Pittsburg, KS

Well, this is a sad entry to have to make. Last evening Bob's brother called us to let us know that their Dad has really taken a turn for the worst. Most of you know that he has been in a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease. Before we left, he was very frail and not spending much time awake and alert.

Apparently now he is essentially in a coma, not responding or eating. We decided that since we were one day away from Pittsburg, Kansas, that would be a logical place to stop and return home. After much discussion, the plan we came up with was to rent a truck so that we could just drive back to Louisville to pick up the car. Other options would have included having to pack and ship the bike, and the bike shop here isn't even open until Tuesday. So we churned out the last 60 miles or so, got into town about noon and set up the truck rental.

Despite this sad ending to the trip, the last few days have been pleasant. All of the comments that people make about the folks in Kansas being extraordinarily nice are true. The man who rented us the truck gave us an excellent price and come heck or high water, as they'd say here, he was going to get us a truck today. We are waiting for its arrival from Kansas City. Since we have about six hours to kill, we had lunch at a Chinese buffet where we talked to a delightful Chinese college student who was so impressed with our trip that she asked us questions and we drew maps on napkins and she told us about her travels in China. Her English is excellent and we hope the best for her once she graduates from Pitt State University here.

We also got to meet an actual television celebrity. We had heard tales from West-Bounders that we met about a man who had won "The Biggest Loser" show and promised to bike the country if he met his goal. We ran into him and his wife yesterday just outside of Coyville, KS. Jerry and Lynn were delightful people, and made us wish we were traveling in the other direction. When we get home, we can add the pictures we took.

We watched the terrain return from farm to cattle-grazing land. If one were to make a quilt to represent this state, the middle section would be green and gold squares and the ends would be fringed with little steers made of brown yarn. We got a little preview of the rolling hills of Missouri, though they were just enough to propel us and inspire us this morning rather than discourage us.

At least we did get to finish Kansas. And we'll figure out the rest at some later date. Thanks for "traveling" with us.

Newton, KS (still!)

Well, Adventure Cycling recommends a day off for every seven days you ride. When we awoke at 5:00 a.m. the thunderstorm that had started during the night was continuing in full force. The rain was coming in torrents, and when we turned on the weather report to check on things it said that there might be more rain late this afternoon (so far none) and that there was some minor flooding where we were headed. It certainly wasn't Iowa style, but we decided that this was a sign that we needed to take our day off.

I caught some extra sleep while Bob remained transfixed by the weather reports and eventually we pried ourselves out of the room to walk up the road for breakfast. After a nice breakfast, an exploration of Newton was in order. It actually turned out to be much more interesting than we'd imagined. We'd remembered seeing on one of the maps that one of the towns we were passing through actually had a library founded and funded by Andrew Carnegie. It turns out this is the town. We walked the mile or so into the main part of town and noted the library's location. The library itself actually moved into a modern building several years ago,and the original building was converted into a museum. The museum didn't open until 1:00, so we killed time with a leisurely walk through town, eventually a light lunch and then our cultural foray.

It turns out that although we now think of Kansas as the place where wheat and corn are grown, many of the images we have of the Wild West actually took place in this part of Kansas. Newton is on what was the Chisholm Trail, a north-south route for cattle, etc. back in the day. Although the town is now largely Mennonite and seems quite proper, it was once known as "Wild Newton" and was the scene of a very famous gunfight, the details of which still are the fodder for arguments and discussion.

The museum was just opening an exhibit about the Chisholm Trail, including clothing and implements worn by cowboys. We saw a pair of leather chaps that might have weighed as much as I do. The rest of the museum was divided into sections: railroading was and still is big here, so there is a section all about the railroads (the local school teams are known as the Newton Railroaders!). Another section does a history of the county set agains a timeline of the "outside world."

Several movies were set in and around the area, including The Harvey Girls starring Judy Garland. That movie was about the women who served food, etc. on the trains. It's the movie that included the song, The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe. Also a movie called Picnic, starring Kim Novak and William Holden.

The thing I found most fascinating was the piano in the basement of the building. It had been in the USO headquarters nearby during World War II, and it became a custom for soldiers passing through to sign the piano. It is covered with signatures and someone took the time to catalog them in a booklet. I didn't have the time to search through every page, but did find several signatures of people from Pittsburgh.

