Day 50, Larned to Ness Citry, Kansas

This guy really looks like he knows what he's doing, doesn't he?

Ted entering Fort Larned.

What do you think this guy just got done doing?

This wind mill was at a rest area. It was over a hundred degrees out there.

Another award winning mail box from Kansas.

I always take my camera with me when i go to take a um, break............... and some times it pays off.

Can you imagine living way out here with nothing for miles in any direction?
This is Bob from England. I stopped to see if he needed help. He's on his way to Yorktown. Good luck Bob.

The barracks at Fort Larned.

These are real guns from time past.

The Indians used these on the settlers.

This came from The World Trade Center aster 911.

The barracks at Fort Larned. The NPS really did a good job at preserving this place.

More of Fort Larned.

Lisa at the entrance of Fort Larned.

This is the prison at Larned. We passed it coming out of the town.

This is only the second SDA church we came across on our trip so far.


This flag pole is at the center of the fort.

The bank in Ness City is the tallest sky scraper in the plains. That's what the sign said.

An old school house from the 1800's. It is an historical attraction here in Ness City.


In the middle of no where, they still have a problem with graffiti.



We were really moving along. Wind at our backs, and cruising. I told Lisa, I think we can catch that train.

And we were, we were flying.

We actually caught up with it and passed it. Later we found out that the train was parked there for the last two day. Bummer, it was the only time I thought we were really making progress.

We ran into a total of six east bounders today. I stopped taking their pictures cause we see too many of them lately.

Down hill into Alexander.

This machine make hay bails in one continuous length.

This guy must do well for himself. Maybe he's the mayor or something.

Rolling into the town of Larned, Kansas.


Day 50, Larned to Ness City, Kansas. “A Better Day” 66.59 miles.

It’s good when you can say it was a better day. I say it was better, because we had an early start, the temperature wasn’t that bad, and a couple of good things happened. As we left the Best Western Motel, it was only 69 degrees. Perfect for a bike ride. The route took us on a loop for some reason, so we actually went a mile or so further than we had to, but what the hey, what’s a mile more on a 4,250 plus mile ride, right? We finally got back on track, and was headed west under ideal conditions. Just out of town, we passed a Seventh-day Adventist church. I was excited, because it was only the second one we saw since we started. The other one was in Virginia. I stopped to take a couple of pictures to post so pastor Kurt and my mom could see it. We continued n, and went past the largest cemetery I’ve seen so far. This thing was huge. I didn’t get any pictures, but it was probably a half mile long, and a quarter mile wide. Very nicely kept. I bet the occupants of that one were very happy…………….. About 9 miles further down the road, we came across Fort Larned. A historical land mark run by the national Park Service. We pulled in and spent some time checking out this well preserved monument. It was one of the many forts used to guard the Santa Fe Trail against the Indians.
A short time later, I noticed an east bounder on the side of the road looking over his bike. I stopped to see if he needed any help. His name is Bob, from England. He had a flat, and had just repaired it when I came along. We chatted for a few minutes, exchanging information about the road ahead. Bob told me that he ran into 6 inches of snow in Wyoming two weeks earlier, but it should be gone by the time we got there. He was a pleasant chap, and I didn’t want to dampen his spirits by telling him what he was in for in Missouri and beyond. I then left to catch up with Lisa who was long gone by now.
As our route turned north, we had the advantage of a tail wind. A welcome change from the 20 mile an hour head wind we battled most of the day yesterday. We made good time, and spent the rest of the day in the big ring.
At the town of Alexander, we stopped at a place called
“Ethal’s Place”. It was the only place in this small town to get anything to eat. A really neat Bar and Restaurant with tons of old soda, beer, and tobacco cans on display from years gone by. The service was slow, it took almost an hour to get our order, but that’s cause it was lunch hour, and every one wanted to eat at the same time. When we went to pay for our lunch. The lady at the counter said to Lisa, “I gotta tell you this, but someone wanted to buy you guys dinner, but all she had was three bucks, so she gave me the three bucks toward you dinner.” We were blown away. She wouldn’t tell us who it was, and said that we would never know. People here are so kind, that city folks could learn a lot from country folks…………………… As we were leaving, I noticed a rattling sound coming from my trailer. I stopped to check it out, and I had a flat. A bad one too. The slime sealant wasn’t able to stop it cause there was a big hole in the tire. I ended up changing the tube and the tire. Lucky I carried a spare, in this town, there is nothing. We turned on to HWY 95 that will take us all the way to Pueblo, Colorado. A few hundred miles to the west. By this time the temperature had risen to over a hundred degrees, and when we entered the town of Bazine, about 10 miles up the road, I was ready for something cold. A Gatorade. But this town was even worse than Alexander. All we found was a soda machine. We left in disgust and continued on. At a rest area 12 miles later, we stopped and was rewarded by a drinking fountain, a water spigot, and just important, SHADE!
The rest of the ride was pretty easy going, baring the heat. But fortunately, we had cloud cover when we really needed it. I offered a prayer of thanks to The Lord when ever it happened I believe He gave us that shade when we really needed it. I really do…………….. We rolled into Ness City at about 5:30, and found the “Derrick Inn”, where we are spending the night. We had dinner at the “Cactus Club”. All you can eat tacos for $4.95. Good night, we miss you all. Ted.

