July 13

 60 miles to Anton, Colorado

Really tough day today.  Woke up to a 15-20 mph wind blowing north and it was with us all day as we headed due east.  The wind was not in our face but it was enough to slow you down such that you had to pedal down any downhills - no coasting today.

We were only on one road today heading east; no turns for 60 miles.  And nothing along the road for 60 miles, no places to stop, no trees for shade, no stores for supplies.  Just rolling hills up and down all day, and a relentless wind blowing across the prairie.   Around mile 35 Brian got his first flat tire but we put a new tube in and he was back on the road in no time.

Finally we rolled into our campsite in Anton, population 126.  Anton, like many "towns" around here, is more of a crossroads than a town.  We saw a smattering of small homes, the campsite, a wheat storage facility, and a small corner store.  The owner of the campsite was very nice and said we could have burgers and fries with her family for $10 a piece - which we agreed to.  While we were sitting around the table talking I looked outside and could hardly see our tents in the field due to a wind storm that had just arrived blowing huge clouds of dirt, dust, and wheat chaff from the processing facility across the street.  The camp owners, much too gleefully, exclaimed "hey, look at that - that must be at least 45 mph wind."  I was worried our tents would blow away - and we had laundry hanging near our tents to dry!!  Brian and I ran outside and gathered our laundry from the field and threw everything in our tents.  In about 10 minutes the storm had passed.  I found it remarkable how unfazed the owners were.  Apparently this type of thing is pretty common.  After dinner Brian and I sat around a while longer just waiting for bed time.  We got into our tents a little after 8pm just as a thunderstorm rolled in.  I was exhausted and slept like a baby.

Long road, rolling hills all day.