After the museum, we walked around the corner to the Warkentin House. It's a beautiful Victorian mansion (it reminded us some of Clayton) that was built by Bernhard Warkentin, a Mennonite who came here from Russia with the idea that this would be a good place to grow Turkey Red Wheat. The rest, as they say, is history. The woman who took us on our tour explained that although the family was very wealthy, they took care to give to the community and see that people in the area had what they needed.

One of the things that demonstrated the extent of their wealth, although we didn't get to see it, was a revolving platform in the garage. Apparently, Mrs. Warkentin drove her electric car all over town but wasn't proficient at backing up. So they had the platform installed in the garage so that she could just rotate the car around and pull out!

The kitchen was particularly fascinating (to me, at least) because of the number of "modern" conveniences incorporated. There was a hand pump that pumped water to the roof, so that the house had running water. The very large ice box was set next to the wall, so that the ice man could open a door in the outside wall of the house and slide the block of ice right into the icebox without having to enter the house.

The stove was eight burners: four of them were wood burners and four were gas. Next to the stove was an additional gas burner that was exclusively for the irons to be heated on.

We spent a relaxing afternoon learning about the history and culture of Newton and then returned to our motel for a relaxing swim and dinner. Tomorrow, we'll make the trek to Eureka. They are promising cooler weather, in the 80s. We'll see.

Newton, KS

Our departure from Ness City led us on a quest for civilization and water. There was a very long stretch (over 50 miles) without services, so before leaving Ness City we had stocked up on provisions for lunch. Stashed in the trunk bag were two Italian subs from the Kwik-Shop and what we thought was enough water. By the time we reached Nickerson, Bob had drained all three of his water bottles and had started in to sharing water from my Camel Back.

We were happy to see the grain elevator that let us know that we were close to Nickerson. We went into the Kwik-Shop (thank God for these places!) and Bob drank a half-gallon of Gatorade before he felt human again. Once we were refreshed, we continued into town and located the cafe, where we had lunch with Kyle, a recent college graduate from New York City who was cycling west. We exchanged information, enjoyed lunch and then went to the library. I didn't blog, since the conversation with the librarian was so lively and so interesting and we wanted to get on the road. She knew the right questions to ask: eastbound or westbound? where'd you start today? how far are you riding? She was a resident of the town in her youth, lived in California for 37 years and then came back to take care of an ailing father. She's now been there nine years and managed to snag the librarian position, even without a degree.

We left Nickerson and headed toward Buhler, a town with a good campground and a great diner. We enjoyed breakfast at Joey's Diner. I don't know if there is a Joey, but somebody has a great set-up there. Kyle had told us about it. He was confused when he went in, since the protocol is to order your meal at the counter and then sit down. For breakfast, customers pour their own coffee before sitting down. Then all the waitresses have to do is bring your food.

We had entered at breakfast "rush hour" so we ended up sitting with a sort of "breakfast club" made up of retired farmers. We had a great conversation about farming, how grain elevators work, the amount of rainfall in various parts of the country, how farming has changed since they were young men, and all those important things that old guys discuss over breakfast. We regretted not getting a picture of the group, since they really had been great company. It's strange to be in an area where people are so used to cross-country cyclists. They all know the questions, and they take it all in stride.

We learned a lot about Kansas farming, especially what we are calling the "Farm Dilemma." What happens in many cases is that people begin farming and have children. When their children reach adulthood, they might still only be in their 40s or 50. They can't give up the farm as their income and the farm won't support two families, so many of the kids go off and do something else. When the parents are ready to retire, there's no one in the family near enough or familiar enough with farming to want to do it. So, many of the original 160-acre parcels are bought up by the agribusinesses. These men remembered hauling grain to be weighed at the elevator by horse and wagon, and plowing and harvesting just sitting on a tractor without an air-conditioned cab. This doesn't sound like much, but when you consider that many farmers and harvesters suffer from lung problems from inhaling dust and pesticides, it makes a difference.

It was a hot-but-short riding day. We reached Newton about 12:30 this afternoon and checked into the Best Western to relax, take a swim and regroup. Supposedly we have one more day of temperatures in the 90s and then a thunderstorm will bring down the temperature to the high 80s. Most of the thunderstorms happen at night, so that's fine with us.

