06/01/24 We stayed at a city park in Boonville . It was not the best place. The designated tent site was on a steep hillside. Then someone locked the restrooms! We were all unhappy until the guy with the key showed up. But the sign on the fence made up for it. And the Missouri River overlook.
06/02-03/24 Off to explore more of Missouri on the back roads. Which were quite hilly. We are still following Lewis and Clark, now we are on the Santa Fe trail, and it all intersects with the Oregon Trail! Who knew Missouri was such a hub for people going places! Not to mention Jim the Wonder Dog!
06/03/24 You can find out more about Jim at www.jimthewonderdog.org
06/04/24 Today we leave Missouri and enter Kansas. But not before we experience Weston, MO, where they have every kind of festival you can imagine, including a “Lost Virginity Tour” and a Testicle Festival! And a train stop. Also, if a relative dies, you have to adopt the road where she died?!?
06/04/24 And now we are in Jesse James country, and Kansas, too! We had to trust the gps to get to our campsite through a locked gate and gravel road. Achison, Kansas, is where Amelia Earhart grew up.
06/05/24 Today we rode from Achison to Seneca in Kansas. We have two days of back-to-back 75 miles of pedaling. This is when we are finally getting whipped into shape for finishing the ride. Even so, Paul had to stop and join Jon when he saw the sausage and eggs breakfast on his plate in Muscotah.
06/05/24 Muscotah was also the hometown of a famous baseball player, Joe Tinker, who played professionally from 1902 to 1916. In his honor, the world’s largest baseball is set up in a park along with three statues, commemorating the trio (Tinker to Evers to Chance) who perfected the modern double play.
06/05/24 To get to our campground at Seneca, we had to find our way over a mound of dirt where a road crew was replacing a bridge. At least it wasn’t muddy! And a favorite Kansas personality peeked out of someone’s yard. We were also surprised to see so many wind turbines in Kansas!
06/06/24 On to Washington, Kansas. On the way, we passed Centralia. 😳 In Washington, we stayed at a city park that had a great community swimming pool with a flying monkey on top of the slide, and a monument dedicated to the Wizard of Oz called Munchkinland.
06/06/24 Since this is the anniversary of D-Day, I noticed an elaborate memorial to the fight at Iwo Jima, where Paul’s father was wounded. We had lunch in a park with an elaborate play area. And we passed several signs commemorating schools that no longer existed.
06/06/24 We also passed a town named Blue Rapids. Instead of a town square , it had a town circle. Great 70’s music was blaring from speakers, and the town had a tiny museum in the circle explaining the geography of the area.
06/07/24 Heading to Mankotah, Kansas, we noticed what we thought was a big rock, but on closer examination realized it was being excavated. No one we met could identify it. Also, notice how our “rolling hills” are flattening out. This is a welcome change, but it makes way for wind. Mostly headwinds.
06/07/24 In Mankotah, we found a Sweden Creme fast food restaurant. Wish we had these in Seattle! Before that, we stopped by the side of the road for lunch, and found an outdoor museum, complete with a jail you don’t want to find yourself in.
06/07/24 In Mankotah we experienced a sheet lightning thunderstorm we rode out in our tent. About 45 minutes before it started to rain, the sky lit up with continuous lightning with no thunder. Then the rain came HARD. The lightning continued, but now we could hear a constant rumble of thunder.
06/08/24 After that storm, we decided it was time to leave Kansas. We played tag with the Three Amigos (Jim, Peter, and Doug) for awhile, but they soon zoomed away as we fought a headwind. Meanwhile, Stephen deviated to visit the geographical center of the lower 48 near Lebanon, Kansas.
06/08/24 We passed several towns, including the birthplace of Willa Cather in Red Cloud, NE. We saw lots of damage from the storm we weathered in Mankato. There was lots more wind and golf ball sized hail north and west of where we were.
