Day 3 - Sand Creek - Old Fort - ! - Guffey
Dusty headed out shortly before we did at 9:30. We made a quick stop at Boise City OK, missing the state sign when we crossed the line. Watching the dark clouds forming in the distance, we hoped to make Springfield another 50 miles up the road before rain hit. We still took the time to stop for the Colorado state sign (and grabbed the Oklahoma sign on the opposite side of the road too!).
The rain began just as we reached Campo, finding a little, old time, truck stop there to layer up. By time we had used the facilities and were ready to go, the rain had stopped, but the air had cooled enough we still needed the extra clothes.
During a quick stop in Springfield, we realized we had gained an hour crossing over into the Mountain Time Zone. It was only 11:30! We went directly into Eads to get gas, only to burn up the time we had to go out to the Sand Creek Massacre site because my credit card had been flagged for fraud. Once we got that straightened out we found the Visitor Center in town and decided to go on, taking the back roads past Adobe Creek Resevoir, which had originally been planned as a camping spot.
We spent about an hour at Bent's Old Fort, exploring and taking photos. What had been planned as a quick stop for gas in LaJunta turned into a several hour ordeal when Skye's bike got hit at the gas pumps! Fortunately, the damage wasn't bad, but emotionally, we were fried! The woman had such an obnoxious attitude, the Love's manager came out offering to call the police. We agreed and filed a report. The employees were wonderful, gifting us food and drink while we sat calming ourselves after all was said and done.
It was after 6 before we headed out for Angel's in Guffey. We figured to make it in about two hours. Ha! A potty stop on the east side of Pueblo, a gas stop on the west side, and 33 miles to Canon City. It was getting dark as we turned onto CO-9 and went past the turn onto CR-102 thinking we'd get gas in town before heading up to Angel's, back tracking when there was still no town in sight after another five or so miles. We found Guffey on CR-102, but no gas, only a couple restaurant/bars.
On and on we rode, now in full dark, on the back mountain roads. Beginning to wonder if we had missed CR-85, lights were visible in the distance as we came upon it. Angel was waiting for us at the turnoff! We followed her through a couple of side roads that we would surely have missed without her leading the way!
Her folks were waiting up for us, and fed us a good meal even though it was after 10 pm. We were so COLD by time we got there! Between LaJunta and Pueblo the skies had been black and it was easy to see where the rain was coming down. There was a small, clear window in the middle, and I sang prayer songs like I did in South Dakota, praying we could make it through it. We avoided the down pour, getting only some drizzle and road spatter. Mostly dry by time we reached Canon City, we were just damp enough for the night air to chill us through.