Kansas, by the way, is anything but black and white. Largely, it seems to be green and gold, with touches of purple and fuschia wildflowers lining the roads. As we head east, we notice the corn getting taller and the fields getting lusher. We've learned that passing by a field where someone is harvesting is likely to result in our being covered with wheat dust. The whole process of growing, harvesting, weighing and storing wheat is fascinating.

Tomorrow our goal is Eureka, and we hope to be in Pittsburg (the Kansas version)on Saturday. When we leave Pittsburg, we'll cross into Missouri.

Larned, KS

Three days have passed since we had a good situation for computer use. We left Eads, CO on Sunday morning after saying hello to David and three young men he had breakfast with. They were going west, so the information about Gillian was exchanged. We headed out as they got their trays of pancakes, etc. Needless to say, David did eventually catch us as we had stopped to take a breather and have some peanut butter at a truck stop which was not opened yet, but did have a picnic table under a carport.

We set out together, but Bob and I stopped soon after that to fill our water bottles at a park that had a pump. David kept on, and was shocked when we caught up with him at the Kansas border. We took the obligatory pictures at the Welcome to Kansas sign, and then he said, "You two go ahead of me. If you pass me, I'll be heartbroken!" We had a bit of a tail wind, and it wasn't yet quite so hot; we were feeling good. He told us later, "You were going 23 miles an hour!" A bit much for his twenty-something head to wrap around, I guess.

We stopped that night in Leoti, KS, but he was traveling on. We don't expect to see him again, but apparently he is spreading the word. The next morning in Scott City after we had a great breakfast, we stopped to talk to John who was headed west. He said, "Oh, the couple on the tandem. I heard you can get that thing up to 23 miles an hour." He had met David.

Our next night was spent in Ness City. Ness City is the home of the "Skyscraper of the Plains." It's a three (that's right, count 'em three) story building that was once a bank and now houses Kansas Mercantile where you can buy all sorts of "Kansas products." Since we don't plan to add to our total weight, we skipped the souvenir fest but we did get some pictures.

The highlight of our stay in Ness City was definitely our motel suite. We pulled up to the Derrick Inn. That area has some oil-drilling. Apparently, the Derrick Inn is where you stay if you're an itinerant roughneck working there temporarily. The company pays for a room, so all of the rooms were full (or so the Vietnamese owner told us) except for a suite. It was a little "spendy," as our friends in the Northwest would say, but the laughs made it worth it.

We dubbed it "The Ratpack Suite." We had a room with a wet bar, pullout sofabed, tv and table and chairs. It was decorated in early-80s foil wallpaper (dark gold, of course to match the dark wood). The next room had a king-sized bed, dresser, desk and oddly, a platform rocking chair. The bathroom was as big as our dining room back home, containing a double vanity sink, glass-enclosed shower stall and a four-person jacuzzi tub. Every time we opened the door, we expected to see Frank and Dino sitting at the bar pouring us martinis.

Right before we checked in, we met Jerry and Peggy, a couple from California who were heading west. We made plans to meet for dinner, exchanged cell phone numbers and got settled. After a swim in the lobby pool, a dip in the hot tub and some rest in air-conditioned comfort, we headed to The Cactus Club for dinner. It was a great meal with actual choices on the menu. (Prior to the Cactus Club, five of our previous seven meals had been in convenience stores!) I was able to have a glass of red wine with dinner. It wasn't even half bad, once the chill wore off.

We had a great conversation with Peggy and Jerry, comparing notes about the route, etc. They are both retired, married two years, and doing the TransAm to fulfill one of Jerry's long-time dreams. It was wonderful to have some company and tell some stories. Every time that happens, we hearken back to 2006 and miss Chris, Roger and Rick even more.

Some random thoughts so far:

Things we miss: cities and the choices they give you, especially concerning food; family and friends, back home and all over the place; hills!

Things we don't miss: noise at night - Kansas is an early-rising state, even if you're a roughneck drilling oil; McMansion developments: we've traveled 340 miles without seeing one; drivers who aren't used to seeing bikes on the road and accommodating them - people have been incredibly polite and patient on the highways; billboards - haven't seen one yet; McDonald's - haven't seen one yet.

We've watched the land turn from brown to green, and yes, there are wheat fields and they're waving. The people have been incredibly friendly and we've had so many good conversations in truck stops, convenience stores, restaurants and on the street.

We made our first turn today in over 300 miles.

