August 29th and 30th Great Bend to Hutchinson to Toronto. Kansas that is.

Our stay at Great Bend was lovely. I did have a weird experience outside. I was sitting at a table alone in front of the house contemplating the universe around 9pm when 4 rabbits came flying around the corner of the house toward me. I jumped right up out of my chair and yelled. Not sure what that was all about. I decided at that point to contemplate the universe alone inside of the house. The rest of the night was uneventful= we all slept well. 

The morning routine went fairly smoothly. We actually were on our bikes by 7:25! We took the back streets as far as we could until we made it to the edge of town. More grain elevators marked the town's outer limit.  We crossed the Arkansas River. The river looked dreadfully low. And then the highway began. The shoulders were the widest we've seen yet. Awesome. We saw our first Armadillo. Unfortunately it was dead. We noticed lots of road kill, which seems to be par for the course when you cross animals with 18 wheelers going 70 mph. Food for thought when you are riding alongside these truckers on a bicycle...

We also saw a whole colony of marmits popping their heads out of their holes and chirping. Of course we stopped to take pictures. I would take pictures of the road kill, but my friends think it's gross.

Luckily, after several miles of the high speed traffic, we turned onto Northeast 140th Street. What a relief! And what a great road for biking on! It was like a magic day:

First we came upon a farm that had a "welcome bikers" sign.

Wow. Nice! We ventured off of the road to check it out. The Drach Farm had a cute little orchard with peaches and apples. We bought a basket of peaches and they gave us a couple of apples and bottles of water for free. How nice is that??? We chatted for a few minutes about farming while we enjoyed some fruit. It was delicious. The Drachs were interesting, kind people. Thank you Mr. And Mrs. Drach! 

A little ways down the road we were checking out a marker overlooking the Quivira Lake area (as we were riding through the Quivira State Park)...and Betsy noticed a German license plate on the car in the parking lot. The next thing we knew Lisa and Betsy were speaking fluent German with a couple from Bavaria. Pretty cool. Kind of like serendipity and magic mooshed together. Lisa and Betsy are cool that way. 

                                                                                                                Lisa enjoying the open road! Nice biking today!

                                                                                                                             I like this sign. 

                                                            Cool Indian sculpture on top of a hill.

After leaving the German couple, we were tooling down the road again and I noticed yet another sign: bottled water for bikers! There by the roadside was a bench to sit on, a cooler full of ice and bottles of water and a jar with a note pad in it to leave a note.  By this time it was getting hot, so the bottled water was so appreciated! We left a thank you note and a pin from Virginia that Betsy had with her. Cool. Nice people! 

Then, yes, the magic kept happening....with only 8 miles to go to Hutchinson, we came to a T intersection. The road became a highway. The shoulder disappeared and the truckers were flying by. Ugh! So you might want to know what is so magic about that? Well, when we racked our bikes, ready to sag to Hutchinson, Betsy noticed a sign pointing to Sterling...3 miles away. We decided to check it out and boy were we glad! Sterling is another cute Kansas town. They have a college there. The grain elevators marked the edge of town as seems to be common here...

and they have a Mexican restaurant: Dos Amigos. Bingo! Magic.

An hour later, with full bellies and all smiles, we headed down the road to Hutchinson. It was a fairly large town. We were 2 hours early to check in, so we went to a cafe. Surprise! Well, actually we really were pleasantly surprised when we entered the building and it had art work and displays of local artists inside. Really beautiful stuff. The iced coffee hit the spot. It was in the 90's outside so staying inside was the agreed upon decision and the art helped us wile away the hours. 

Finally the hour had come to go to our lodging. It was gorgeous! I wonder if the owner is an interior decorator? We just loved the place. After a couple games of pool, a nice dinner: smoked pork chops, corn on the cob and a lettuce salad, we sat out on the roof patio and played music and chatted. It really did feel like a magical day.

                                                    The sun setting over Hutchinson

Hutchinson to Toronto. Well the day began fine. We were packing up and hauling everything to the car. It was Pete's turn to sag. We decided to determine who sags alphabetically by last names: Bladek, Liljeberg, Liljeberg and Liljeberg. So obviously, it was Pete's turn. As Pete was checking tires and adding air to them, he noticed that Lisa had 2 flat tires. What???? Oh nooooo. So Lisa chose to sag (we allowed for this change because her last name begins with an "L." )

At the onset of our ride, one full hour later than planned, it was apparent that our morning ride would be taxing; no shoulder and quite a bit of traffic. Two miles in I decided to rack my bike. Lisa drove me several miles to where we might get a break in the traffic pattern. And yes indeed, the traffic did slowed down. So when Pete and Betsy arrived we took off the three of us together. For a while it was wonderful. We were able to ride side by side and chat about philosophical topics. We even stopped to take a picture of a unique plant that Betsy later identified as a Cotton Plant. The fields were full of them! Very pretty. And apparently there is a 24 to 36 hour window when they bloom. And we got to see it!

Well, little by little as we progressed to our next destination, the traffic picked up. It became dangerous and nerve wracking. It was 90 degrees and we had had enough. We racked the bikes and finished the day in the airconditioned car all the way to Toronto. 

The lodging in Toronto was nice. We all agreed that it made us feel like we were at camp: shade trees all around, a lake near by, Cicada chirping in the trees... After unpacking everything, Lisa and I explored the town. We checked out the Lake in the State Park. We checked out the local bar. We were disappointed that the Sassy Sisters shop was closed. 

After checking out the whole town, we returned to the camp. Pete and Lisa made dinner while Betsy and I lazed around. As usual, we had another awesome dinner...and then Pete and I played music on the screened in porch. 

My turn to sag tomorrow. Tomorrow's destination: Chanute!