263 miles;  five hours in the saddle; warm and dry with very little wind; CO hwys 9, 14 and 123, WY hwys 230 and 130.

At the moment we’re sitting in our “suite” at the Sand and Sage Motel.  We were upgraded without our knowledge from an double bed room to a queen size bed room! Seems the room we were going to get was over booked. Sweet! [picture to come]

We stopped for an hour for lunch in Walden. I (Rick) lost my Chacos when I moved GeeGee from across the street to the restaurant. New lesson learned: make sure everything is tied down or stowed away before moving the bike! When I went back to find them the lady in the liquor store said some other lady came in with one of the sandles and said she’d leave it on the porch. But no sandle and no other lady to be found. I asked the lady in the liquor store if she knew the lady that picked up my Chacos. Turns out she was a local named Tudy Crowner. I was told she’s on a camping trip for the weekend, so we’ll have to wait until Monday to give her a call. Who knows she may still have them. Anyway we bought a cheap new pair of Teva’s in Saratogo so that he can be casual after riding all day.

In the process of looking for sandles in Saratogo we’ve apparently learned more about this town of 1600 people than some of the locals. There is everything we need for a comfortable evening including a natural hot springs within walking distance of our room, a grocery store for our dinner, and a portable swamp cooler in our room that holds three gallons of water and a tray of icecubs.