Day 27 – From McPherson, Kansas to Abilene, Kansas – 63 miles

Last night it stormed and stormed and stormed. It still looked stormy when I walked out of my hotel room this morning – uh oh! I asked our tour leader, Andy, “what happened to our weather angel? It left us mid-way through the ride?!?” I would be eating those words later because it cleared up during breakfast and it was much cooler out (in the 80s instead of the 90s and 100s) and we had a tail wind! WOWZERS! I ended up deciding that I don’t like riding all alone so I decided to speed up a little and surprised myself with how fast I can really go when I want to (I started out later than everyone because I had a hotel flat… flat #2). I also had one goal today (besides riding) – do laundry! My stuff stinks and I don’t have any clean socks or underwear – so I was first to get my laundry in – goal accomplished! I forgot – today was the half way point for the ride – YIPEE! We were all very excited about that and got some great photos.

The scenery has changed a lot too – it is definitely getting prettier as we head East. John stated in his blog “So, why has the US decided to KEEP Kansas? I am sure someone could take it off our hands”, which I agreed with completely and thought was hysterical. But after today, I think there might be some redeeming value to this state. There were more rolling hills… lots of green and rivers and we road on a nice country road most of the way – very lovely!

I arrived in Abilene with plenty of energy. I did laundry and had a great talk with my friend, Michelle. Unfortunately my phone died and then I realized I don’t have a charger – I must have left it in a hotel – I think I get the prize for the most items left in a hotel – so far I’ve left my IPOD, a book, and now my cell phone charger! GEEZ LOUSIZE! I also went for a 6 mile run through the town – saw some pretty sights – this is a relatively nice town. I wish I had had my camera to take photos. This is the home of the Greyhound, the dog, and there are greyhound places everywhere that house them… similar to a horse stable but smaller. There were also trucks that look like the trucks that transport cows to the slaughter but they are smaller… I think they are for the greyhounds to go to the racetrack… maybe!