Day 65: Motel breakfast. Took an hour & a half on the phone & a delay to our morning but I FINALLY took care of paying our health insurance, just in time too – the 15 day grace period ended that day. Classic Whitney, squeaking in right at the last second. Not on the road until 11am again, ugh Destination for the day: Cawker City, home to the largest ball of twine! Exciting HELLO HUMIDITY!!! All day there were thunderstorms to the north that we just barely dodged. They looked pretty cool from a distance – so dark, enormous & powerful. We also saw some longhorn cattle. Holy cow, those horns are massive! We stopped in Gaylord for a break from the heat (mid 90s & so sticky!). It was a ghost town. The main street looked like an old western movie where a shootout could’ve happened. A little girl on a bike showed us a community center that we cold hide out in, away from the sun. Nobody was in there, it was just always open & it was a sweet spot to rest. They had AC, a bathroom, water for us to refill, a kitchen, piano, lots of space to sprawl. Ben read & napped, I blogged. This seemingly abandoned town had dual flush toilets! Go middle-of-nowhere Kansas!
Back on the road for a while after a decent rest, we stopped to explore another abandoned house. It’s always fascinating to see these old buildings, still full of a life once lived there. It’s also sad too, to see that life deteriorated by dust, urine & feces. I always try to picture the people that lived here, the meals they shared, the books they may have read or the conversations they had. If only the walls could talk, what would they say?
We finally made it to Cawker City & the ball of twine. Hmmm, it wasn’t what I was picturing for some reason. I thought it would be further out in the country, not in town, & it was covered with a roof (which makes sense to protect it from the elements) but it somehow made it seem smaller? Whatever, it was cool enough. We had planned to stay in Cawker City but decided last minute to put in another 20 miles & push it to Beloit, past sunset, to a motel. It was really pretty biking with the sunset behind us; a very vibrant sky, beautifully contrasted against the dark storm clouds to the north. We made it to Beloit, showered, biked to Sonic for dinner, then back to the room for a movie & bed.
Day 66: Slept in, no biking today – a planned day off. Motel breakfast, read, blogged, laundry, TV, Ben wiped down & lubed our chains. In the afternoon we ran some errands: Shopko for a Queen-size bed sheet to replace our sleeping bags (it’s SO HOT now, we don’t need them) & groceries next door. Back to the motel, I patched the hole in my sleeping pad – yay! – while Ben made dinner. I blogged more, then we walked across the street to share a margarita, chips & salsa while we played cards. Back to the room for a movie, reading & bed. A nice catch-up day.
Day 67: We tried to wake up early, but no dice. During our motel breakfast we got sucked into watching the news about the boys soccer team trapped in the Thailand cave & their ongoing rescue. So scary! Packed & on the road by 9:30am. We didn’t get too far before stopping to explore yet another abandoned house It was 100 degrees today…quite hot & uncomfortable with the humidity. It’s actually better when biking, there’s at least a slight breeze. It was so hot the asphalt was melting! When we stopped for a break & put our kickstands out, they would make holes where they touched the ground & eventually fall over. We finally saw a wind farm on today’s route – wahoo! Use what you’ve got, Kansas! Shake what your Momma gave ya! We took a break under an overpass – finally, shade again! I’ve missed our breaks under the overpasses through the desert.
We rolled into Clay Center (our destination for the day) & saw a sprinkler in someone’s yard grazing the edge of the road so we hopped off the bikes to run through & soak up the cold water. Aaahhh, so nice. As we did this, the owner came out to chat with us, Bill Calloway. He was really nice. They had a pool in their yard so he told us to go for a dip. On a day like that, you don’t have to tell me twice, so in we went & it felt great. His wife came out shortly after with giant cups of iced tea – the kind of cups you’d get at a stadium or beachy tourist area with the foot-long accordion straws – & it hit the spot. That was so thoughtful & generous. We chatted a bit & he gave us a recommendation for a stealthy place to pitch a tent for the night – the park adjacent to the power plant he used to work at before retiring.
