Day 47, Newton, Kansas, rest day.

Gary, Loraine, Ralph, Caron, and my mom leaving to go back to Topeka.

In front of the restaurant for a group shot.

We went for the buffet, notice how much food is on Ted's plate. And that's only the first one.



This old historical house is actually a museum these days. They were closed when we stopped by.

This crow flew into a glass door and was unable to fly. We helped his on his way, but he kept flying into the same glass door. He finally died from his ordeal.


Notice if you will on the left side of the door. Normally you would see a no smoking sign, but here, they rather you not bring a gun. I can understand that.

We ran across these two ducks on main Street Newton. They weren't in the least bit concerned about our presence.


Some of the churches in this area are really impressive. This one was no exception.

This is an old stage theater. Something like the old Varsity on Oahu where they had live performances instead of movies.

The train station. One day I wanna ride a real train.

Main Street. This street actually goes on for miles.


Day 47, Newton, Kansas. Rest day, "Visitors From Molokai". 13.40 miles.

I have been waiting for this day ever since i found out that there might be a chance that my mom folks would be able to see us here in Newton. That's why we took the rest day.

This morning Lisa and I got up late, and kind of just hung out taking advantage of the wireless. Then at about 9 o'clock, we decided to go to town, to see about breakfast. We got on our bikes, and headed to Maine Street, where everything was at. After stopping at Taco Bell and finding it closed, we ended up next door at McDonald's. We knew that this would be the best chance at finding a movie theater so we asked a couple of locals if and where it would be. To our luck, it was all the way on the other side of town. We are talking six miles away. We decided to go anyway. once there, we found it to be closed. The earliest showing was at 2:35 in the afternoon. It was still only a little after 9, so we weren't planning on hanging around. On the ride back, we stopped at Wal-Mart to look for a tire gauge for Lisa. While in there, I ended up buying a small computer to replace the one I was using that got broken. Some how the screen got shattered, making it very difficult to do anything constructive on it.

my family arrived at our motel just after 6 o'clock. It was really good to see them again. We hugged and exchanged greetings as we made plans for dinner. They had driven all the way from Topeka, over a hundred miles away. Gary Hickman and his wife Loraine along with my mom, brother Ralph, and sister in law Carol all started driving from Florida, to Georgia to visit Gary's brother Lenny, then to Missouri, then Kansas where they visited Gary's other brother Kenny, and his mom in Topeka. So coming another hundred some odd miles to wee us was really a big effort on their part.......................... We all jumped into the car, and headed for Jacky Chen's, a Chinese restaurant here in Newton. We ended up going for the buffet, where we all had a great meal and great time. My mom asked if I had enough money, you know how moms are. I assured her I had enough, but she still insisted on giving me some anyway. my brother also wanted to make sure I was okay and gave me money also. It actually came in handy, because the computer really wasn't in my budget for this trip. Thanks mom, and thanks Ralph. That was a big help. And thanks Gary and Loraine for driving them all the way down here to see us. it was really nice seeing you all.

After dinner, we hung around talking for a while before having to leave since they had a long drive ahead of them back to Topeka. Before departing, i gave my mom a big hug, and told her I would be home for her 92nd birthday in August. I hugged both Carol and Loraine, and shook Gary and my brother's hand. I wanted to hug them, but that wouldn't have been a manly gesture if you know what I mean.
I has been a good trip so far, we are just about half way, and the hardest part if behind us, at least that is what we were told. Tomorrow we're on the road again. We should make Colorado in about three days. Take care everybody, we miss you all. Aloha, Ted.