Sydney, Nebraska

Well, I've got a bit of writing to do.
Let's rewind, to Hot springs. I left hot springs and pedaled out of the Black Hills on a beautiful if cold day. My goal was Ardmore, where someone had told me there was a cornerstore where
I could buy dinner. I arrived at Ardmore late close to dark, as I had spent the better part of the day at the Mammoth Site and the Library. As I approached Ardmore I didn't think the town looked big enough to have a cornerstore. As I pedaled down the main street, I found that it wasn't. A couple chunks of buildings actually broke off in the wind as I pedaled by. Gutted Buildings and abandoned cars were all there was. At the very last house I stopped and pulled into the yard. I turned around and looked back at the town, trying to decide whether there was any building that looked like it might contain people. Then, in the window of the house in whose yard I stood, there appeared an old women! She waved, and Beckoned me to the door. "Come on in, aren't ya freezin?!"
I walked into the warm living room of an old mobile home. Before I got through asking her if I could camp in her yard she insisted that it was too cold, and that I would freeze to death, and that I could sleep on the floor inside.
i spent the next several hours hearing about the life of, and being questioned by, Laurine Hartman, the sole living resident of the once bustling town of Ardmore. Laurine's memory wasn't all that sharp, and after some calculating we decide she was 90. she said she was born in 1918 and moved to Ardmore from Montrose Nebraska when she was 18. She has lived there ever since, and has never ventured farther that Rapid City. I was asked more that 30 times where I was from, what I was doing way out here, whether I worked in the area, and if I had met such and such family members of hers( I always hadn't). Laurine talked not in circles, nut in spirals. The conversation would run over the same topics and stories of her life, but new bits of information was slowly added, so that I got a pretty decent idea of Laurine's life and what Ardmore was like back when the railroad stopped there. I realized after sitting and listening to her for a coupl ehours that she thought I was a girl. Although I was somewhat worried at this point that her hospitality might wiaver, I corrected her. She though tit was very funny, and insisted that I did have many girlish figures. Thanks Luarine. anyway, She set me up with dinner and breakfast, and a warm place to sleep, and she talked my ears off, which was just what I needed. One thing that kept me a little nervous the whole time was the often mentioned son Bob who stopped by to deliver her groceries, water etc. I didn't think Bob would take to kindly to a guy sleeping on his mother's floor, and I didn't know whether Laurine would be fast enough to explain who I was since she seemed to forget that every few minutes with me sitting right in front of her. Bob never showed up, and I said goodbye and thank you to Laurine after a long after breakfast chat(her talking). I will not soon forget your hospitality, Laurine.

Leaving Ardmore I pedaled south to Crawford and then on to Hemmingford. the area between Crawford and Hemmingford is not typical Nebraska, as the road passes through what are called the sand hills. The day was foggy, with a constant misting rain, and as I climbed up and coasted down the small rolling hills, visibility was often no farther that 200 feet. Beyond that distance, trees, the road, and hills disappeared into a dense fog. As I climbed the hills the tops would be obscured, giving the impression that I was climbing much higher hills than I was, and as I coasted down the bottoms would be hidden as well. It was an exhilaratingly beautiful ride.
By the time I reached Hemmingford, I was freezing, and pretty well soaked, but my spirits were high. The next day I woke to a flat tire and lots of rain, so i took a day to rest. the next day I got on my way again and made great time to Dalton, which is about 20 miles south of Bridgeport. From Dalton the ride to Sydney was short. And here we are.

I stopped in Sydney yesterday because of another one of those scheduling issues. I am planning to rendesvous with James Mitchell at his college in Boulder. However, James will be absent form Boulder from thursday to sunday. At my present pace and on my present course I was due to get to Boulder on thursday. Thus, I stopped. Now I plan to take a slightly less direct route to the mountains north of boulder, and spend a couple days enjoying the mountains and museums and such at a slower pace en route to Boulder. See, it all works out!

Now, I spent last night in Sydney. I had decided to camp in a sort of alcove next to the library. the sky was clear with now rain or snow predicted, so I decide to leave the tent packed. Everything was going just fine until at about 1 in the morning, the sprinklers started, one just a foot from my head. Gaahhh!!! The next few minutes was spent running my sleeping bag and other crap to the front bench of the library, which was out of sprinkler range. It was around 25 degrees, and everything that was wet quickly started to freeze. I was zipped into my sleeping bag, sitting on the bench, so that didn't freeze. Pretty much everything else, though, was frozen in minutes, from my therma-rest to my panniers. The whole bike had been sprayed and was covered in a thin layer of ice.
I stayed on that bench, trying unsuccessfully to sleep, until a very friendly and Cop pulled up and told me( after asking about my trip and such) that he hated to make me go anywhere at this hour, but that it was gonna freak people out. He told me where the one convenience store was that was open at 4 in the morning, wished me safe travels, and was gone. He really was very nice and understanding. One of the Few cops that I have met in my life that was relaxed in the situation. Maybe it's a smaller town cop thing, but If I was in Minneapolis I would probably have been asked if I was on any drugs or if I had any weapons on my and such.
Anyway, I spent the morning in the convenience store, drinking coffee and eating a breakfast sandwich, and then migrated to a 'Daylight Donuts' when they opened at around 5:30. There I sat, slowly working on another three cups of coffee(free refills) and two pastries, until the library opened at 9. And here I am, a little groggy after essentially no sleep, but warm (now) and well fed.