Day 29 (6/30): Fort Collins, CO; 50 miles

Finally out of Wyoming and into what Sollner has dubbed “God’s Country:” Colorado. Woke up refreshed and after some crew chief morning chow we were all psyched to hit the road.

The border was only about 10 miles south of Cheyenne…so the whole team stopped to take a pic at the CO sign and stretch out…right down the way from a Gentleman’s club strategically placed at the border, haha. The rest of the ride went pretty smoothly…save for a little flat trouble for pops…and the whole team stayed together.

About 15 miles out form “Fo Co” I got a surprise visit from none other than Sunshine himself…Mike Wilbourn…the tri-alpha with the flowing blonde locks that drive the girls crazy. After some quick catchin up we were eager to finish up the ride (Mike told us there were steaks waiting for us at the CSU chapter house). Before long we were in the great city where I had once before partied till the wee hours of the morning. Our lodging is at the local senior center…truly a nice place. Chad Small’s girlfriend (sweet and pretty as can be) was there to greet us…a touching romantic moment haha. After a quick shower we were ready to head to lunch at the Pi Kappa Fly hizzle.

Rolled up to the chapter house where a bunch of the brothers were out to greet us…including Mike Rager and Matt Gant…rockin dudes from GUF ’06. Also got to see Tony Macias and Matt Cook…and had to call Dom “St. Megatron” Garcia from his old room on the third floor (he’s currently kicking butt as a reporter in Albuquerque, NM. We ate some awesome ribeye steaks and salad…enjoying the day outside on the front porch. Sunshine was telling old Trans ’06 tales…probably some Sollner didn’t want to have told (at least not until DC, haha). After a hilarious t-shirt presentation for Wilbourn and Eric we had to head back to lodging for a friendship visit.

Folks from Adaptive Recreation Opportunities made their way over to the senior center to have a fun billiards tournament with our guys. I shot around with the fun-loving Heather and the cool-cat Jay mostly…the big event of the visit was the championship match between Geren/Destry and Nick/Kevin….when Kevin cleaned up the table to victory Destry looked as if a train just ran over him, poor guy. The young volunteers for ARO were very nice and even awarded prizes at the end (we all got some sweet mini-carabiners…mine’s blue).

After we said our goodbyes it was time to head out on the town. Sunshine and some other CSU boys came to pick us up….ridin in style in truckbeds…over to the chapter house. There we had a ceremonial drink before heading over to Sullivans…a great irish bar near and dear to my heart…right down the street from the house (pi kapps are apparently the number 1 regulars here). At “Sully’s” Chad’s girlfriend Lara bought us all a round of drinks…followed by a “beaver race.” Such a good time being back hangin out with the Colorado guys. Afterwards we all caught cabs to the ‘Old Town’ district of Fort Collins…where we roamed around a few more fine establishments before hitchin a ride back to lodging before curfew at 1!