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With the Rockies behind us we were anxious to continue our progress. We left Pueblo without eating breakfast confident we’d find something on the way out of one of the largest cities we’d been in since we started our trip. We were a little too confident, and didn’t find even a convenience store for another 20 miles.

Now that we’re out of the mountains and on the high eastern plains of Colorado our path is fairly direct East. All through Utah and the Colorado Rockies our path would zigzag North and South as we followed canyons and valleys to approachable mountain passes. For most of the day we rode along a railroad line. For countless miles unused railroad cars sat idle. We joked about leaving our bikes and finishing the trip hobo style.

We considered ending our day at 90 miles in Haswell (pop 84) and strike camp in the town park, but decided the lack of access to a bathroom warranted us pushing another 22 miles to Eads (pop 747). We were tired and it was getting late so we knew it would be dark by the time we reached Eads. As the sun started to go down we saw what looked like 2 Great Horn Owls perched on the roadside telephone poles, getting ready to hunt for dinner. About 13 miles from Eads I got a flat in my rear tire, delaying our arrival further.

By the time we rolled into town is was dark so we decided to opt for a cheap motel and steak from a neighboring steak house, instead of roughing it in the town park.