August 11th – Sugar City, CO to Pueblo, CO – 56 miles
So, last night we stayed in a small park in Sugar City, it was generally nice, but had amazingly green grass for the region. We saw the sprinkler heads and tried to place our tent in a section of unhealthy grass hoping that it wouldn’t get sprayed by the sprinklers in the night. We were wrong. There was a thunderstorm last night that dumped a lot of rain, so you would think that sprinklers would be unnecessary. Nope, in fact they came on twice. A wonderful example of how western towns use their scarce water resources efficiently. Grrr. Oh, and it gets pretty cold at night, especially during a rain storm. I was out there in the rain getting sprayed by sprinklers that it was too dark to see trying to figure out how to block/turn the sprinklers to stop them from pummeling the side of our tent. After crawling out of my warm sleeping bag three times I finally got it right. Needless to say, we awoke to find that the tent was now our personal swimming pool and we were adrift on our bedrolls/liferafts. Great. Perfect start to a day.
After the morning drama, the ride today was a relief, except for another flat tire from a cactus needle. I caught my first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains 44 miles out from Pueblo. Seeing the slight difference in color between the sky and the mountains on the horizon was a great inspiration and a welcome sight signaling an escape from the Plains.
We found camp tonight in the beautiful Arkansas Point Campground at Lake Pueblo State Park. The campground is amazing, but expensive at $18 a night.
Quality Water Means Quality Life
1.2 billion people do not have access to clean water. Help others avoid the choice between thirst or disease.
As we passed through the Ozark Mountains, among Missouri scenic rivers, we came to a gorgeous little spot called "Two Rivers." At this convergence of the Jacks Fork and Current rivers, the silt heavy rapids of the Current meet the clear calm of the Jacks Fork river and one can actually see the divide between the two. I couldn't help but think of the divide between our access to clean water and the lack thereof in the villages of rural Ghana.
Troy and I consume on average, about 12 to 20 (20 oz) bottles of water daily. That's 12 to 20 times per day that, unlike the people in rural Ghana, Troy and I avoid illness without even realizing it. Regardless of how many miles we ride, we have no doubt that stopping anywhere along the road for water will be easy and risk-free.
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