Half Way ! ! !

 I am now a full two weeks into my trip and the cadence of it has slowed somewhat. I did ride overnight from Galesburg IL to Glenwood Springs CO and after arriving on Monday I took two full days off to tour around the Glenwood Springs area, so not many photos from the train on this post but some from the lovely Glenwood area to enjoy. 
As I mentioned in my last post I was given a tip about renting a bike and taking the bus to Aspen and riding a bike trail back to Glenwood. Colorado must be the leading state for bike trails in the US and the one I rode, the Rio Grande Trail, has to be one of the best. It is about 50 miles and has a very smooth surface with hardly any hills along the way. From Aspen to Glenwood it is all downhill and runs through the valley very far away from any roads for quite some time and then it moves to be parallel with the Rio Grande river and that gave plenty of opportunities to see wildlife. It passes through and/or by, several smaller towns each with their own vibe and biking accommodating business. Unfortunately I got kind of a late start and as the bus was about 1/2 way to Aspen it started raining, and when I got to Aspen at about noon it was a full on downpour! I ducked into a nearby hamburger place and had a very bad $25 hamburger while trying to plan for the weather and/or figure out if I should just bus back. Pretty soon the rain let up but I went ahead and purchased a pair of socks and a lightweight windbreaker to help me stay warmer as I was nowhere near dressed for the weather that was happening. Once I got the tags off and the clothes on I headed out down the path under a very sunny sky, so life was good

 But, as is prone in Colorado spring weather, the rain started again and this time it had a little sleet in it...FUN! There were no businesses around for several miles but I finally came upon gas station where I ducked in and devoured a Snickers bar and a coke while waiting to see if the weather were to improve. Of course it did, so I got back on the bike and headed down the trail and of course the rain, sleet, and this time hail, started back up pretty soon after I left the gas station. This cycle (pun intended) continued for the rest of the day as I would stop at some place just in time for the weather to improve and then have the weather go to crap again once I got away from any towns. Unfortunately with the rain and varied precipitation I did not get many opportunities to take photos of any of the wildlife, so you'll just have to believe I saw a turkey, several deer and some really interesting birds. After about 55 miles I arrived back in Glenwood Springs and instantly hopped into a warm shower trying to get the mud off of my back and feet and warm my bones back up! Nonetheless it was a great ride that I would recommend to anyone with the inclination if they're ever in the area, just dress warmer, bring a jacket and start earlier.  

 

 Glenwood Springs is a very cool area and well worth the visit if you ever get a chance. It's cool how they have protected their little downtown area and yet just a few blocks away have allowed what appears is to be unfettered growth of condos, shopping centers and other construction to accommodate all the people moving to the area. The town has lots of old buildings with nice restaurants, breweries, shops and other cool places, and actually feels a little 'disneyesque' when compared to the area around the town. I had two good meals at the Pullman restaurant, which i would highly recommend if you were ever in the area and a couple of good beers at two of the breweries. The bike store was really cool as was the Doc Holiday store; which, brings me to another story. 

If Doc Holiday were still alive he would probably accuse me of stalking him, although I have not been. It turns out he died here in Glenwood Springs, so in totality I have been to three towns were he made a mark - Dodge City, Tombstone and now here. I did not have that intention, but it's kind of cool to know I've retraced some of his steps/travels, although with air conditioning and no horse poop on my boots!

I also visited the Ironwood Hot Springs for a soak in a couple of their pools. It's an overwhelming place in that they have 20+ different tubs with different levels of minerals and temperatures and have set many of them up to supposedly mimic springs found it other countries around the world. I did get to see a marmot and an "ohmmmm gnome" among other wildlife in the area.  

And, just so you know, you might have heard about a train accident near here, but, it was not an Amtrak train but instead one of the tourist "Canyon Spirit" trains that cycles back and forth between Denver and Salt Lake. I was not on that train, but my Amtrak train did get disrupted by the accident and apparently the tracks are damaged, so there's not telling when Amtrak will be able to resume train service to and from Glenwood Springs. In the meantime they are using contracted busses to fill in for the train coming through here. 

 

 So, that's it for now...in the mean time always carry a jacket, they're useful for a number of things more than just keeping warm (to paraphrase the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe")

(And please, put your name in your comments if you're posting anonymously :) )