Eads, CO

We reluctantly left Gillian's this morning after chatting with her over breakfast. She is a very resilient woman to have weathered such a disaster as the fire that took her house. The house we stayed in has only been there for a week! She really is the Trail Angel that Adventure Cycling christened her. We talked about life in general and she explained how the cyclists who come to stay add to her life. Once again, we found a welcoming home on the first day out. A week or so down the line, we'll be wishing for such a respite. She made us promise to explain the situation to any cyclists who are heading her way and send them to her.

We were constantly amazed at the wide open spaces. There was hardly any traffic at all until the town we pulled into tonight. There was horizon as far as we could see the whole day. The riding today was rather uneventful. We set Eads as our goal, since that was the first place that had a motel. We rode and rode through towns that were really nothing more than a Post Office. Arlington, CO (much different from Arlington, VA!) was just a few houses, but there was a picnic table and outhouse. They were presumably there for cyclists, since not only the TransAm route goes through there but something called the Prairie Horizons route.

We ate lunch of peanut butter and bananas and pedaled on to Eads. We are checked into the EconoLodge and are getting ready for dinner at the K & M Restaurant. The only thing missing from here is a cell phone signal! Tomorrow, we head for the town of Tribune. We are making good progress, though we haven't seen too many cyclists since the six who were headed west yesterday.We did just meet David, a young guy heading the same direction we are. He rode all the way from Pueblo today, over 110 miles. Ah, the energy of youth!

Ordway, CO

Our "launching" from Pueblo went off without a hitch. There were some conventions at the Marriott, and this morning several conveners in suits and ties expressed their envy at our trip. One agreed to take our picture so that we have a record of our beginning. And we were off.

The level terrain and a slight tail wind made it easy to cover miles in no time. We actually reached Ordway a little before noon today, with the hubris of believing that we might just as well continue to Eads instead of breaking that distance over two days. We were under the misconception at the time that Eads was only about 40 more miles. A nice gentleman in the Bits and Spurs Cafe, where we had lunch, informed us that it was actually more like 60. So we rethought that plan.

Ordway has become famous, at least in cycle-touring circles, for a woman named Gillian Haggard who received the 2006 Trail Angel Award from Adventure Cycling. She has opened her home to cyclists traveling through for several years, and we thought about that as we came through. We knew, however, that her house had burned down in a huge fire back in May and that it might be difficult for her to continue her tradition of hospitality. We weren't counting on it, in other words.

When we left the cafe, we headed down Main St. toward the library, to check email and to ask about a private campground we'd seen on the map. As we pedaled slowly through town, a tall woman in what looked like a police uniform stopped us and asked where we had cycled from and if we were planning to stay. We told her where we were headed and as Bob was explaining our plan, he mentioned that we had heard of Gillian Haggard. At that moment, I happened to notice that the name tag she wore on her Department of Corrections uniform said "G. Haggard." She said, "You don't need the library to find me. I tend to accost you people."

She quickly gave us the lowdown on finding her place. There is a modular home almost finished on the lot, and a FEMA trailer she stays in until she can get the house settled and set up. She practically insisted that we stay, telling us that the master bedroom in the house was all ready for cycling guests, including towels, toiletries, etc. She was on her way to work, but everything is unlocked and she even encouraged us to use her laptop or WiFi to do our Internet tasks. It is really difficult to describe this conversation. Over the years, we've learned that accepting hospitality (or used soft drinks) from people you've never met almost always turns out well.

Imagine if you will, our city friends, just leaving your house unlocked and encouraging strangers to go there and use your facilities while you're at work. That's the prairie for you. We had read about her situation both in Adventure Cyclist and on a blog, so we knew that doing some tasks in exchange for the place to stay was appreciated. When I asked, she said that we could wash the windows, since that needed doing and oh, by the way, there were a few groceries we could pick up if we were going to the store. Almost apologetically, she said, "You'll have to supply your own food. I know how you people eat!" She pressed her small grocery list and a $20 bill into my hands, jumped into her car and left for work. Oh, there were two last details: there is a gosling in a Rubbermaid bin in the living room (don't ask!) and if we're walking around the property and see a really big snake, kill it because it's begun to eat goslings. Needless to say, I won't be walking around the property.

