Wutheringbikes Home -- TransAm Bike Ride
<< >>

Sunday 18th July 2004

sunflowers are all aroundNess City Park to Leoti, total of 81 miles. Set of early, since we've a fair way to go and the winds get worse during the day. We also were told there was a swimming pool at Leoti and we wanted to get their for 5pm assuming a 6pm closing time. Had elevenses at Dighton, then Scott City for 1.45pm, had lunch. Ploughed on for 5.15 arrival at Leoti. We are rarely so early. And the swimming pool was not just open, but open until 7pm (after which it was family swimming - and I was told that an individual cannot count as a family - a family of one?). But we had a great swim, the lifeguards suggested a good place to camp in the park and someone else suggested somewhere to eat. We got some groceries, ate them in the park and then had a large amount of cake, courtesy of a 100th birthday party that was happening nearby! Thanks! Then we had a heap of icecream, courtesy of a church party in the park that was happening nearby as well. The only toilets were in the nearby health centre, right next to the park, but they stayed open all night and so that was fine. One lady at the birthday party said she'd been to Yorkshire - near Norwich! It turned out to be Norfolk. She also said that people do their shopping at the Wal-Mart 60 miles away in Garden City - 120 mile round trip to do the big shop! Explains why the local grocery stores are so basic. This all depends, obviously, on cheap gasoline. We noticed that Leoti is quite a spanish town - a mixture of white anglo-saxon and hispanic population. This has not been so noticeable before. On the road to Leoti we did meet Mike, doing San Diego to Ohio via a large chunk of transAm. More greetings from Mark and Wanda! Mark and Wanda were travelling fast and we didn't look like catching up. Leoti is a typical Kansas town - it looks a bit empty, not a lot seems to happen, and you wonder how much life is left in them - especially when people do their shopping 60 miles away. The next day I typed away in Tribune, in the County Library. I typed "It's hot, and I'd better get doing some miles - we're heading for Eads, Colorado, We've just crossed a timezone, and we're about to cross the State border". There's not always much that's obvious to look at alongside the road at this point in the transAm trail - but there are almost always sunflowers. The photo shows a typical straggly bunch (photo taken on the 17th July). Some people start to wax eloquent about fence posts too! Grass is also pretty amazing if you look at it for long enough. Any moment now I'll be saying 'hello sky, hello flowers". This is the Kansas effect.

Wutheringbikes Home -- TransAm Bike Ride