Day 49, Nickerson to Larned, Kansas

This feed lot is located just outside Larned. The smell carried for miles. And we were down wind.

We finally found one of these in action. Pretty cool, the thing moves on big wheels as it waters.

One of the few buildings we saw along the way.

This tree is huge. I estimate the diameter of the trunk to be almost four feet. Imagine the force it took to snap that thing.

More cows. They all left as soon as Lisa and I showed up. I didn't think she, I mean we smelled that bad.

These swamp things are all over the place. Be careful, Lisa says there's snakes in there.

So tempting, I just wanted to take off my shoes and run over there.

To be there and see stuff like this is really special. If I were on a car, I would have blasted right by it without a second thought.

I just thought this was kind of neat.

Another rare building on the plains.

All these trees died. i guess from all the stagnant water.

This wind mill was out in the middle of nowhere. And the thing was still working.

This is Ben and Robin from St. Louis. I shot them as they passed.

These guys were trying to get the roof fixed before it got too hot. I don't think they did it.

This hawk was circling above us for a while. I finally stopped and took this shot.

This is the deer you will read about bellow.

This snake didn't see me, looks like it was on the hunt.

I was thinking about buying one of these, but it wouldn't fit in my trailer.

Hemp. They grow wild all over the place. Don't get any ideas, I don't think these will get you high.

I saw this bird on a side road. It let me get pretty close. So I figured it wanted me to take it's picture.

We saw these two east bounders, but I missed the second guy.

I saw these two from miles away, so I got my camera ready as they passed.

Pulling into Larned. Tired, hot, thirsty, and ready to give up.



A close up of the dead trees. It reminded me of pictures I've seen of the bijou.


Some of these ponds look soooooo inviting. Especially on a hot summer day.

Our camp site at the city park in Nickerson. I wouldn't recommend staying there.


Day 49, Nickerson to Larned, Kansas. "Head Wind And Heat". 59.95 miles. Total=2032 miles.

