Life Is Good!

We started early this morning in hopes of getting in some extra miles.
We met a lady in this town who invited us to the community dinner that night. She was darling and had curlers in her hair, but I'm sure she had forgotten they were there.

She let me use her bathroom in the Community Center and I was grateful!

Read all the firsts that this town is known for.

BTW, we had some firsts today as well...first single day over 60 miles; first speed over 40 mph; and first day over 400 mile total!

About two miles out of town, we got to use our granny gear for the first time in Kansas.

We've seen two other cross country bikers, but these were the first we were able to talk to.

He started with a friend in Maryland but the friend gave up after 1000 miles and took a train on to Portland. This young guy said his whole family were bikers, but that he left them home with the family business and they sent him out to "live the dream".

He met this young man about a week ago and they've been biking together since then. He's from Taiwan and he came here just to bike across America. Isn't that awesome?

It was nice talking to them and they were thrilled to have someone give them some positive encouragement. After seeing the way they were loaded down with gear, I was more sure than ever that the car is not a hindrance!

The flags are starting to sag. Thank goodness!

This seems to be the symbol of the town. We're not sure if it's a hawk or an eagle.

While at the Toronto Reservoir, we saw these birds soaring over the water. They came out of the trees and wouldn't even need to flap their wings. They just caught the wind and glided.

Up closer...

and closer still. Someone said they were Golden Eagles. Does anyone know?

Standing on the Toronto Reservoir Dam

As we left the park, I started noticing more things that told me we're getting closer to home.

Not clear like our river, but pretty anyway. Now I see what the campers from Kansas mean when they say all of their rivers are muddy.

Judging from the sky, we thought we'd be rained on all day, but only had a few sprinkles.

Pulled into Chanute this evening and saw our first McDonalds since we left. Their food would have been better than the horrible Mexican food we had in Chanute. I guess we shouldn't complain though since every other Mexican restaurant we've been to in Kansas has been great. The minute we walked in and saw the menu and decor, we knew it was run by gringos. Big mistake!

This one's for you Scotty! Congrats on acing your test! Brave guys everywhere putting out fires.

After we got our room for the night, we wanted another 10 miles so we pedaled around a little and found a pretty little lake with ducks and geese. Made me wish I had some of my duck feeding grandchildren with me. Some of them had babies.

One more thrill of the day. Look closely and you'll see my best sign yet of being close to home.

NOT the Pepsi!