C
Cycle America/N
Guest
Jim and Greg are in Steamboat!! They made it ahead of schedule and tomorrow they will meet Chris and
Bryon who will be riding with Jim into Salt Lake City after all five of them meet city officials
tomorrow in Steamboat Springs and then enjoy a complimentary lunch at the Creekside Cafe & Grill.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
We found gold in Parshall
Hi Everyone: Life is so good, I can hardly contain myself. I am sitting in the Smokehouse restaurant
in Steamboat Springs. We are a day ahead of schedule, but we needed the rest.
So let me go back to the start of yesterday, Wed. We had had a great breakfast in Sulphur Hot
Springs, but by the time we got to the edge of the town of Parshall about 5 miles away, we decided
we needed a piece of pie. Of course the only place was a couple of miles up into town. So we headed
west on Hwy 40 and when we reached the business loop, we hesitated. Should we skip it? No, we might
miss something. So off we went and stopped at the general store.
Inside, we met Dorthy, a 78 year old store owner. She had been married to Mohamid Al Khazal, from
Hillah, Iraq. He had immigrated here in 1950. When he proposed to her, she told us he would not take
no for an answer so she married him. They had four children when they decided to then move back to
Iraq. The children learned to speak Arabic but life there was not as good as in the US so they moved
back. One day when her sons and husband went fishing in this area, they bought the general store and
motel across the street whereupon they relocated here to Parshall. They had four more children, the
end result being four boys and four girls that rewarded her with 28 grandchildren and 15 great
grandchildren. Her husband, however did not get to enjoy all of them. He died 10 years ago.
I noticed some paint on her hand and she told us she had been painting the motel. Her kids came up
to help sometimes.
We loved some of her sayings hanging on the wall:
It is okay to notice my dust, it is part of my country look. House work never killed anyone, but why
take a chance.
Her maiden name was Iverson and she had lived in Iowa before coming here. We asked her about her
feelings about our actions in Iraq. She said it was the right thing to do. She recalled walking down
the street in Baghdad and knowing she was not allowed to walk on the other side because that was for
the elite. She also recalled meeting some generals in the army and complaining to them that whenever
she went shopping the shop owners raised their prices. Some time later she saw a notice on
television that doing that was a crime. No one could complain, however because she said if if they
did they simply disappeared and no one dared ask why.
Finally we read a sign on a pot near the door. It said, "Ashes of Troublesome Customers". We thought
we better move on.
Just imagine how sad it would have been not to have met Dorothy. We took a picture of her and a
picture of her grandfather, who she was very proud of.
The world is full of interesting people, all we need do is ask them about their lives.
We cycled for most of the day into the wind regardless of which direction we seemed to cycle. So
before reaching Rabbit Ears Pass we opted to camp in a road side area behind some graders from the
highway department. It was a beautiful spot with a creek in front of us and lots of miniature ground
hogs for company. Off in in the distance stood the mountains as a backdrop. Even tho our dinner was
limited to Kipper snack sandwiches, plums, and half an apple, the beautiful sunset that followed
made up for it. And we even saw some of the snipes Greg had been listening to.
It however was the coldest night I had spent up here at altitude. I even added several jackets
during the night and still froze. This morning there was frost on our tents and on my cycle cover.
The day before, we had bought some granola and yogurt, a banana and some peanuts. We had that for
breakfast.
On the way out of Kremmling we met four young ladies cycling for Habitat for Humanity, Bike and
Build. Kari Williams, Tori Shepard, Courtney Wasouski and Heide Kent. Theirs was a group of 20 girls
cycling from Virginia Beach to Portland and stopping to help build houses. They had a sag wagon,
while we were fully loaded. I am sure they were surprised when, even tho we carried all our gear,
unl.ike them, we could almost keep up to them. It was fun to challenge them a little. It was almost
like the turtle and the rabbit. We stopped playing, when we found our camp site.
Today we only had 35 miles to go over several passes. Rabbit Ears (9,400 feet, ed) the last one
before Steamboat is right at the continental divide where the water starts to flow west. On the
way. we were somewhat surprised by how often we saw and had to climb another pass. The last 7 mile
down hill into Steamboat Springs was a real pleasure. We even had to stop about halfway down to
cool our brakes.
My clothes are clean again. My good friend Don Mooney from White Bear Lake, MN, who has a place in
Steamboat Springs, is letting us stay there. What a nice guy. Thanks Don.
Its time to wrap this up, tomorrow is presentation day from the Steamboat Springs officials and we
want to look good. Jim and Greg
btw: If you look at Jim's website below, you will see the banner they have hanging for Jim in the
Pittsburgh Mayor's office, ed.
------------------------------
Local access to PocketMail mobile e-mail now available in Europe, North America & Australia
http://www.pocketmail.com
Jim Muellner can be found at http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/JimMuellner His email on
the road is: [email protected]
Greg Miller is at http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios/greg_mill er.php
here is a photo of him speaking at the Bouloder reception and send off:
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/Boulder2003/GallGregSpeak s_Jim
If you want to start from the beginning and/or follow Jim our other NBG relay riders as they move
forward in the National Mayors' Ride at <http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide>, point to
their blog at <http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/reports.php>. All of this
excitement will al be consummated at the second annual Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest on Sunday August 17
c/
<http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Festival>:
btw: If you want to become a rider, we WANT you!! Go to
<http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/getstarted.php>, to find out how!! btw2: We
have pictures from the various ride legs on line at
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/2003Mayors btw3: If you want to see who these
cyclists are, go to <http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios>.
--
MARTIN KRIEG: "Awake Again" Author c/o BikeRoute.com 79 & 86 TransAms, nonprofit Nat. Bicycle
Greenway CEO
Ever wanted anything so bad U were willing to die for it? Really die? By moving thru clinical death
and reversing paralysis, *I saw God* when I answered that question.
