Karin, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!

Day 51: 65 miles, Great Bend, to Hutchinson, KS

Last we left y'all we were still in Kansas, in a library, waiting for our bikes to be ready. When we went to get the bikes, the guy at the shop told us about the Church of Zion down the street that's been letting bikers sleep there since 1982! He gave us the keys to the church.


Day 52: 50 miles, Hutchie to Witchie, (Wichita, KS)

Missi (Victoria's sister) was nice enough to host us in her lovely home in Wichita. It was SO HOT that day and we were so happy to have some refuge from the heat. She even made us enchiladas for dinner. (Thanks, Missi!!!!)

Missi, her daughter, Kylie, and her son, Joseph

Kylie and her friend made us delicious cookies.

Day 53: 72 miles, Wichita to Eureka, KS

Started out with a rainy morning, which we didn't mind too much, since we'd rather bike in the cool rain, than 105 degrees. Wesley got a flat and we went into a car garage to fix it. Met these guys who told us stories about when they used to keep lions in a pen behind the garage.

We stopped for lunch in El Dorado (pronounced do-rey-do) and continued on. As we rode a UPS truck stopped next to us and pointed to the clouds, "Be careful! There's a LOT of water up there!"

That afternoon it rained something crazy. We got soaked to the bone! We slept in the public park after an all you can eat chinese buffet.

Day 54: 50 miles, Eureka to Iola, KS
Another rainy day. Who says there's no fashion on this trip?

This is Dave. A good friend of Ceci's who came from San Diego to ride with us for a little while.

Stopped in Yates Center for a picnic lunch in the park, and we wandered to the stadium to find a bathroom. The stadium had been dedicated to the spirit of Jason "Buger" Rutherford.

Scariest bathroom ever!

Camped in Iola, so happy to find a shower house & laundry!

The sunset sky was unreal!

Day 55: 66 miles, Iola, KS to Nevada, Missouri!

We stopped at the gas station for coffee where I met Bev, who works there, and was telling me about her local animal rescue project. We were chatting for a bit, and she was telling other people in the store about our trip.

One thing led to another and someone called the local newspaper, The Iola Register, who sent reporter Richard Luken right over to interview us!

From there we biked to historical Fort Scott



One foot in Kansas, and one in Missouri!

Then we hauled arse to Nevada (pronounced Ne-vey-da!)

Day 56: 66 miles Nevada to Galmey, MO

This morning we found out that we made FRONT PAGE of the Iola Register!!! We are front page news!! Not sure how long this link will work, but you can read it at http://www.iolaregister.com/

We had breakfast in a nice little cafe, which had the grossest hand dryer we've ever seen! There was even a warning sticker on it that said: "Use only to dry hands and face. DO NOT hang from towel"

Missouri is SO pretty. There are breezy winds, shady trees, and wildflowers all along the roads.

Met some troublemakers in Weableau

We had lunch at Peggy's where I had gooseberry pie for the first time. The cute teenage waitress told us that we should camp at "the beach" aka Pomme de Terre lake. It was gorgeous. We're in the Ozarks!

Decided to have a wild night out at the Mule Lip (the teenage waitress from before told us NOT to go there unless we had a taser!) I played four songs on the digital jukebox (kylie, snoop, the cure, & m.i.a.) and Karin and I danced our little hearts out on the confederate flag dance floor. I miss dancing!!

portraits at the bar:

Day 57: 49 miles, Galmey to Linn Creek, MO

Stopped for coffee at the triangle where we met Harvey D.

Cows in the lake

what is blood worship?

it's like woah.

We stayed at the Ozark Trails RV park. So nice!They had a pool & a game room that had a TV and mouse trap! We watched a special on TLC about a half ton man.

Tonight we are staying in Eldon, with Scott Hug's sister, Amy and her family. Amy and her husband are both chiropracters and are nice enough to let me sit in the office and work on this blog! (Thanks!!) The rest of the gang went ahead to the ranch. I can't wait!

