Day 52, Scott City to Tribune.

Click on map to see where we are.

Entering Mountain time. We are now only four hours earlier than Hawaii.

This is a grain storage facility. To the right, out of frame is a huge storage area with many cells much larger than the ones shown.

Here's a close up of a truck being filled with grain.


The caboose says Santa Fe on it. It reminded me that we are actually on the original Santa Fe trail as we ride.

These two deer grazing in a field.

The plains and horses. They go together like.............., like..............., well.........., like Ted and bikes.

Just some of the sights we stopped at along the way. This was St. Mary's Cemetery. This is a Catholic cemetery. we saw a lot of unmarked graves placed very close together. We thought maybe they were small children.

Another feed lot. We passed dozens of these today.


The Lazy R Motel, where we spent last night. Very nice, but no ice box or microwave.

This doe had just crossed the road. I missed it while it was crossing.

This was one of two fawns the doe had. The other one got hit by a car.

I think this is a mule deer judging by the big ears.

Another Hawk or something.


These two east bounders must have found the head wind too much to handle. They hopped a ride with this pick up. Shame, shame, shame................

I don't know what this was, but I was impressed. shortly after we rode past it, a warning siren went off. I was just glad it wasn't nuclear fall out.


Here' those guys again, I'm just hopping when it comes my turn, I can do the same.

Okay train, where are you? I'm waiting...............

Down town Tribune. All these little towns look almost the same. That's why I can't remember any of their manes.

Lisa riding into the great beyond. Where ever that is.................



Day 52, Scott City to Tribune, Kansas. “Cloud Cover and Tail Wind” 47.79 miles. Total=2207.1 miles.

We had a very good day today as far as riding goes. We had a strong tail wind that pushed us all the way into Tribune. We are now in the Mountain Time Zone. The cloud cover was a welcome relief from the previous days of heat. With a tail wind, you feel the heat more, because you don’t have the cooling effect of a breeze, so it does feel hotter. Most of the time, you are rolling along at the same speed as the tail wind, giving the impression of no wind at all. But with cloud cover like today, it keeps the heat down to a minimum.
While we were having breakfast at a dinner in Scott City, we saw ten west bounders rolling through town. They all were not carrying anything, so we knew that they were a supported group. We never saw them again the rest of the day………………. When we left our motel, we took our time checking out the town. At this early morning, there wasn’t much going on except the farm machinery getting ready to hit the roads. Once out of town, we immediately picked up speed from the strong tail wind, and maintained an average speed of 15 miles an hour, about twice our average speed so far. I stopped occasionally to take pictures. And each time I did, Lisa was able to get about a half mile ahead just from maintaining her present speed. But since the terrain is so flat, I could see her with out any problem at all.
We did not see any east bounders today, my guess is that the tail wind we were experiencing was really playing havoc on the east bounders going the opposite direction. No fun, if you know what I mean………….. As we cruised along, we saw a large wheat storage facility that had a truck being loaded with grain. It’s amazing. Some of the storage bins are huge. Each cell can be 2o feet or more in diameter, and a hundred feet high. And there can be as many as forty or fifty of these cells together at each facility. We also rode past a small wind mill farm which we later found out that was only put in with in the past year. All that power goes to Colorado through under ground power lines.
A few miles before entering the town of Leoti, Lisa saw two deer. A doe, and a fawn. They were in a soy bean field, not 25 yards off the highway. We stopped, and they just stood there looking at us. Even after getting my camera out, they did not seem to be bothered. Finally they both crossed the road and disappeared into an open field. What a sight to see these wild animals in their own environment. It’s a shame that there aren’t more places where wild animals can run free un molested………………. We rolled into Leoti at 10:30AM. Too early for lunch, we were still full from breakfast, but knew we should have something since we had 25 more miles to go, with no services in between. We found a Quick stop and had a light lunch there. While inside, we met a young man who was sitting in the booth next to us and started a conversation. He lived in the town, and gave us the run down about the wheat harvest and everything else that went on around there………………………. Since we were way ahead of schedule, we spent some time exploring the town, but found everything to be closed, including the museum. We went into a Dollar General Store to buy some small needed items, then continued on. The temperature was still quite pleasant, about 90 degrees. And with the cloud cover, it only felt 80.
We rode passed several large feed lots. The odder from the ones on the south side of the highway was almost unbearable. There were times when we had to breath the foul odder for minutes at a time until we were well past the areas………………….. Ahead in the distance, we could see rain clouds, dark ones, and at one point thought that we were in for some showers. But by the time we got there, it had passed and we were dry as can be except for our perspiration. We could also see dust clouds off in the distance. Some were form farm implements such as tractors, combines, trucks, etc. And some from the strong wind blowing across the plains……………………………….... Just before entering Tribune, we saw our first two east bounders, we waved and exchange greetings, at the same time wondering how they would handle the head wind.
We arrived in Tribune, located just outside the Colorado boarder at 2:30 in the afternoon, and checked into the Trails End Motel where we will spend the night. After getting settled and showered, we went hunting for a place to eat. We had soft tacos with salsa and chips. Not the greatest, but it did the job. On the way back to the motel, we saw These two east bounders hitching a ride on a truck. I guess the head wind was just too much for those poor fellas. Good night for now., Aloha, Ted.