Bryon who will be riding with Jim into Salt Lake City after all five of them meet city officials
tomorrow in Steamboat Springs and then enjoy a complimentary lunch at the Creekside Cafe & Grill.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
We found gold in Parshall
Hi Everyone: Life is so good, I can hardly contain myself. I am sitting in the Smokehouse restaurant
in Steamboat Springs. We are a day ahead of schedule, but we needed the rest.
So let me go back to the start of yesterday, Wed. We had had a great breakfast in Sulphur Hot
Springs, but by the time we got to the edge of the town of Parshall about 5 miles away, we decided
we needed a piece of pie. Of course the only place was a couple of miles up into town. So we headed
west on Hwy 40 and when we reached the business loop, we hesitated. Should we skip it? No, we might
miss something. So off we went and stopped at the general store.
Inside, we met Dorthy, a 78 year old store owner. She had been married to Mohamid Al Khazal, from
Hillah, Iraq. He had immigrated here in 1950. When he proposed to her, she told us he would not take
no for an answer so she married him. They had four children when they decided to then move back to
Iraq. The children learned to speak Arabic but life there was not as good as in the US so they moved
back. One day when her sons and husband went fishing in this area, they bought the general store and
motel across the street whereupon they relocated here to Parshall. They had four more children, the
end result being four boys and four girls that rewarded her with 28 grandchildren and 15 great
grandchildren. Her husband, however did not get to enjoy all of them. He died 10 years ago.
I noticed some paint on her hand and she told us she had been painting the motel. Her kids came up
to help sometimes.
We loved some of her sayings hanging on the wall:
It is okay to notice my dust, it is part of my country look. House work never killed anyone, but why
take a chance.
Her maiden name was Iverson and she had lived in Iowa before coming here. We asked her about her
feelings about our actions in Iraq. She said it was the right thing to do. She recalled walking down
the street in Baghdad and knowing she was not allowed to walk on the other side because that was for
the elite. She also recalled meeting some generals in the army and complaining to them that whenever
she went shopping the shop owners raised their prices. Some time later she saw a notice on
television that doing that was a crime. No one could complain, however because she said if if they
did they simply disappeared and no one dared ask why.
Finally we read a sign on a pot near the door. It said, "Ashes of Troublesome Customers". We thought
we better move on.
Just imagine how sad it would have been not to have met Dorothy. We took a picture of her and a
picture of her grandfather, who she was very proud of.
The world is full of interesting people, all we need do is ask them about their lives.
We cycled for most of the day into the wind regardless of which direction we seemed to cycle. So
before reaching Rabbit Ears Pass we opted to camp in a road side area behind some graders from the
highway department. It was a beautiful spot with a creek in front of us and lots of miniature ground
hogs for company. Off in in the distance stood the mountains as a backdrop. Even tho our dinner was
limited to Kipper snack sandwiches, plums, and half an apple, the beautiful sunset that followed
made up for it. And we even saw some of the snipes Greg had been listening to.
It however was the coldest night I had spent up here at altitude. I even added several jackets
during the night and still froze. This morning there was frost on our tents and on my cycle cover.
The day before, we had bought some granola and yogurt, a banana and some peanuts. We had that for
breakfast.
On the way out of Kremmling we met four young ladies cycling for Habitat for Humanity, Bike and
Build. Kari Williams, Tori Shepard, Courtney Wasouski and Heide Kent. Theirs was a group of 20 girls
cycling from Virginia Beach to Portland and stopping to help build houses. They had a sag wagon,
while we were fully loaded. I am sure they were surprised when, even tho we carried all our gear,
unl.ike them, we could almost keep up to them. It was fun to challenge them a little. It was almost
like the turtle and the rabbit. We stopped playing, when we found our camp site.
Today we only had 35 miles to go over several passes. Rabbit Ears (9,400 feet, ed) the last one
before Steamboat is right at the continental divide where the water starts to flow west. On the
way. we were somewhat surprised by how often we saw and had to climb another pass. The last 7 mile
down hill into Steamboat Springs was a real pleasure. We even had to stop about halfway down to
cool our brakes.
My clothes are clean again. My good friend Don Mooney from White Bear Lake, MN, who has a place in
Steamboat Springs, is letting us stay there. What a nice guy. Thanks Don.
Its time to wrap this up, tomorrow is presentation day from the Steamboat Springs officials and we
want to look good. Jim and Greg
btw: If you look at Jim's website below, you will see the banner they have hanging for Jim in the
Pittsburgh Mayor's office, ed.
------------------------------
Local access to PocketMail mobile e-mail now available in Europe, North America & Australia
http://www.pocketmail.com
Jim Muellner can be found at http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/JimMuellner His email on
the road is: [email protected]
Greg Miller is at http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios/greg_mill er.php
here is a photo of him speaking at the Bouloder reception and send off:
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/Boulder2003/GallGregSpeak s_Jim
If you want to start from the beginning and/or follow Jim our other NBG relay riders as they move
forward in the National Mayors' Ride at <http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide>, point to
their blog at <http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/reports.php>. All of this
excitement will al be consummated at the second annual Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest on Sunday August 17
c/
<http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Festival>:btw: If you want to become a rider, we WANT you!! Go to
<http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/getstarted.php>, to find out how!! btw2: We
have pictures from the various ride legs on line at
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/2003Mayors btw3: If you want to see who these
cyclists are, go to <http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios>.
--
MARTIN KRIEG: "Awake Again" Author c/o BikeRoute.com 79 & 86 TransAms, nonprofit Nat. Bicycle
Greenway CEO
Ever wanted anything so bad U were willing to die for it? Really die? By moving thru clinical death
and reversing paralysis, *I saw God* when I answered that question.
