"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto."

Almost two weeks ago now, we departed from our last overnight in Kansas in Scott City just after a strong morning thunderstorm had rolled through and brought us an incredible gift: our first and only tailwind of our trip! Knowing it might be our only chance to have the wind at our backs, we rode the wind as far as we could, and by the end of the day Carmen's odometer read "107 miles," marking the first Century Day of the ride.

Halfway through the long day of biking with the tailwind, we crossed over the border into "Colorful Colorado," which made us laugh, because as we looked around from the brown and white sign we saw nothing but dry, brown-gold grass as far as the eye can see. One may think of Kansas and Colorado as being dramatically different, but at the border there is nothing that distinguishes the two other than a few signs. The beautifully wide open prairies of Kansas simply expand westward into eastern Colorado. Eventually however, we got our first glimpse of the mountains as they appeared like low clouds on the horizon, and within a day they were towering before us with the reminder, "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto."













We have been weaving our way deeper into the heart of Colorado and have been soaking up the ever changing landscape from the flat, open prairies to the jagged, crumbling peaks and red rock that surround Telluride where we are now. Our travels through the Rockies have brought us up and over steep mountain passes on twisting and winding roads clinging to cliff sides with expansive views of canyons and valleys. And as if the views were not breathtaking enough, Carmen felt the altitude of Monarch Pass (11,312 ft.) as a challenge but both experienced the climb as a triumph once the summit was reached.



We have continued to meet incredible people who bless our journey with their kindness. One such family was the O'Connor Family of Westcliffe, CO, who shared with us their home and their stories of growing up in Ireland.






Another incredible encounter was meet up with Jose Perez and Paul Ruiz after completing the decent of Monarch; incredible because Carmen and Jose discovered they were both from Saginaw, MI! Jose, a retired police officer from Saginaw, and his uncle Paul are on their first bike tour taking them from Colorado all the way to San Antonio, TX, and for a night they gifted us their spare loft in the last available cottage they had rented for the evening. It was an excellent opportunity for both riding groups to share information on the routes ahead and share many stories of travel and plans for future adventures.

(Find Narelle in this picture above).

(Find Carmen in this picture above)

We also had our first opportunity to ride unloaded when a guest rider, Tara Butson, a friend and past co-guide of Carmen's from Summit Achievement in Maine joined us for the day. After the day ride together (without panniers!) we camped at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, where one can see the tallest canyon cliff in Colorado. Tara and her husband Josh have now hosted us for a long weekend in Telluride, where we have rested up before we again hit the road with more mountainous climbs. Kirsten Fraiser, also a past guide from Summit and good friend of Tara, Carmen, and Josh, joined us for a night in Telluride, and gave us the gift of much needed and appreciated massage to help us along our way.



We have been in awe since we have arrived in Colorado, enjoying the splendor and giving the mountains their due respect. In a few days, we will be in Utah where another world awaits us there.

$4193 raised = 209 people served with clean, safe drinking water!