It is Sunday, June 28, 2009. Today we passed the two thousand mile mark. What a day. I have mixed feelings about today. It started off great, we had an early start, survived the mosquito infested park we were at, and was now headed west under cool, comfortable, windless conditions. The forecast called for highs in the upper 80's. And they were right for the most part. At noon, it was still just 79 degrees. Since today's ride would take us through desolate, sparsely inhabited areas. We brought snacks with us to eat along the way.
At 7:00AM, we met Robin and Ben. A young couple headed for Astoria, Oregon just like us. They had started from St. Louis, Missouri, and had just joined the Bicentennial Route today. We would run into them several times on today's ride. Per and Markus whom we met last night at the park, had gone on ahead. They had a 93 mile day planned, and needed the early start. Lisa and I had breakfast at a Quick-Stop convenience store. The only place in town open at the time. After a wrong turn, we were on our way at last. We passed through very beautiful wet land terrain. Lots of ponds, and swamps. We entered a wetland wild life preserve, and was almost instantly treated to some of nature's surprises. As we approached a bridge. I pointed out to Lisa a whole bunch of birds on a telephone line. There must have been a hundred of them. As we got closer, thousands of them started coming out from under the bridge. It was nuts, we stopped, and I tried my best at getting pictures of them, but let me tell you. You had to be there for this one. We left with smiles from ear to ear. What an amazing sight. a few miles later, we neared a vantage point over look. As I was looking at this huge tree that had somehow snapped in half, I saw this female deer jump a fence no more than 20 yards in front of us. I yelled, "A deer!" As I did, it stopped in the middle of the road, looking at us. I tried grabbing my camera, but it turned, and jumped back over the fence in the direction it came, and ran along side the fence in the direction we had come. I just knew it was going to cross the road further back, so I put my lens at full zoom, pointed, and waited. Sure enough, it crossed the road about 200 yards behind me. I shot it. That in itself was worth the entire price of admission. Then, not a half a mile later, I saw an animal crossing the road in front of us. I yelled to Lisa, "What is that" The animal stopped and looked at us, then darted across the road. I could see now it was a coyote. It ran through a field with cows in it, and stopped to look at us again. By this time I had my camera, but just as I was about to fire the shutter, it took off into the tree line never to be seen again. I was devastated. But still, that was something you normally would only see on Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom". We also saw a snake swimming across a stream, too fast to get a shot, but about an hour later, I saw one in a shallow ditch, that didn't see me, and I was able to shoot that one.
By this time, we were getting a little hungry, so we decided to take a lunch break under the first shade tree we found. Luck would have it. There were no trees for the next 25 miles. Not only that, but the temperature by now, had risen to 101 degrees. Just the thought of it being that hot, made us feel even hotter. Maybe that thermometer wasn't a good idea.
We pedaled on in search of some shade. The road was flat and straight, for almost 50 miles, there was not a bend in it. I was low on water, and all I had left, was one bottle, and a bottle of Gatorade. The head wind had also picked up making it hard to maintain momentum even on the flat terrain. This situation lasted the rest of the day, turning a wonderful morning into hell in the sun.
We arrived in Larned, a city with a population of a little over 5000 at 3 0'clock. As we pulled up, the first thing I looked for was something cold to quench my thirst. We found a super market, and there in front of it was Markus. He was waiting for Per who was inside buying supplies for the rest of todays ride. The still had over 20 miles to go, and I was glad I wasn't going with them. Lisa and I found a Best Western Motel, and checked in just as Markus and Per pulled in. They had decided to stay the night and continue tomorrow. Smart move, I thought.
Tomorrow is another fifty plus mile day, hopefully it'll be better. Thank you everybody, we appreciate all you moral support and prayers. Aloha, Ted.

Day 48, Newton to Nickerson, Kansas.

Markus in the yellow shirt, and Per sitting, are from Sweden. They started their east to west journey from Washington D.C., and will end up in Seattle, Washington. I hope i got that right.

The welcome to Nickerson sign with a large grain processing and storage facility in the back.

This old retired tracker has seen it's days. I can imagine how hard this baby worked during it's time.

Roger on the right is from Australia, and David in the middle is from Brittan. I don't know who that it on the right. Oh, sorry, that's Lisa.

In the town of Buhler, nothing was open on Sunday. I mean nothing, as in zero.

I'm guessing this is an old jail house here in Buhler.

Down town Buhler. See? I told you nothing was open.

They should have put "Nothing Open On Sunday" on this wagon as well.

This entire pond was covered with this green muck. Or maybe it's some kind of organic substance.

Meet James. While we were passing through Hesston, he was across the street mowing the lawn when he noticed us at the stop light talking with Bob. He came over with ice cold frozen Gator Ade for us to take along with us. "Thank you James, You made our day".

Bob from Littleton, Colorado was out riding his bike and stopped to chat. His wife's family is from Hesston where this picture was taken.

This barn was different than any of the ones we've seen so far. The roof was of shake, and notice the up side down heart on the gable end.

A hawk on the hunt. Probably looking for field mice, ground hogs, rabbits, or a small, lost biker.

While we stopped for lunch in Buhler, this rabbit came out from under the fence, and let me shoot him.


As we were riding along, Lisa noticed what she thought was a knob on the telephone pole. It was actually this hawk, it even stayed put while I got out my camera.

The streets of some of these small towns are made of brick. Yes, red ones.

Sorry for the blurred picture, I shot it on the move. This is a combine cutting wheat. The thing moves pretty fast. Not like those old fashion ones that they told us about in school.

I'm guessing this thing picks up the cut wheat somehow, and transfers it to the big trucks. A girl was driving this thing. I don't know if that's good or bad. Lisa said it was good. So it must be.


One of two grain processing facilities in Buhler.

This is my new favorite mail box holder. Buhler is ahead at this point.

I don't really think the church is in that pond, but I took this shot anyway.

How would you like to have one of these in you back yard? Some of these houses do.


Sunday, June 28, 2009

Day 48, Newton to Nickerson, Kansas. “A Late Start, But Smart”. 60.85 miles.

