July 15 - Sterling, KS to Newton, KS

Gloria

Knowing we had 58 or more miles to cover today, we left Sterling before 5:15 am.  It was very dark.  All I could see was our flashing rear lights and headlights.  It being Saturday, we did not encounter much traffic for the first couple of hours.  As a matter of fact, we had fairly decent roads (but no shoulders) and very little traffic for most of today's ride.

Not much in the way of wildlife...except...Michael spotted what he thought was an armadillo.  And all of us were shocked to be riding down the road and, lo and behold, we see a camel.  He looked so comfortable and natural there, just gnawing on some grass.  Not something one would expect to see in south central Kansas.  We learned later that a gentleman near Sterling buys exotic animals...not just one or 2, but herds.  We unfortunately did not see the whole herd of camels.

 We've probably already said this, but I have to say it again...people in this part of Kansas have proven to be some of the nicest people.  They really treat us bikers like we matter.  In my opinion, this part of Kansas beats all the previous states combined for their hospitality.  We discovered today that they have a law that cars must give bike riders 3 feet of clearance.  That's awesome!  And they follow the law!  Georgia needs a law like that.  Today we saw several signs welcoming bike riders and bike racers.   They really know how to roll out the welcome.  Ok...'nuff said~

Today we were privileged to have along with us a gentleman named Jayden.  Jayden is the biker whose partner broke his clavicle.  Jayden is from Pennsylvania and rides a recumbent.  He's hoping to complete the TransAmerica trail by August 15th.  For now, he plans to ride along with us.

The terrain/topography of Kansas started changing yesterday.  Today we noticed even more changes.  More trees, more hills (ugh).  We also noticed that it was more humid.

Around 9:30 we stopped in the pleasant town of Buhler for a bathroom break.  Once we went inside Mustard Seed Cafe, I was afraid we would never leave.  It was such a cozy little oasis, that we stayed and had brunch.  Their cinnamon rolls and coffee are the best!

The town of Newton is quite large (population of 18,500 or so) compared to most of the towns we have visited.  We took pictures of a sign as we entered the town.  The sign says "TransAmerica Bicycle Trail - Welcome to Newton."  And the town has a nice bike trail that runs along the river.  Pretty cool~

All of us were looking forward to taking our bikes to the bike shop in the big city of Newton, but we discovered that it is closed until August.  I loved Jayden's comment (not verbatim), "What are they doing closing in the summer?  Don't they know summer is the best time to make money?"

We had a very late lunch at Braum's.  A fast-food restaurant, ice cream and market chain that I've never heard of before.  It is also where we will most likely have dinner.

Eric is doing our laundry and Michael is taking a nap.  Speaking of Eric...you may notice that he has not written a blog post in a while.  That is because Eric has the responsibility of sorting through all the pictures that we all take and deciding which ones to put in the blog.  We thought it was unfair for him to have the added responsibility of having to write as well.  After all...he does need time to help Megan with their wedding plans.

Another great day!  Only 40 more bike ride days to go.  Unbelievable~