Day 31, Andy is a Big "S"

Finally, the long-awaited post from the Kansas stateline. We think it is quite the masterpiece!

Also, in order to preserve the "two babes on a bike" theme, the following picture of the two babes has been included. Sorry Andy, you are not a babe.

We write from the comfort of the Newton, Kansas fire station! The novelties of staying in a fire station do not cease. Yes, they do really have the poles that they slide down (three, even!) which Andy tried out just to make sure they really work. The fire fighters are all extremely nice and funny, and they make each other dinner and hang out in some really comfortable arm chairs. We haven't experienced a call yet, but we have been told that it may get noisy tonight if there's an alarm. They also have a washer and dryer! Which we think is pretty exciting after an uncountable number of days of handwashing clothes in the showers. You start to get a little gamey even after your best efforts of washing smelly bike clothes with shampoo.

We started off this morning by leaving camp and heading straight for the inventively-named "The Cafe", where we experienced the world's BEST biscuit in the form of sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches. The biscuit was airy, light, and delicious. We cannot sing its praises enough. We bicycled today through the Flint Hills, open pasture land that continues for miles, and miles, and miles. It was pretty to bike through, with cows leisurely grazing over open, green fields. The best way to describe the biking for the past couple of days is "lulling monotony". It's not quite boring, because it's scenic, but it stretches on for what seems like forever. By the eighth day of Kansas, it will definitely have seemed like forever! We had exactly three turns on our route today, each of which we anticipated for miles ahead. We totaled 97 miles today, and passed through the grand total of three towns, including the most exciting town of Cassoday, the world capital of prairie chickens. These prairie chickens look like they're wearing fur boots, but we're not sure how it is the world capital when we saw just a single, solitary example of this prairie chicken. In other Kansas news, we also were passed by some farming combines on the road that are bigger than most people's houses.

We've been running into fellow adventurers cycling cross-country going west to east, since we are currently on a well-traveled route called the TransAmerica Trail that goes from Astoria, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia. All of the cyclists headed the other way have been complaining about the headwinds--not us! Our forays east to west have recently been treating us quite well...roll on winds from the southeast. We've got an easy day planned for tomorrow, no more than 45 miles into the bustling community of Hutchinson. They have over 40,000 inhabitants--we may go see a movie AND go bowling if we can handle all of the excitement!