Day 60 07/20/22
Today we had to change our route to ensure that we would have a roof over our heads. The heat is over 100 degrees in the evenings so camping is still not an option, at least not for us. We planned a new route which took us off of the Trans Am to the town of El Dorado. It was a short ride but beautiful with quite a few stops to eat, drink, rest the bums and enjoy the surroundings.
The roads in Kansas tend to be in very good shape, who would have thought? Today was no exception. Our new route took us along some newly paved roads with wide shoulders. I would have never imagined in my wildest dreams that Sarah and I would hold conversations of meaningful content about road surfaces but today was one of those days. Got to El Dorado in warp speed and checked into our motel by 10am. That left a lot of day to get lunch at Jimmy Johns and shop at Walmart for tomorrows food. We will get back on the Trans Am tomorrow and head to Torronto, Kansas.
Rode 37 miles today.
Day 61 07/21/22
Finally we had a decent nights sleep. We headed out of town to an incredible red sunrise.
The air was filled with the sound of 1000's of people using weed whackers but in reality it was the cacophany of cicadas contracting and relaxing their muscular frames. God's creation has a voice that reminds us of an incredibly imaginative creator. We were told that turtles can be seen on the road and indeed we saw one, unfortunately it's last words must have been, "don't tread on me." The interesting thing about Kansas is that it changes very little. I told Sarah that it reminds me of a movie that only has one long scene. But today there was some nuance as we actually rode up longer grades which had nice descents. What made the day special was someone who obviously loves the movie star Towmater!
We stopped into a coffee shop in Eureka called Cake Batter Batter. A fun time talking to the locals and the coffee was great. Two miles from our destination, Torronto, we stopped in a gas station called Lizard Lips. Inside the store we were given a plastic lizard and a zip tie to strap it to our bike.
In return they ask you to fill out the guest book. Sarah mentioned that she had seen those lizards on other west bound riders handle bars. Looking in the guest book, we saw the names of the newlywed couple from the U.K. who had been a day ahead of us back in Pueblo CO and still remain a day ahead. We strapped on our new lizard and headed off to the Air BnB in Toronto. Stepping in the front door we felt right at home and spent the rest of the day out of the heat.
Day 62 07/22/22
Left our cozy little Air BnB in very humid weather. The circadas were roaring in the trees as we road out of town. The sun came to life as it has since the beginning of time but it never ceases to amaze and dazzle the senses with such wonder. We stopped on the top of a hill to take it all in and snap a couple of pics.
No traffic on the roads left us riding in beautiful hilly countryside to the mooing of the cows as if they were saying, "Moo can do it.!" Halfway into the ride we hit a road closure sign but we rode on to find that we only had to dismount and make a short trek across a gravelled work zone to the other side. It was a good time to stop and eat some egg salad sandwiches for breakfast.
Not long after that we spotted an armadillo on the road that also apparently forgot to yell, "Don't tread on me." We arrived in Chanute early and found a place for breakfast. They had pecan waffles which were delish. We landed at the Holiday Inn where Alexander, Cambria and the kids are coming for a visit tomorrow. We can't wait to see them! The last 12 days have all been spent riding so we plan to take a couple days off for the occassion and be back to work on Monday.
Rode 49 miles today.
Day 63,64 07/23/22-07/24/22
Spent the last two days visiting with the kids at our hotel. It was great to see all of them, swim in the pool and go out for dinner to celebrate Alexander's birthday. After 2,600 miles of riding and mo flats I changed out the tires on our bike. Why? Because we will be riding a fair amount of gravel trails from here to D.C. and I am hoping it will prevent a flat. Back on the trail tomorrow.
