identify some of the specimens we found. I know we found some agate, mica, milky quartz, and am hoping the red rocks have either Jasper or Corundum in them, as it's found in the area we were in. At any rate, I've added more rocks to the collection in the car and Sue's suitcase is going home a bit heavier! Photo is of Sue collecting rocks near old mine shaft.