For
some reason, Matt always wakes at 6:45 am... Which means, in a small
tent, that I wake reluctantly at 6:45 am. So we slowly got around to
dismantling camp. We had leftover bread for 'PB&J' (Peanut butter
and jam) sandwiches, which I assembled. Matt showed uncharacteristic
restraint and suggested we take them with and get some mileage under
our belts before said PB&J. So we cycled into a fairly brutal
head-wind. The Trans-Am route advises West to East travel, due to
prevailing winds. As it was cheaper to fly from London to the East
Coast, we dismissed 'prevailing winds' as circumstantial, and defied
the advice of the good people at Adventure Cycling America. Well
today they got the last laugh, as we head-down battled the wind on a
normally dream-like flat terrain.
After
15 miles Matt cracked, and we chowed down on our stashed sarnies. At
30 miles we reached Rush City. No city to speak of; the diner had a
sign in the window which read 'Closed. Reopens in November.' A
weathered sign proudly proclaimed 'Welcome to Rush City; the biggest
St Patricks Day Parade'. (Really – compared to where?!) After
passing some farms, we found a lonely truck stop. A local trucker
asked the female attendant how she was doin' today, and I enjoyed her
response 'If I was doin' any better I'd be downright scared'. Inside,
there was a forlornly empty coffee pot but a stocked vending machine,
so we grabbed some crisps and a snickers for the road.
Into the head-wind, after sometime Matt referred to his map and
recognised the 'Topsecret' area Luke had told us about. Lukes'
favourite hunting ground and consequently where he wanted his ashes
scattered! Luke had offered this spot as an alternative camping area
for us, including fantastic wildlife and creepy, rundown and
abandounded farm house (very Night of the Living Dead). So with due
reverence, we cycled over the rail road tracks and sat to enjoy our
junk food and take photos. As we had done such a big day yesturday
thje camping will have to wait for another trip.
We
reached our tentative final destination of the Day, Ness City, after
66 miles of cycling. It was still before 3pm, so we stopped by
'Ralphs' supermarket' for some proper food (tortilla wraps, cottage
cheese and salad)- then decided to press on to the next town, a
further 30 miles away. The 'home stretch' featured more buffetting
winds, curious cattle and rolling, straw-covered hills. At 5pm we
reached Dighton; another pristine, quiet looking All-American town.
We followed our noses to the city park, and were delighted to find a
swimming pool. Once again, Kansas invited us to swim and use the
showers for free, before setting up camp in the ample park grounds.
Kansas is our favourite state so far, for this generous gesture
alone! After a glorious swim and some juvenile diving and
hoop-shooting comps, we showered and set up camp.
Cyclists
are advised to make their presence known to the Sheriff, so we headed
over to the Police Station. The Police were happy to welcome us to
Dighton; asked about our trip and tipped us off that the library
wi-fi was still available to us another hour. After eating some
gigabites (prevoius blog entries)- we headed to the gas station for
some microwavable eating. Back at the campsite, it was microwaved gas
station sandwiches and doritos for dinner. Everything tastes pretty
good after a day in the sasddle. As we munched, we watched the
lightning in all directions, so decided to move our campsite and
bikes from the grass to beneath the covered picnic table area. Time
for some sleepy!
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