Farmtown

Day 46: 58 Miles. Pueblo, Co to Ordway, Co

We are now in East Colorado. No more shady trees, rivers, or mountains, just the hot sun and the plainy plain plains, with Prairie dogs yipping and running about. It is flat and we've been cranking up our mileage. We stopped in Boone and met Bill at the only store there. He warned us of the town pervert who tries to con cyclists.

The ride was hotter than a pepper sprout. The high was about 110 and there was not a cloud in the sky. When we got to Ordway we were overjoyed to find a sprayground! We stripped off all our spandex and ran around like maniacs, making us the town spectacle for a few hours.

The following six pictures were taken by Wesley:

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nice brown kneehighs!


That night we slept in the park, which was nice.... except for the loud teenagers, barking dogs, and the overwhelming waft of poo that would blow through our tents every 20 minutes.
Day 47: 65 miles. Ordway to Eads, Colorado

Today was a rough one. We had headwinds pushing against us almost the whole way and were moving at about 5mph, which is slower than uphill!

Not a cloud for miles.

We stopped in Haswell, population: 50

We spent a few hours in the propane store, the only store in town, to cool off. The owner let us sit on the couch and watch Cheech and Chong.

We were pretty much zonked out and then the owner's kids came in the store. Woke us right up.

We set back out around 4:30 to keep going, and the headwinds were still going strong. Karin and Wes were already there and Ceci and I were lagging behind. About 2 miles out of town, Ceci found a tiny kitty. There was nothing around for miles so I wrapped him in a towel and put him in my handlebar bag and rode him into town. As soon as we reached Eads, the kitty jumped out of my bag and went running towards a group of kids that were selling rocks in front of there house. An 8 year old boy screamed "a kitty!" and snatched him up and ran off. Problem solved.

We ate so well that night. AND I found the best pie ever!!

Day 48: 83 miles. Eads, Colorado to Leoti, KANSAS!!!
Another HOT one! Ceci is righting ahead of us now, so it was just the three of us. We paid $2 to swim in the town pool with all the kids. Those slides were so fun.

Then, we went to the county fair, where there was FREE DINNER!

Yum. There were delicious BBQ beef sandwiches, which was a little weird because we were eating them in front of all of the prized cows. (sorry cows)

Then there was an auction for all the prized baked goods.

Guess how much her sugar cookies sold for?

Also, there was a fashion show. There was one proud American boy who reminded me of a baby Jeremy Parker.

We rode 22 more miles through the sunset to Leoti. When we set up our tents in the park, both Karin's and mine started rolling away! (and my tent is HUGE) we were chasing after them. It was ridiculous, wish I had a pic of it.

Day 49: 81 Miles Leoti, KS to Basine, KS

Power morning of getting as much mileage covered before the sun got too hot. Stopped in Dighton & took naps in the laundromat.


Thank You to our new sponsors!!!!

Tony Basgall from Fur-Fin & Feathers

Joe & Cindy Valdez

We slept that night at Daniel & Elaine's Bicycle Oasis.

Catarina the Ballerina

A picture of old school Danielaine

Danielaine now.

Day 50: 56 miles Basine to Great Bend, KS

We arrived into Great Bend pretty early.. I tried to blog, but the computer at the hotel we snuck into blocked our blog! So we decided to spend the day swimming in their pool & jacuzzi. It was so hot outside! (it was either that or Wal Mart)

Sunrise in Great Bend

I have been appointed on skywatch to watch for storms, since you can see them 100 miles away. We had a pamphlet warning us about crazy storms that occur here like a mammatus which looks crazy scary! It's been a pretty easy job since there have been hardly any clouds, but then today, we had our first Kansas clouds!! Thank You clouds for cooling down the day for a few minutes!


Now we are at Hutchison, aka "Hutchie" at the library. My right knee is killing me! Does anyone know Reiki you can do over the phone?

Tommorrow we will be in Wichita!
miss you all! xoxox