So, we've met the gosling, Gillian's dog (whose name we forgot to ask), washed the windows, grocery shopped and are watching some huge storm clouds roll by. It doesn't look as if we'll actually get rain here the way we did in Pueblo yesterday, but the clouds and thunder gave a nice show. At the moment, Bob is mixing some new trail mix, and I am ready to shower. The geese outside are honking at the storm, the gosling in the living room is cheeping away, and the dog has stopped looking desperate to come in, since the storm seems to have passed.

This is almost as surreal as Guffy, but in a good way. There are some things that only make sense on a bike trip.

Pueblo, CO (Again!)

The last 36 hours have certainly been eventful.We left Pittsburgh Wednesday morning and arrived in Louisville about dinner time. (Read: rush hour) Some traffic on I71 kept us immobile for almost two hours. After the initial confusion of finding our way around and to the motel, we took the desk clerk's recommendation for dinner and enjoyed an excellent meal at the Fifth Quarter Steak House. Soon after dinner we were climbing into bed, since our alarm was set for 4:00 a.m.

Our flight out of Louisville went smoothly and when we arrived at the Denver airport we found our way to the gate for what we knew would be a small plane to Pueblo. (The Pueblo International Airport, six miles from the Marriott we stayed in, was unknown to the desk clerk when we made our reservations a couple of months ago.) We wound our way through to the farthest corner of the airport where the lounge was filled with people flying out to places like Fargo and Crested Butte.

Eventually our flight was called, and all three of us lined up to board the plane. The copilot went through the safety instructions, including "If we happen to find a puddle to land in in any part of southern Colorado, your seat cushion will act as a flotation device." The good news was we actually got to watch them put our panniers in the luggage compartment, so we knew it was making the trip with us.

Pueblo International Airport was like a scene from the tv show Wings. We walked off the plane, picked up our panniers on the runway beside us, and headed into the terminal. It turned out that the third passenger was an employee of Great Lakes Airline, (we still can't figure out the name) the one who got us to Pueblo. We had told her the story of the desk clerk at the Marriott and that we figured we'd have to call some sort of taxi service to get us into town. She said, "I have a rental car. I'll take you there." And she did.

It really does speak well for the hospitality in this part of the country that she just offered us a ride. It turned out she really didn't need to get to town until later, but she had an hour to kill until her meeting back at the airport, which was only about five miles from our hotel. She half-jokingly talked about picking us up again for dinner. We told her we'd recommend Great Lakes Airline to everyone we know. So consider all yourselves recommended.

It is a strange sensation to be in a place we were in two years ago. We are used to returning to vacation spots again and again, like Wildwood NJ. But it feels odd to be where we were with Chris, Roger and Rick and be without them. It is also a sobering thought that two whole years have passed since then. As we headed into the lobby to check in, we expected to see them waiting for us. That made us really yearn for their company again.

We were lucky that there was actually a room ready for us to check into at 11:00 a.m. We were able to get our first "shipment" of luggage settled. Then we set out to find a place to eat and to pick up our bike and trailer at the bike shop. At the recommendation of the bike shop people, lunch was at a Mexican restaurant across the street. Then came the time to put the bike together, make final adjustments and head back to the hotel. We settled that shipment and then came here to the Pueblo Public Library to use the computers.

We remembered this library as one of the best on the last trip. Twenty-eight computers are available for one-hour shifts, so we are able to check and clean up email boxes and finally start this section of the blog.

Tomorrow our goal is Ordway, CO, about 50 miles away. They had a fairly serious fire this spring that took about 14 houses and other buildings. A woman who lives there recieved a Trail Angel Award from Adventure Cycling for her hospitality to cyclists. She lets them camp in her barn and use her showers, etc. Word has it that even though she was affected by the fire, she is operational again, so we plan to look her up. If that doesn't pan out, there is a motel in that town. The first few days are usually spent ironing out the bugs in our "system." We will probably spend some time tonight repacking and redistributing things, since the box with the trailer was just packed with stuff we knew we wouldn't need while we got ready to come out here.

So, here we are. Missing our friends from the last trip, but happy knowing we have them. (You, too, Charlie!)We've already spent some time telling people we've encountered about all of you.

We last rode flatland along the dikes in Holland last summer in a misty rain, and about 15 years ago through the steamy heat of North Carolina's Great Dismal Swamp. Starting off with 500 miles of the hot and windy flat farmlands of Kansas will be something new! We miss our friends and family, too, but are looking forward to this part of our great adventure.