Day 23
We're in Kansas Toto!

DAILY DOINGS: Today we entered our 4th state...Kansas.  Kansas is derived from an Indian term, KANSA.  It means: People of the south wind.  And that's what we expect most of the time when we ride through here.  All along our route we see trees leaning to the north even when the wind isn't blowing...convinced me.  I think the riders were really impressed with Kansas so far.  As soon as we crossed the line, the shoulder of the road got smooth, the terrain started to drop gently, and the strong head wind never materialized...life was good all day.  We've also been lucky with the temperature as it can be over triple digits when we ride through, but we've caught a cool front that's keeping the temperatures in the comfortable level for now.

Our route took us out of Lamar on highway 50 with only one turn about a mile after leaving the motel and then a couple turns off highway 50 at our destination.  The weather forecast was for 15-20 MPH SE winds by afternoon, but we really had light and variable all day...I've said it before, I love it when they miss that way.  The shoulder leaving Colorado was a bit bumpy but as soon as we crossed into Kansas, that got better. 

All in all it was a 100 mile rest day.  Everyone was in good spirits and moving briskly across the Kansas countryside.  You can really see the change in topography and life style now that we've gotten lower in altitude.  Today we descended below 4000 feet for the first time in a while and we are starting to see more and more crop and dairy farms...wheat is being harvested and corn is about waist high.  We're also starting to see feed lots dotting the landscape.  I'll talk more about them later.  Another thing we're starting to see is "Kansas Skyscrapers"...grain elevators every 8-12 miles (right).  You can almost set your computer by passing grain elevators in these parts.  When the railroad came through in the early days, it needed a water stop every 8-12 miles...ergo a town grew albeit many of them aren't even considered "one horse" towns.  But they will all have a grain elevator on the skyline.

I must say, Garden City isn't the most exciting place we've stayed at on this trip...but tomorrow we get to Dodge!  We may be the most exciting thing that's happened here for a bit.  Someone called the newspaper that something was going on so they came out and interviewed the staff and several of the riders...big news in a small town.

Tomorrow we are going to sleep in a bit...we only have 52 miles into Dodge...half what we had today.  This morning most of the riders were at 52 miles at about 9:30...they won't even have out the continental breakfast in Dodge yet by then.  There's lots to do there though so at least we'll have something to do there.

Other than that...not much to report today.  See you tomorrow...I can hardly keep my eyes open...good night. 

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