Day 43, Chanute to Lake Toronto.

Fronting our camp site at Lake Toronto was the so called beach. Typical of a man made lake, the sand was brought in since these lakes are usually made by damming a valley or something. The color of the water you ask? Let's just say it's not blue, and you wouldn't want to go in with while under wear on.

I thought I saw a school of papio just off shore. If only I had my black grubs with me.

When i have the time, I'll stop at every opportunity to examine the natural setting of the area. This was one of many small ponds that form from run off either naturally, or directed by some sort of drainage system. The have their own little Eco. system in it self.

Same pond, different angle. There was a little concrete plat form I was able to get to so I could shoot this with out all the bushes in the way.

I don't know when the last time this baby seen action, but I'm sure glad I'm not riding it across America.

Down town Toronto. During the heat of the day, there's no one out side. We ended up seeking shelter from the heat in the Public Library.

Flowers are one of natures gifts to the world. There are so many different kinds, and they are all beautiful. Just like women, they get my attention.

You could get lost in one of these things. If you look real close, there is like a whole world in there all in it self.

We had Lunch at this Deli. It was the only place in town for a meal. So we thought. After coming out of there, the folks at the Senior Center offered us food, but had to turn it down cause we were stuffed.

The tallest building in down town Toronto.

This is a smart cow. He watched me perspire while he was enjoying a day at the pool.

Him and his buddies know how to spend a hot summer afternoon.

This was the only store for about 3 miles. Lonnie, the owner has been to Hawaii.

I stopped to take a you know what. And took this picture just for the hell of it.

It's funny how every road out of town looks the same. This could have been any one off a dozen towns we left.

The beach in front of our camp.

If you could only see how well disciplined and physically toned this guy is. Proof, life doesn't end at 50.


Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Day 43, Chanute to Lake Toronto, Kansas. “110 Degree Ride In The Sun”. 45.35 miles.

I never thought I would complain about the heat. And in reality, complaining doesn’t solve much, so I’ve learned to just bear it. But when the locals around here tell you you’re crazy , then maybe it’s something worth considering. Today was probably as hot as I’ve had to endure. We only did about 45 miles today, and most of that was done well before 2 o’clock. In fact, by lunch time, we had gone 25 miles. But as soon as we got on the bike again, it was scorching.

This morning I got up at 5:30, but didn’t want to get out of bed cause Lisa had set the A/C on high all night, and it was freezing. I lay there for about a half hour before having to go use the bathroom , and since I was up. I turned the darn thing off, and looked outside. It was already pretty warm out there. We took advantage of the free Continental Breakfast before packing up our stuff for the long day ahead. As we made our way through the streets of Chanute, it was only then that we realized how big this town was. We had actually been staying at the out skirts of town, not in the town itself. It took us about two miles out of our way before being able to get on the route leading out of town. Lucky for us, Kansas is pretty flat, so all this extra mileage wasn’t really hurting us yet. Out on the road we found miles and miles of straight, wide open, and lightly traveled pavement. You could see for miles, and aside from the slight ungulations in the form of the lay of the land, it was so straight, you could spot a mouse crossing the road a mile away. Roads like this can get pretty boring. You notice stuff because your mind starts wandering. That squeak coming from the pedals is now almost deafening. I’ll have to take a look at that tonight for sure. Also, you start thinking about the heat. Not so much because it’s a big problem, but because it’s there, and you know it’s getting worse by the minute. So you drink fluids. The problem with that is that the fluids are at the same temperature the heat is. Like drinking hot water while sitting in an oven. So you stop at the few shady spots along the way, and try to cool off. It helps a lot.

We stopped to rest an get water in one small town that only had a population of 98. Sorry, I forgot the name. The town didn’t have anything in it, but a park with one picnic table. Since no one was there, we got it. The park had no water, no restroom, no nothing. In fact, we didn’t see anyone except the Internet guy who couldn’t help us one bit. We didn’t get the water we wanted, but had enough to make it to our final destination for the day. A few miles down the road, we came across a bar and grill. We knew they would have cold drinks, but when we turn in to the parking lot, the sign on the door said, “Sorry We’re Closed” So on we went.

We came to a bend in the road with a fork leading straight ahead that was made of gravel. The map looked like the route was straight ahead, but was confused that it was a gravel road. We decided to take the paved road, but turned around after a half mile, cause there was no indication of what road we were really on. Even my GPS didn’t show the names of these roads. That’s how far in the boonies we are. We flagged down a truck driver coming from the gravel road. He stopped and directed us in the right direction.

We finally made it to the town of Toronto, and found a deli where we ate a real meal. As we left the deli. A lady from the Senior Center called us and said if we wanted lunch, it was free. But since we just got through eating a big meal, we thanked her and declined. People are so nice in these parts. We went over to the library to get out of the heat. They only had 3 computers, and all of them were in use, so I didn’t get a chance to catch up on e-mail and stuff.

Tonight we are at Lake Toronto camping next to the water. Nice place, but it is hot. Good night, Aloha, Ted.