06/08/24 That night in Franklin, Paul was on dinner duty. He and Stephen were going to do “Mediterranean”, but after perusing the local grocery, changed the menu to hamburgers and fresh corn.
06/09/24 Next morning we saw Indians in the grass just before Paul’s chain dropped and he had to do some road repairs. Back on the road again, we ate lunch in the stands of a baseball stadium that reminded me of Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center.
06/10/24 Now is a good time to show you the collection of mailbox pictures I have been collecting. Gotta so something to break up this unrelenting prairie landscape.
06/10/24 At Arapahoe, we stayed at a Methodist church. They had a potluck dinner and made omelets to order the next morning! It gave us all a chance to visit and learned a lot about prairie living. The church had joined the Global Methodists, and were awaiting their new outside signage.
06/11-12/24 Finally!!!! A rest day! And this one in a motel! Two nights in a bed with a toilet just 5 feet away! Bliss. But first, we had to get there. Passing a DOT yard, I noticed the art on the sign. One small town had a park with a Purple Heart memorial and an old cabin.
06/10/24 We had lunch at the Blue Flower Bakery before heading into McCook, where the gang went out for Mexican food. Much better than the fried tacos Paul picked up at a convenience store the day before…. He actually eats that stuff!
06/12/24 Our rest day was spent fixing bicycles, sending stuff home in a big box put together by the postmistress, getting my hair cut, and enjoying the local sights. Including a home remodeled by Frank Lloyd Wright. The High Prairie Museum was full of great stuff, too.
06/13/24 Hot! Hot! Hot!🥵 It hit 100 degrees today. But even worse was a headwind. We rode 61 miles in these conditions. On roads with little to no shoulder and big trucks blowing by regularly, sometimes passing us and each other at the same time. Uggh. Glad to end at another church with air conditioning!
06/12/24 Backup to McCook. Saw this Open House sign and decided it must not take long to sell a house here. Also saw this beautiful cloud as we came home from dinner. Our humble abode at the Quality Inn was blessed by the presence of a boat named after my favorite Van Morrison tune.
06/13/24 There were some gems along the way, even with those brutal conditions. I witnessed a new way to gather cut hay. We saw some great art at a little park with a public restroom. And I found a horny toad!
6/13/24 In Imperial, Nebraska, we stayed at another Methodist church in transition, but it had its signage already. We got to spread out so that we had a private room. We were asleep before 9!
06/14/24 Today wasn’t as bad as yesterday. Not as hot (only got to 92today), and we only had to go 38 miles. Best thing, though, is that we are now on Mountain Time and in Colorado! Goodbye, Nebraska! Notice how the road bends to the left after the Colorado sign. We got a tailwind after that turn.
06/14/24 We got really lucky today! We couldn’t stay at the fairgrounds as planned due to a 4-H event. So our brave leader, Mark, got on the phone and found us a place to stay at the St. Patrick Catholic Church. Inside with air conditioning! And special drinks at the local coffee shop.
06/14/24 You must be wondering about the dates I use for these posts. Yes, they are off now and again. For instance I called yesterday 6/14, but it was 6/13. Oh, well. Keep up as best you can and I will try to do better. Leaving Holyoke, CO, I wondered why the main street was called “Interocean”?
06/14/24 We stopped for coffee and a bagel at Haxtun. Then we practically flew to Sterling! A tailwind and mid-seventies temperatures got us from Holyoke to Sterling by noon! Still had time to snap pictures of some interesting signs and stuff. The video of yesterday’s wind was from our tandem team.
06/14/24 We all cycled past this snake wondering if it was a rattler. Finally someone stopped and took a picture. Nope. Not sure what it is, butt no rattle on the tail.
06/14/24 We are staying at the baseball fields and had to shuttle in the van to the community swimming pool for showers. There we found a bicycle cow and a “Dream Redeemer”. Cool art at the park! Jon was impressed with the nail he picked up in his tire. And he was happy they let him go on the slide.
