June 1, 2005 12:49 AM - Somewhere west of Lawrence, KS

Had another cigarette break ... been talking to some guys I met at the baggage lockers in Chicago and the couple from last night ... I had to go into their car to let them know that we had a 30 minute stop ... have to put the book I bought into my suitcase ... the wheelchair spot is filled with luggage, but I might be able to move enough onto the racks to be able to spread out.

When I took my blood sugar this afternoon, it was 151 ... I didn't take my 2nd pill, so now it's 253! Ah, well, when I open my suitcase to pack the book I bought, I'll grab the bottle of Metformin and put it with my daily pillbox.

3:53 AM - Just stopped at Newton, KS and had time for an unscheduled cigarette break ... next one will be Dodge City, and we'll finally be in Mountain Time ... have to change the clocks on both computers, as well as my watch ... will probably use Denver prayer times.

I xfered the pix from my digital camera to Orion, but I'm near flood stage on thee hard drive ... used MailWasher to zap 72 of the 79 messages waiting for me since I last checked around noon on Tuesday ... was able to use the cell phone connection to show another passenger how to use the Internet Movie Database to catalog his 300+ video titles (my count is up to 231 as of this date) ... signal quality is erratic ... I tried to call Howard twice, but only got about 30 seconds each time before I lost the signal.

My ETA for Las Vegas, NM is around noon, so I think I'll do that pancake breakfast again (I forgot that I did* have solid food, but I've still yet to take a b.m. on this trip!)

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6:16 AM - West of Dodge City, KS

Well, we got gypped out of our smoking break ... they only stopped long enough to on- and off-load, not the 45 minutes promised by the schedule ... the dining car doesn't open for another 15 minutes ... the snack bar is open, but no coffee yet.

This is definitely "rolling prairie" country, not like the flatness of Iowa ... even saw moo cows on the ridge of the northern horizon ... time to take my meds and check my blood. <sigh!>

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6:44 AM - Dining car

Well, my sugar was 101, and they have Real Coffee, not Decaf ... I'm at a table with three gentleman, apparently related ... looks like we're all having the eggs ... think I'll call Phynque when I get back to my chair.

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7:39 AM - Turns out they were 3 brothers going to visit a 4th of 8 ... the breakfast was slow and cold, so I'm not leaving a $2 bill this time ... I've been giving the Red Caps $5 tips, but then, I have a lot of luggage, and they give me a ride in the cart instead of having to walk with my cane.

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9:37 AM outside of Trinidad, Colorado

The Great Coin Quest is going well ... bought $5 in quarters from the snack bar, and found 4 Denver Mints that I didn't have already ... a couple was wearing matching "dachshund" t-shirts, so I offered to snap their picture with their camera ... when I came back with mine to take one for me, they took one of me with theirs.

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~~:53 AM - Raton, CO

We got here 10 minutes early, so they called out the smokers. :-)

Got my picture taken in front of a sign on the hill over the town ... his name is Mike, from the Czech Republic ... 2-1/2 hours left before Las Vegas ... guess it's time to start repacking my stuff for an easy egress ... like put the book in the suitcase, and the DVDs back in the backpack.