Day 3

Day 3, 3/23, 3:19pm - Chanute, KS to Girard, KS - 47 miles.

Picture 1: Road back to Walnut
Picture 2: Cow enroute
Picture 3: Another cow
Picture 4: Trish and d'bike
Picture 5: Ben and the open country
Picture 6: Train crossing the road
Picture 7: Train cars go on and on
Picture 8: Showin' the bike to Walnut folks
Picture 9: Eating cookies
Picture 10: Staying with the Burks: Barbara, Brian, and the Fire department dispatcher

We got up today at around 5:15am, and were on the road by around 7am. The morning was cool, and there wasn’t any wind, so we made pretty good time down Santa Fe to 160th. Unfortunately, Trish and I weren’t paying attention, and we rode right by 160th. After figuring out our mistake, we got back on track. There was only one hill that was too steep to ride up, so we had to get off and walk.

Other than the rolling hills, the other Ubiquitous feature of Kansas is cows. Cows, cows, cows! Brown cows, black cows, big cows, small cows, cows, cows, cows. There were lots of baby cows running around. Anyway, they were really cute.

On the way to Walnut, we were cut off by a very long train. Trish managed to get a picture of it as it crossed the tracks. It was very long; even 30 seconds after the engine had gone by, the train cars still went off out of sight.

At around 10:30, we rolled into Walnut. We filled up our waterbottles, and bought a candy bar. The locals gathered ‘round, and I explained the various features of the bike. We had stayed in Walnut on the way to Chanute on Thursday (see Day 1), so Walnut felt like home. Since there are only 50 or so people living there, we already knew a good portion of the town’s population.

After leaving Walnut, we pedaled towards Girard. The sun was rising, and it was getting pretty hot. It was in the high 70s all three days we rode. We had to stop to eat some snacks before pressing on.

At around 1pm, we got into Girard. Brian Burks, one of Girard’s police officers, pulled up next to us in the parking lot where we were working on the bike and invited us to spend the night at his house. We accepted, and went on over. We had a great time with them. His wife, Barbara, works at the bank where our whole trip started. They have a really sweet daughter, Bry Anna. We spent the night watching TV and talking, and then went to bed.

Day 3, 3/23, 3:19pm - Chanute, KS to Girard, KS - 47 miles.

Other than the rolling hills, the other Ubiquitous feature of Kansas is cows. Cows, cows, cows! Brown cows, black cows, big cows, small cows, cows, cows, cows. There were lots of baby cows running around. Anyway, they were really cute.

On the way to Walnut, we were cut off by a very long train. Trish managed to get a picture of it as it crossed the tracks. It was very long; even 30 seconds after the engine had gone by, the train cars still went off out of sight.

After leaving Walnut, we pedaled towards Girard. The sun was rising, and it was getting pretty hot. It was in the high 70s all three days we rode. We had to stop to eat some snacks before pressing on.

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