touring two: Kansas!

Happy 4th of July!!!!!

We had a leisurely bicycle ride today, only 58 miles :) The leisure began when we treated ourself to a delicious breakfast at the restaurant next door. The pancakes were thick and fluffy and fully the size of dinner plates; the bacon was crisp and salty, the biscuits and gravy were steaming, rich and creamy, the hashbrowns were fried to perfection, with just a hint of potato flavor, the eggs were runny on the inside, and the coffee was bold and the cup never allowed to go empty. It was wonderful. A perfect start to the day.
The landscape looked much the same as yesterday: flat, with a few gently sloping hills, golden grasses, cattle, farming, etc. We did see corn though, and an ear nearly unseated Chris from his bicycle!

We stopped at Sheridan Lake about halfway through our biking day and had lunch at a cafe, enjoying sitting in the AC and out of the sun. We had a headwind again today, maybe even stronger than yesterday. It is amazing how the faintest tickles of a breeze can become a hindrance when biking with panniers. Below are pictures of a town we stopped in briefly for a stretch and shade break.

This is the entire town looking back the way we came (above) and where we were headed next (below). If you could close your eyes for 20 seconds while biking, you could pass through the whole thing and not even know it.

To break up the scenery we came across the following sign:

New state! So far we don't have high hopes for Kansas. The only attraction we know of is that Kansas has the largest ball of twine. Anyone have any ideas of places we should see in Kansas?
We met another cyclist going the other direction a few minutes before taking the above picture. He'd had tailwinds the entire time - this doesn't bode well for us ever losing our headwind. He was on a trip from Virginia to San Francisco.

We arrived in Tribune, KS around 3pm today. We stopped by the gas station and bought a cold drink and asked after places to camp in the area. We found that people camp in the park, next to the gazebo across from the swimming pool. Guess we aren't the first cyclists to come through town. We headed over to the gazebo, following the directions. The local bank LED sign infromed us it was 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the temperature, it is a beautiful day and our camping area is really nice! There is grass and trees and shade, even a spicket and picnic table!

We enjoyed a nice cold 1/4 of watermelon from the local grocery store and made ourselves a dinner of chicken alfredo over tri-colored rotini. Everyone that drove by waved, and the sheriff stopped by and told us to go over to the football field for free ice cream and to watch the fireworks show.

We took his advice. We sat on the thick grass of the field eating bowls of vanilla and strawberry ice cream. We took the camera and had lots of fun taking photos. It was an impressively long show of professional fireworks.