After a wonderful, restful interlude at the home of my relatives, George and Kristin Karakehian, I bid my farewells and started, once again, the journey to Raleigh.  It is amazing how, at the rate of 50-70 miles per day, one slowly but surely makes progress.

Today has two goals in mind.  I was to meet my father's cousin, Waunita Berkman, and her husband, Stan, for lunch somewhere.  I also was to end the day at the home of one of my fraternity brothers, Greg Mikkelsen.  (Luckily for Greg, he married a terrific lady, Joan, otherwise who knows how he would have turned out :-).  The total distance was estimated at 60 miles.  The day was supposed to be hot, in the mid to upper 90's.

The oddity about this day and the next three days is that I really had no plan as to how I was going to arrive at Tribune, Kansas, on day five.  It was only the night before, at dinner, that staying at Mikkelsens became a possibility.  So the actual route was not established, unlike the first 37 days of this trip.  This made it difficult to plan a specific time to meet Stan and Waunita for lunch, although they made it easy by driving. 

There was a long climb out of Boulder, followed by other lesser hills.   I was to meet the Berkmans in Morrison, CO.  Little did I know that there was a long climb before Morrison.  It rained briefly, but hard, and then I was in town.  I arrived late, around 12:30 PM.  We had a wonderful lunch, then I had to figure out the best way to get to Greg and Joan's house.

A group of bicyclers deferred to one of their group to give directions, and she directed me to a bike trail which I followed for over 20 miles.  Unfortunately, once I got near the road that lead south to the Mikkelsens, the bike trai changed and headed north.  Also unfortunately, I didn't realize this for a while.  One lesson learned on this trip is don't be afraid to ask for help if it is necessary, so I stopped at a house whose garage doors were open, indicating someone being home.  As I started up to the door, a lady walked out of the garage.  She not only gave me directions but also filled my water bottle and gave me a spare water bottle, which was needed.  The projected 60 miles ended up being 72.

Reservations for dinner were for 6 PM.  I arrived at the Mikkelsens around 6 PM.  They had moved the reservations back to 7 PM, leaving me time to shower and change.  Another fraternity brother, Al Ogden, and his wife, Peggy, showed up, and the five of us went to this beautiful restaurant overlooking the valley, and had the feast of kings.  It was great fun reliving old times and catching up on past schoolmates.

Tomorrow, I will be heading to Limon, CO, which appears to be some 50 miles east.  I will try to worship somewhere this morning.  It will be interesting to see if my bright clothing and bike shorts give any raised eyebrows.

In three days I will be in Kansas.  Tonight, I will be approximately halfway across America.

Will McMahan

Mikkelsens have a beautiful home and I was in bed by