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.