We awoke to the sun shining on our tent and we quickly popped out, collapsing the tent to avoid getting in trouble for blatantly ignoring the No Camping sign.... After packing up and some quick breakfast, we continued along the flat gravel road until we pulled off at a stream alongside the road to filter water, precariously balancing on some rocks to get our bottles deep in the icy current. After this pit stop we zoomed along the flat twisty road and pulled over for a second to talk with a few bikers who were doing the Colorado Trail and had camped a few miles up the road from us on a grassy bluff. We wound up the hill and dropped into a wide open farmland with rolling fields, traversing past homesteads and small valleys filled with cows. In the late morning we reached the end of gravel and popped onto a twisty road that would take us along a river to a restaurant/general store in Sargent, Colorado. We stopped in and gathered lots of snacks and lunch foods, sitting at the restaurant tables eating our microwave burritos and various other treats. Eventually we bid goodbye to our lovely snack spot and ventured up our last leg of the day - a large climb that would take us over Marshal Pass.

The gravel road led us along another river and up a steady grade. I was feeling very sluggish and it took us a while to make any headway. In late afternoon we finally crested over the last slope and took some photos of Poppy by the sign announcing we were once again crossing the Continental Divide. We had to finagle ourselves over a section of snow that bridged a deep snowmelt puddle for about 100 yards at the top but were able to escape any wet feet. The descent was lovely and, despite being way slower than Ziven, I enjoyed the downward winding and felt speedy. We stopped for some animal crackers and other treats at a beautiful overlook, enjoying mountain views on the other side of the large valley that held Salida. We continued on with the descent and I fell behind but still enjoyed the smooth gravel, happily listening to my audiobook and soaking in the views before we were spit out onto a busier gravel road on the outskirts of town. The hills were dotted with cabins and lakes with canoes and stand up paddle boarders and we went around a huge almost 360 degree bend over a bridge crossing a deep gorge. Eventually the road turned to asphalt and we were even closer to Salida, passing more and more houses before crossing the highway and getting onto a bike path. We went about a mile before turning towards the Salida RV park where we registered with a kind lady who was astonished at our age and ongoing adventure. She gave us a spot on a grassy field between rows of RVs and a map that explained where the bathhouse and bathrooms were, where to charge our phones, where we could find porta potties, and where the bridges were that crossed over the roaring river at the edge of the park. We pulled up to our spot to find Jeff and Gary about to head out for dinner. They had beat us from Abiquiu by going through Chama, bypassing Indiana pass, and taking some alternate routes through the flats where we had been caught in the rain before arriving in Salida earlier that day. Ziven had wanted to hang out with them and was disappointed that they were already heading off to dinner but we set up our tent, stowed our extra bags, and biked off with light bikes to the pizza place that they had recommended.

We sat on the patio in the afternoon light to keep an eye on our unlocked bikes and ordered a ginger beer, appetizers, and a pizza. We chatted with an older couple we recognized from the RV park and they happily shared stories from their own cross country adventures in their RV. Our pizza was hot, large and magnificent and we happily dug in, polishing it off and waiting quite a long time to pay our bill after our waiter seemed to have forgotten us. Eventually I went to the bar and asked for our check while Ziven corralled our bikes. We biked to the nearby Safeway to restock on noodles and bars and other trail food, deciding to patronize the Sonic next to the RV park for a late night snack of ice cream. When we arrived and pressed the button at Sonic, it appeared they were closed so we crossed the still busy highway to the Walmart and I was sent in to acquire ice cream sandwiches. Successful with this purchase, we trundled across the road with our bikes laden with treats, navigated the street lamp-less driveway of the RV park that was so dark I was not only scared of crashing but of being swallowed up by the dark, tramped to the bathhouse to take showers, and watched some TV while eating our ice cream sandwiches.