Last night was a real treat. Dinner with my family after not seeing them for over a month and a half, was a real joy. Especially seeing how happy my mom was to see me, and to know that we were okay. Thank you lord, for all the little things in life I tend to take for granted.
This morning Lisa and I had a late start. We didn’t get up till seven, and didn’t really make an effort to pack till nine. We were in absolutely no rush what so ever. We know we only had a little over fifty miles to go, and the forecast called for cooler temperatures for the area. At 7:30AM, it was only 69 degrees out side, as compared to 89 degrees a couple of days earlier. I took advantage of the time to check my e-mail, and surf the inter-net.
We pulled out of Newton at about 10:30 or so after breakfast at McDonald's. I know, I know. You’re thinking, “McDonald's again?” But let me tell you, when nothing else close by is open, and you want fast service, McDonald's is hard to beat. And the price can’t be touched by most restaurants in the area. Anyway, the reason it took a little longer than normal, is because this older guy in his late 60’s came over and started a conversation about our trip. Nice guy, very talkative, and he had this large drawing tablet with him, and a pencil over one ear. He told us he wrote poems, and that was it. Once he opened the book, he had Lisa reading all his poems. The guy was also an artist. And a not bad one at that. He had drawn pictures to go along with his poems, which were very professional looking. Both the drawings, and the poems. We didn’t get his name, but after a while, he told us he had to go cause he was late for church.
As we headed out of Newton, we were amazed at how comfortable the temperature was for this late in the morning. I must have still been in the upper 70’s to lower 80’s. We weren’t complaining, it was nice………….. The day before, I had bought a thermometer and a compass to place on top of my handle bar bag, just to see hot hot it got on the road. For $6.00, I thought it was a good deal. At one point during the ride, the temperature got up to 112. But it didn’t feel that way. I latter contributed it to the fact that the air was a lot drier that the previous days. I was hardly perspiring at all.
We rode for about an hour and a half before coming to the town of Heston where we met a roadie named Tom from Colorado who was in town visiting his wife’s family. We stopped at a stop light and chatted for about 15 minutes or so, and bid each other good luck as we started on our way. Just then, James, a guy from across the street who had notice us there, came over with two bottles of frozen Gatorade for us. James was mowing the lawn, so he knew how hot we were. He asked us where we were headed for. We told him, Nickerson. “Nickerson”, he asked. “Why you guys wanna go there?”. By this time we were wondering what was up with Nickerson, cause he was the third person today that said the same thing. With that, we were on our way.
We rode for another couple of hours or so before coming to the town of Buhler where we thought we would stop and have our lunch. As we rode through Main Street (It seems like every town we go through has one), we noticed that nothing was open. Really, not one thing. A car stopped in the middle of the empty street, and the driver rolled down his window and asked, “You guys are looking for something to eat, aren’t you?” He then told us that everything in Buhler closes on Sunday. It’s a church town, and I guess everyone there goes to the same church. Even the police station looked like it was closed. The mans wife then offered us baked potatoes, corn chips, and some home made goodies for desert. They had just come from a church potato bake, and had some extra that they wanted to share with us. They then told us that they were headed out of town, or the would take us home with them and feed us. We were very, very grateful, and thanked them from the bottom of our hearts. A little while latter, a gentleman told us we could go to his house to get fresh water. There was none anywhere where we were. As we were filling our bottles, he told us there was a rest room at the park not far from there. Good thing too, I had to go. The park was really nice. It had a swimming pool, a small lake, and very well kept. I wish we would have stayed there.
We left Buhler with our bellies full, and smiling once again. Being it that it was a Sunday, the traffic was very light, and we were able to stop almost anytime we wanted to take pictures and just enjoy the experience................ One funny mail box we saw had the name "Peachy Stoner" on it. I looked at Lisa and said, "There's a message in that. The guy is trying to tell us that he's gay, and that he smokes pot".
About mid way into our ride after lunch, we ran into a couple of east bounders who stopped and chatted with us. Roger, the older of the two was from Australia, and David was from England. They both met on the crazy guyonabike website and decided to travel together. I did get pictures of them, and we exchanged information about the route ahead.
Today we saw two dead deer, a couple of dead raccoons, and some turkeys, a family of wild ducks, and a hawk. We rolled into Nickerson at 5:30PM, and are spending the night at the city park. The park is pretty run down, and there are no showers, so it’s a sink bath again. The men’s toilet it clogged, so looks like I gotta use the wahine toilet tonight. A few minutes ago, two west bounders from Sweden by the names of Per (Pronounced Pat), and Markus came rolling in and will spend the night with us at the park. We will have plenty of time to get to know them.
Well, good night for now, we have no inter-net tonight, so I will post this at a later time.
Aloooooha, Ted.