Day 44, Lake Toronto to Eureka, Kansas.

There are a lot of these small ponds. A lot of them from what I understand are man made for the live stock. But many are natural and serve as a refuge for wild live.

Oh oh, a fatality..........................., I'm talking about the bicycle tire to the right. It was worn out, and had duct tape on the inside. It was one of two we saw today.

Here's a closer shot. I had to get rid of one of those about a thousand miles back. My tire had an inch long slash on the side wall.

Toronto Lake. Where we camped last night. Not the prettiest lake on the planet, but since it was a week day, we almost had the place to ourselves.

This is Richard from Florida. He's retired, and doesn't care how long it's going to take.

Down town Toronto at 7 o'clock in the morning.

Our camp site. $8.50 gets you a good sized site, a lantern holder, a picnic table, fire place, and access to water and facilities.

Late afternoon by the lake. Peaceful, quiet, and HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

Just before the sun came up this morning, I shot this. An 8 second shutter at ISO 100, set to cloudy day white balance. The long exposure allows the colors to saturate, giving it a deeper, crisper feel.

Rolling into Eureka at high noon.

A RAAM rider going for speed. One of three we saw today.



Day 44, Lake Toronto to Eureka, Kansas. "Short And Easy". 23.86 miles.

Last night at Lake Toronto, we were able to secure a spot right next to the water. We set up our tents and waited for the heat to cool down before deciding about dinner. I took a shower, but within ten minutes, was soaked from perspiration, and needed to take another one before retiring for the night. It was so hot that I slept with my towel to dry off through out the night.

We got an early start this morning to try to beat the heat. It was a short two mile ride into town where we stopped by the deli for breakfast. Biscuits and Gravy with coffee was only $2.50. It was only 7:00AM, but the temperature was already in the high 80"s and rising fast. We put on our sun screen, and headed out of town.

It wasn't long before we met an east bounder just a couple of mile out of Toronto. He was on a recumbent. We stopped to chat for a few minutes, started in San Fransisco, rode north to Astoria, Oregon to begin the Trans-America. He told us of an unfortunate situation yesterday when his bag containing his computer, cell phone and all his electronics fell off his bike. By the time he realized what happened, he was several miles down the road. He had to back track, and when he found it, the bag had broken open from the impact, and everything inside was a total loss. Bummer, but he was over it by the time we met him. We exchanged info on up coming conditions, and wished each other luck as we moved on.............................. About a mile or so further up the road, we met another east bounder. An older guy on a Trek touring bike. He was fully loaded, and was retired, and not concerned with how long his tour was going to take. We talked with him for a while. His name is Richard, from Florida. Once Lisa and I got on the Interstate leading to Eureka, it was quite nice. The traffic was light at this time of the day, it was still in the 80's, and we were moving along at a comfortable average of about 15 miles an hour. We saw three RAAM riders coming the opposite direction. They were accompanied by support vans with extra bikes mounted on them. They were moving too fast to bother with a couple of loaded tourist. RAAM is an acronym for Race Across America. These guys try to make it from coast to coast in the fastest time. Individuals can do it in about two weeks, and teams can do it in ten days. What a waste of time and energy. But who knows, I might try that next year................ NOT! (Correction, I just checked the RAAM website. the fastest individual completed the 3000 plus mile coast to coast race in less than 8 days. That's right, he averaged 15 point something miles an hour.)

We pulled into Eureka at about noon. Really, we were so surprised that we didn't know what to do with ourselves. The clerk at the Blue Stem Lodge was nice enough to let us have the room early so that we wouldn't have to wait around another couple hours. After settling in and showering, we went across the street to the bowling alley where there is a
Chinese restaurant, and had the buffet. All you can eat for $6.99. I had two plates full. We wanted to do some bowling afterward, but the computer for the scoring was out, so they were closed for the next couple of days. Booooooooo, I wanted to go bowling. Tomorrow is another rest day. Laundry, sight seeing, who knows. Bye for now, Alooooha, Ted.