Day 28:
I heard Ellen’s alarm go off at 6 but we couldn’t hear anyone else getting ready so we kept hitting snooze. Around 6:50 we figured something was up so we ventured out to the kitchen. Turns out everyone was almost ready. Luckily we didn’t have to do much to get ready and by 7:10 we were out the door. Aunt Henrietta was tearful when we said goodbye and she said to come back soon. It was a really special treat to stay with her. 

We stopped at a gas station for a quick breakfast. I ate a blueberry muffin and a awake granola bar. We planned to go only 75 miles and stop at the Salt City Splash Aquatic Park. The first 12 miles were more of the rolling hills and there was a slight sidewind but nothing too bad. I didn’t realize how hard it was blowing until we turned North. At least it wasn’t hot.

At mile 35 we stopped and I ate a Big Bopper ice cream sandwich. It was another 30 to the water park. I thought the 30 miles went a lot faster than the morning. At the water park the motorhome wasn’t there yet so we relaxed in the shade while we waited. The water park was surprisingly cheap, only 5 dollars! It was so nice to cool off and relax! However after 10 or so minutes everyone was kicked out for a ‘safety check’. We took the opportunity to get in line for the water slide. They had two: an open blue one and a closed yellow one. When we got up to the front Evan, Brent and I weren’t allowed to go down! The reason was because we had plastic buttons or ties on our suit! What rule is this?! Oh well, I got back in the big pool and did some stretches. It felt sooo good to be able move without anything hurting. I leaned up against the wall and started falling asleep. I got out and laid on a pool chair and quickly feel asleep. I awoke sometime later and saw Ellen also sleeping on a chair next to me. Around 5:30 everyone seemed to be getting tired of the pool. It was pretty crowed. We were planning on staying in the park across the street but looking at the map we saw there was a town called Nickerson which had a city park. It was only 13 miles away and it wasn’t that hot so we took a leisurely ride down the road. We passed an exotic zoo and saw some emu (or Ostriches). There were also some zebra but they were behind the gate. 

We got the the park and started setting up camp. Looking around the park we noticed it was retro. There were old fashioned monkey bars, a self propelled marry-go-round and the best of all: a chain swing thing. We couldn’t figure out what it was called. If anyone knows please tell me!!! There’s pictures below. 

After playing on the playground we started hearing laughter and the sounds of water. Thinking it was a sprinkler we ran around the other side of the bathroom and discovered a mini water park! Score! There were two little kids playing in it and we immediately joined them. It was such a nice surprise to end the day! After splashing around we changed clothes and finished setting up our tents. It was a perfect ending to an excellent day. Then everything changed when the mosquitos attacked. Them seemed to come out of nowhere. They went for me feet and arms. I didn’t care so much about my arms but my feet too important to be itchy. They even bit me through my shirt and shorts. Everyone else was faring just as bad if not worse. At least my tent didn’t have any holes in it. 

We couldn’t take it anymore so we piled in the motorhome and went to find some food. We thought there was a sonic nearby but when we got there it was still being built so we went to a place called Spangles. They had a really good deal going on. For 5 dollars I got a cheeseburger, fries, a drink and an ice cream sundae (they called it a mudslide. It was the perfect amount of food. 

Getting back to the campground it seemed as if the mosquitos had intensified. I made sure to kill any that got in my tent when I through my stuff in. There was no way I was going to sleep with mosquitos trapped in my tent with me. It took me almost 20 minutes to track them all down but it was worth it as I didn’t get bit all night. Unfortunately we couldn’t figure out how to turn off the pavilion lights so I draped my t-shirt over my eyes to block out the light. It didn’t work very well and it took me a long time to fall asleep. It didn’t help that I could see hundreds of mosquitos sitting on the outside of my tent. 

Day 29: 

My alarm went off at 5. It was still dark so I fished around for my headlamp. I packed up my sleeping stuff and exited my tent where I was promptly attacked by more mosquitos. I feel like they were clinging to the outside of tent all night waiting for me. I also discovered no less than 3 cockroaches underneath my tent. Two were already dead (I had probably squished it in my sleep, eww!) but the third scuttled away before I could stomp on it. I packed my stuff up in record time while fighting off all the bugs. We headed down the road to a gas station for breakfast. The morning ride was going to be long without any convenience stops. It was 58 miles straight until the next town with nothing in between. (Or rather we had to ride through the Quivira Wildlife Refuge) I filled all my containers with water and bought two Gatorades for good measure. We headed off just as the sun was rising and it was a beautiful site. I kept stoping to take pictures of it. The road wasn’t terrible and there was a nice side breeze that kept us cool. To pass the time we played some games. I spy didn’t work so well since everything looked the same. So we played a game of riddles. It had to be a two word phase that started with the same letter and you could only give one clue per word. For example: the phase is a double C and the clues are sailor and crush. Give up? The answer was captain crunch. We also sang 99 bottles of beer on the wall and the song that never ends and the phineas and ferb theme song. All of that and we had only gone 30 miles. We stopped at a scenic overlook to take a break. The mosquitos took this opportunity to feast on us so we didn’t stay long. The nice breeze from earlier had picked up was blowing with a fierce intensity to the south. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the wind hadn’t also picked up dust from the prairie and fields. Soon it was a struggle to ride in a straight line and stay on the road. It was Us vs. Wind and the wind was winning. With 13 miles left the wind was so strong anytime a car would pass us I would stop because it would have thrown me off the road. I’ve decided that having a headwind is worse than a hill. My lips became so dry and my teeth hurt from clinching them in concentration. My face was permanently locked in a sneer. With 5 miles left it got worse as we were downwind from a cattle feed ground. I had to keep telling myself whatever was hitting me was just water. (Hint: it wasn’t) 

Finally we got to Larned Ks around noon. We debated what to do. We could either stop or battle the wind for another 13 miles before we turned north. When we turned North we would have a tailwind. However 13 more miles in the wind was really unappealing. We ate lunch before deciding. We decided we could brave 13 miles for 20 miles with a tailwind. 7 miles in I was changing my mind. The wind had intensified and was blowing 26mph. I was nervous every time a car went by because it would push me every direction. I could see the turn from 5 miles away. It was the longest 5 miles as I could see myself inching towards it. Finally I turned North. I watched my computer jump from 8mph to 25mph. Before turning I was getting really irritated and having dark thoughts about this trip. But when I turned it all disappeared. Everything disappeared. I barely had to peddle. I now firmly believe that biking with a tailwind is the closest thing you can come to flying. Standing on my peddles I could have been sailing through the air. More than once we whooped and fist pumped the air. The next 20 miles only took 50 minutes. Imagine if we had a tailwind all day! 

After getting to our campground in LaCrosse Ks we all took turns cooling off under the spicket. It was upward of 100 degrees and I was glad we were done for the day. I was so tired I fell asleep on top of a picnic table. Evan fell asleep on a bench. I woke up starving and we headed to a local pizza joint for dinner. I wasn’t in the mood for pizza so I got pasta with garlic bread. The garlic bread was really good but if I wasn’t so hungry the pasta would have been watery. We got breakfast for tomorrow at the dollar general and headed back to the park. We cooled off again under the spicket and played cards until we couldn’t keep our eyes open. It’s only 9:00 but I’m exhausted. Tomorrow depending on the wind is going to be a big mile day. As if our usual 90-100 mile days aren’t big mile days. Haha.

 

Day 29 pictures: I’ll caption them later. I promise