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Monday, August 4, 2008, Randy and Joanelle Ryan’s backyard, Scott City, Kansas
Well, we made it to Kansas today. I’m writing this before the day is over just to keep the blog more up to date. Lane got us up when he woke up around 5:00 am. Gloria and I had a good night sleep in a bed, the third since California. After eating breakfast and taking pictures, we headed over to the church building to pick up our bikes and head out for Kansas. We didn’t get a real early start, just before 8:00, but an unseasonable wind was blowing in our direction, east, so we made real good time, the best so far this trip, probably averaging close to 20 mph the whole way. We stopped after 2 miles at the Kansas border for a picture then headed all the way to Leoti, 40 miles away, before stopping at a Convenient type store for drinks and French fries. We rested there for about an hour before continuing on to our final destination, Scott City, population almost 4,000, the biggest we would encounter for some time. We were going to stay at the city athletic club, which had a nice pool and showers, but it was too expensive. Even though the owner was going to cut the price by almost 50%, it was going to cost us $80. So we decided to look around and saw a man standing outside a church (Randy Ryan). We asked him if he knew a place we could set up a tent and he said, “Yeah, in my backyard!” So, we put some of our stuff there at his house, then headed for the public pool to swim and take showers. It was only $1.00 per person. Big black clouds were approaching fast, so we hurried to beat the closing of the pool. When we got there, it began to sprinkle, and before everyone could get in, lightning started, so they shut down the pool, but not before we could shower, so everyone got a shower. Afterwards, the man who worked there walks up and gives me back my money since we couldn’t swim. Nice gesture. Then it began to pour, so we waited out the worst of it, then headed to the library, where I am now. I will update the day tomorrow if there is anything noteworthy to say....
...Continued. Well, we left the library at 7:45 because it was still raining and the wind was blowing pretty hard and it didn't look like we would be able to set up the tent in a dry place, so we hurried back to the athletic club before it closed at 8:00 to see if we could work out a deal with the owner. He could go no lower than $45, so we decided against it. Instead, we went to a cheap Chinese all-you-can-eat and filled up there, hoping the rain would pass in the meantime. It did, and we set up the tent in the Ryan's backyard. This was the first time we have used the tent in over a week. We put the tarp over in case it rained. We got everything set up in the dark and went to bed with the wind gusting pretty hard, flapping the tarp loudly all night, but it didn't rain. Sarah got sick after all that food. We didn't get such a good rest after that. 66 miles.