Day 26 A Return to Del Norte

Day 26 - 6/26/08
Start - Tulsa, OK
End - Del Norte, CO
Mileage - 0 trail miles
We have concluded our time off and returned to Del Norte and the bicycle today. The Greyhound trip back was actually not too horrific. We only had to wait an extra 2 hours in Amarillo, TX from 1am to 3am. Not the most ideal, but at the least the next bus came and the driver was able to operate it. Then we moved onto to Pueblo, CO - arriving around 8am or so. The hitch hiking from Pueblo to Del Norte took about 6 hours and consisted of about 5 rides. Not too shabby and the longest wait was only a little over an hour on the side of hwy 160 before La Veta Pass. But the next ride was in a Dodge truck moving along at 90 mph, and of course we got to sit in the back and enjoy the view and breeze. We got dropped off at the grocery store in Del Norte around 2pm, did some shopping for produce, and walked back to Gary and Patti's house where the bikes are located. One big problem though- we were expecting to find my new set of Ortlieb panniers conveniently waiting for me that I ordered over two weeks ago. They of course were not present. I left my panniers in Oklahoma with my parents because the new Ortlieb's were being mailed via 2 day air to are at the same time as I do. It has been an absolute disaster trying to obtain these panniers- the company Lickton's turns out to be the middle man and has awful service. No promises are kept, and now I'm in a bind- any long distance bike tourist feels rather naked without his panniers, understandably so. So it remains to be seen what will happen with this situation. I don't want to burden Gary and Patti and I'm also antsy to hit the trail again. You'd think that paying a company nearly $200 for a service and a product would entitle me to some competency. But enough with the griping. Something will work out and no worries. I did obtain other new gear that I mailed to my grandparent's house. I got a set of baggy mountain bike shorts and also little things from my mother. Carol, a friend of my grandmother's, also decided to give Mark and I a gift of a Garmin GPS unit in light of our multiple "lost" episodes. It was extremely generous of her and now we should be set to easily find the trail in all conditions. It's quite a cool little toy and can be programmed to show our route and the whole shebang. Pretty darn cool. So now I'm dealing with Lickton's, the company mailing my panniers and I'm crossing my fingers that they show up soon. That's the word. Take care. Stewie out.