Day 42, Pittsburg to Chanute, Kansas.

Click on the map to enlarge it to see where we are.

This train crossing is haunted. Either that, or somebody is having fun with bicycle riders passing through here.

How far do you suppose the road goes before it disappears?

Now these are Texas Long Horns. I know that with out even looking twice. They seemed pretty content with what ever the were doing.

This tree died some how, and it didn't even fall over yet. But by judging from the next photo. I wonder if it died from fright when the tornado hit.

Hurricane damage. But how long ago was it? Two days ago there were 1200 tornado sighting in the mid-west. Oh, oh, I think that's where we're headed.

A lot of wheat in Kansas. Makes it hard to unleash my photographic skills when all you have to shoot is wheat.

I was too lazy to stop, so I took this shot while rolling at a reasonable 14 miles an hour.

It is pretty flat around here. Too much of this and it might start to get boring.

That barn looked like the thing caught on fire and burned.

I had to take this picture. Only because I thought it unique that the trailer said TransAm on it. Get the simularity?



Day 42, Pittsburg to Chanute, Kansas, "Flat, But Hot!" 57.25 miles.

It was a good call on Lisa's part for a rest day. Although we didn't get much done: Like laundry, bowling, movie, and fun stuff like that, we did get the essentials done. We ate, and we ate again. Then when we got hungry, we really ate. Actually, it's not as bad as it sounds. We eat good, but not so much that we're pigging out.

Since the internet at the Supper 8 wasn't working, we decided to go to the Starbucks down the road a bit and see if we could use their connection. What they don't tell you, is that you need to buy the connection. I paid five bucks fro three connections, but only used two. Who knows? I might still be able to use the last one down the road somewhere. By the way, they gave me free coffee. Thanks Starbucks.

Although we got up a little late, and took our time at the Continental Breakfast, we were still on the road by 8:30AM. We knew the route would be mostly flat, but we also knew that once the afternoon sun started beating down, it was going to be hot. I'm glad that the moisture had dissipated out of the air, it was a drier heat than the previous days. I didn't sweat nearly as much. I have a personal adviser who is a trained professional when it comes to stuff like dehydration. So I follow her recommendations, and I'm back to my old, I mean, regular self again.

The miles rolled by pretty easily. By lunch, we had already gone over 30 miles. Stores and gas stations are far and few in between around here. We ran into nothing till the town of Walnut. And even then, there wasn't much. We ate there at the Walnut Express Stop, anyway, and I'll have to admit, the food was pretty good. I call my brother Ralph, who is vacationing in Florida with his wife Carol and my mom. They will be driving to Topeka, Kansas, and will be there this Friday the 26th. Lisa and I are trying to time it so that we are in Newart, Kansas at that time, so they can drive down and see us. So we are actually doing shorter days so that we meet with them.

After lunch, I loaded up on the Power Ade, and water along with the few snacks that I already had, and we were off. The heat was immediately eminent. It was like stepping into a blast furnace with a fan blowing in your face. Fortunately, the road was lined with big trees that offered shade for the first couple of miles, and by then it didn't matter cause we were already at the point of no return.

The land scape changed from farm land to ranch land, and back and forth for most of the day. A funny thing happened that left Lisa and I with an unanswered question on our minds. While we were approaching a train crossing, the lights started flashing, and the bells started ringing. Signaling that a train was only 30 seconds away. I was excited, I pulled up to the stop sign, and got out my camera. This was going to be great. We looked to the left, and we looked to the right. There was no train in sight. Then, the lights stopped flashing, and the bells stopped ringing, and the wooden arms lifted to allow us to cross. There was no one else around to witness this. After all, who knows where we were..................................? We later passed a golf course, but only saw one guy out on the course swinging. According to the weather report, the heat index feels like 110 degrees right now as I am writing this. So you can just imagine how hot it was..................... Once we crossed Interstate 59, we knew we didn't have much more to go. 15 miles to be exact. 15 miles sounds like a lot. And it is, but after riding through all the hills of Virginia and Missouri, 15 mile on flat land is nothing.

We rolled into Chanute a little before 3 o'clock, and checked into The Safari Inn. I showed the clerk my Hawaii drivers license as an ID, and he wanted to know if the Hi.(For Hawaii) was somewhere in China. I assured him it was part of the US. I'm just glad I wasn't wearing my Kamakazi Tee-shirt.

First order oif business? Laundry, yep, I used my last pair of under wear last night. Sorry, no movie tonight, the theater is in the next town 20 miles away. Aloha everyone, Thank you all for everytnig.

Below is a video clip of the Kansas flat land.