I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore or Colorado for that matter. Today we left Wray, Colorado, after a delicious pancake breakfast courtesy of the local Boy Scout Troop. We crossed the border and entered Nebraska, our fourth state line crossing, about ten miles into the day. Shortly after entering the new state, we took a mile detour South to cross into Kansas before turning around and returning to the day’s route. Near the half way point, a head wind started which greatly slowed our pace. Despite the heat and wind, the team managed to finish strong, ending in McCook, Nebraska.  

Upon arrival, we were greeted by some members of Memorial United Methodist Church. We would like to thank the members for sponsoring our spaghetti dinner and for allowing us to stay at the Church this evening. This great food and lodging were made possible by Cindy Pohl. To end the night, the team is going to watch a movie with a projector, also provided by the Church. Today was a very relaxing day for the team and they are slowly awaiting the 4^th of July which is in 3 days! 

Andy King 

This morning we woke up in Fort Morgan, CO at 6AM to get our bags and bikes ready for the day. We were treated to an amazing breakfast by the Fort Morgan Elks Club—just what we needed before an 85 mile day in the saddle.

The ride went really well. If we weren’t sure we were away from the mountains yesterday, we can be positive after today. We haven’t had such a flat ride the entire Journey so far. On top of this, we had an excellent tail wind. All of us finished quickly before it got too hot outside and had a few hours to kill before dinner.

We’re staying at the Wray Rehabilitation and Activities Center (WRAC) thanks to our wonderful sponsor Kara Hoover. A big group of us went to the water park and pool next to WRAC. It was relaxing and a nice break from the heat. Dinner was served to us at the WRAC by the local girl scouts and boy scouts and was also put on by Kara Hoover once again. It was a buffet of carb-loaded foods to get us through the next two 95-mile days. They had amazing hospitality and the team enjoyed hanging out with the scouts.

After dinner, Nick Brady and Chris Cooke did a bike safety presentation between readings of Wendy On Wheels by Kalen Kenney and JP Aspinwall. The kids seemed to really enjoy the books and get a lot out of the safety presentation. Overall, today was a great day. We’re excited to head into our fifth state tomorrow: Nebraska!

Denver was a blast but it is time to move on for the Journey of Hope North team. We were blessed to receive a free breakfast at the Residence Inn Hotel. This included potato pancakes, waffles, hashbrowns, eggs and so much more. Once we were full the crew headed to mark the many turns to get out of the city and the cyclists were on their way to Fort Morgan, Colorado. Today they would be biking 95 miles and the terrain was mostly flat. As we rode from Denver we began to see less and less and it was weird to not see the mountains anymore. The heat got up to a soaring 100 degrees but the entire team fought through the heat and mileage to arrive at the United Methodist Church of Fort Morgan. This lodging brought together by Phil Tarmann and we as a team are incredibly thankful for a place to stay. 

                Once the team settled in, many went to Sonic to buy some delicious drinks. Also the team headed across the street to the Good Will store to see if they could find some awesome new hats to wear across the country. With luck one rider Shane Essert found 10 he loved and bought them all. He quickly headed to the post office to send them all home.  

                At 5:30pm it was finally time for dinner which was being sponsored by the Fort Morgan Elks Club and the Bicycle Livery and organized by Charlie Palu. The dinner to our surprise was also a friendship visit and we quickly began to bond and make new friends as we ate our meal of sloppy joes. Once the dinner was done about an hour later we took our team picture and headed back to lodging. Today wasn’t just an ordinary day though it was fellow cyclist Matthew Flynn’s 25^th birthday. For Flynn’s birthday we went to the movie theater with the team down the street to see the movie Ted. It was a great time to bond and become closer as a team!  

                Once the team walked home from the theater we quickly got in bed to prepare for the next day’s activities. It is almost time to leave Colorado and move on to other states!