Back on the road for only a few minutes before we needed to stop. We both weren’t feeling well – uh oh, maybe heat related or not enough food? – so we popped into Subway for food & to cool down. When it’s hot like this we usually don’t bike between 1-3pm but since our mileage was so short today we decided to push through & get there sooner. Maybe that wasn’t the best choice & we probably won’t do that again, or very often, if we can help it. Some nice folks at Subway asked about our journey & wished us good luck as we left
From there we biked over to the community pool. They had two diving boards (high & low), a lazy river, two slides (winding & black hole drop off), & a big pool. Needless to say, we had a fun time. After swimming, we relaxed by the pool, in the shade, & had some ice cream Once we were sufficiently rested we swung by a gas station for milk & beer, then finally to the park for the night. First we played cards, Yahtzee, read & journaled. When it was time, Ben made dinner (alfredo & broccoli rice packet with leftover zucchini & tomato from last night’s meal – pretty tasty) while I blogged. As I was doing dishes, a park employee came by on his way to close the gates & asked what our plans were for the night. We told him Bill Calloway recommended we camp there & the guy (having worked with Bill) immediately lit up & said “Yeah, of course! No problem! Do you need me to open the bathrooms for you?”. Awww, that was nice of him to offer Wahoo, stealth camping with no worries of getting caught! Not so stealthy then, more strategically free. Ben set up the tent while I caught up with my mom over the phone, a little reading, then straight to bed…or at least an attempt to
Reflections
1. I’m getting soft about motels. I miss the sense of “normal” that can come with a home & right now a motel is the closest we get to that feeling (a bed, bathroom, sink to do dishes in, our own space with no one else to share it with). In the beginning I said NO MOTELS but now when Ben suggests it (I still won’t be the one to suggest it), I’m not hard to convince
2. I had “Bye Bye, Miss American Pie” stuck in my head all morning as we left Beloit. We passed a radio tower covered in huge drum-like objects (as big as a car), joked about climbing the tower & banging on the drums, then inevitably getting kicked off for trespassing, at which point the music would die…hence the song lyrics stuck on a loop in my brain (“the day…the muuuusic died”).
3. A random local guy driving by, stopped at a stop sign where we were breaking, rolled his window down & said “you guys are crazy!”, then laughed as he drove off. Silly dude
4. I really miss making soap.
5. I really hate auto-flush toilets. They’re SO WASTEFUL! If you move an inch while using the toilet, before you’ve finished – flush. Once you stand up – flush again. When you finally leave the stall – one more flush. I just went in to change into my swimsuit & it flushed 3 times. UGH!!! Plus, it’s clean enough to drink so that’s a whole other issue
6. I haven’t worn my swimsuit much on this trip so I haven’t had many opportunities to show off my goofy tan lines but when I do….watch out! Those things will blind you! They’re pretty impressive
7. The park in Clay Center was next to a zoo…I hate zoos. Caged animals make me sad. We heard one peacock calling all night, until early morning. It sounded like a sad cat. They weren’t happy-sounding noises, that was for sure I had a hard time sleeping that night. Maybe I’m projecting but maybe it’s also a possibility that they don’t like being holed up in a pen.
8. The day we rode to Clay Center the mosquitoes weren’t bad but (excuse my French) holy fuck the gnats were incredibly aggressive & annoying.
9. It’s so noticeable sometimes when counties change – the road condition is so different. Often times, when you pass the county sign you’ll see a line on the road where one county did more recent work to the roads & is drastically different/better than the next county. An interesting observation I didn’t see coming & never would’ve noticed in a car.
10. Cicadas are impressively loud! I don’t remember them back home, but maybe we have them & I just never noticed. They sound electric – like a saw or power lines. It’s almost unbelievable that an insect could be that loud!
Currently enjoying a glass of wine on a beautiful sunny day, beneath an umbrella, perfect weather & an awesome view from the deck at our B&B in Maine…doesn’t get much better than this It’s our last day here so I’m really trying to soak it all up. Three more days before it’s back to reality! While I’m sad for this journey to be over I am pretty pumped up to see friends & family again Until next time!
Whitney