It was a slow beginning rising from our surrounding of crypts. It was about 8 or 9 but we still took our time getting our things in order so our packs wouldn’t be so lopsided and weighty. I had to make room for ole HP to cram in there and Ang had quite a bit of foot surgery to perform via Leatherman.
After about an hour or so, though, we were off and heading at morning speed over the rollies and into a new county. My calculations were proven wrong in a good way as, after a bout with a huge dip in the road that was also under construction, we popped up the top of the hill with a jag in the road that we’d thought would be another mile away. Better than that there was a little gas station/espresso bar store there where we got some cool beverages for our efforts. Even better than that, though, was that the town we thought would be two miles past that jag was clearly well within three-quarters to half a mile from us.
A brief rest under the trees sipping our soft drinks and off we went into Berthoud to find the recommended cafe of Grandpa’s Diner. It was all the name suggests and we loved it for it. The town would prove itself to be the first of quaint little rustics I could share with Angie. Oddly, there was quite a host of counselors and therapists of varying sorts strewn through out the little town, but we thought nothing of it.
Grandpa’s was a good time. It reminded me of the little café in Atwood, KS that I’d eaten dinner and breakfast at. We got ourselves some club sandwiches then crossed the street to the library, where we sat some more and posted our updates.
Rested and filled we got back to the road around 3:30 with only seven miles to go before Loveland. Being mid-afternoon the sun decided she’d come down on us for taking so much time to ourselves and turned the heat up to about 90. Trees turned up on the sides of the road, but they pretty much just cheered us on giving no help in the shading department. We walked four miles that seemed like ten then dropped ourselves in a ditch for forty five minutes making calls home.
When we picked ourselves up again the damage had been done. Rest had not been our friend, as friendly as it had seemed laying there for so long. Our energies had sunk and Ang was barely making it down the hill. Luckily this hill was the guardian of Loveland so we stared into the tree laden town anxiously anticipating finding our way to the county fairgrounds to lay down.
One more mile and the town was ours but the ole sun god had beaten Ang around the crown with its heat stick. She could barely make it the next mile around the corner into the grounds before I let her collapse and relax for a bit while I scouted out a suitable site.
We’d been under the impression that camping in county fairgrounds was legal, free, and acceptable. Being in the grounds asking around I discovered this not to be the case. Apparently camping was not allowed, yet I still found hook ups for RVs and the like so I figured we might as well go for it and if anyone complains we’ll say we were confused and didn’t know any better.
Returning to Ang she was asleep and when she woke she complained of hallucinations, dizziness, and other such unpleasantries that I associate with too much sun. We got her to the new site and set up the tent so we could both plop in. Desperately in need of something to eat but too tired to get it, what with the camp stove being out of commission, I told her to lay back and rest while I read a chapter of Harry then I’d scurry out after dark and fetch us some ravioli. Pleased as pumpkin pie she thanked me and promptly conked out.
After my chapter the sun had subsided and going out into the town I spotted Mr. Moon large as ever coming up from the eastern sky. Some cans of ravioli, Snapple, and some Gatorade and I was back in the tent as the moon rose quite high in the sky. We had a quick meal together and she was feeling a bit better, but was still uncertain and upset that she’d puttered out. I reassured her she was doing great, but she didn’t seem to be believing any of it so she passed out again and I read some more before sauntering into sleepy land myself.