Living Like Kansas City Royalty

      We hope that we have not disappointed anyone with our leisurely pace. We have come to the conclusion that it would have been much easier to meet our deadline if we were zero fun. If anything, we have learned that we like to have fun as much as the candidates in dating service videos. If you are not following, type in "80s dating video montage" on YouTube and enjoy.

You're welcome. So our friends John and Alicia, who also like to have fun, were just too fun to leave and we had to stay an extra day with them. Plus Alicia surprised us with coffee every

morning and "If you give a Jordan a Coffee.."well you know the rest.

     Our first day there, we took the bus to venture into Kansas City. We went from vagabonds on bikes to city folk navigating the bus system over night. The River Market was our first destination of course, because we knew there would be lots of food there. It is definitely one of KC's gems. Thye have many varieties of authentic foreign food to choose from and a pretty solid farmer's market. Many of the restaurants also had a connecting store that sold food and spices specific to that culture. We only had a few hours to explore the city before catching the last bus back to Olathe and that time flew by. Mostly we just enjoyed the big city vibe after spending all summer in little towns. 

       We bussed back to Alicia and John's where we had a super relaxing evening of watching a movie and eating yummy snacks. Hanging out on a couch and watching TV is much different from our usual evenings so that was a nice change. Afterwards, they took us to a place called Austin's to get their famous Delgado Wings. Finger lickin' good y'all! And that is when they convinced us to stay one more day.

        We took the next morning at a leisurely pace before getting ready to go on a bike ride on the bike paths in town. Going on a bike ride during our bike ride...it's almost ironic. We had an interesting time trying to navigate through the unclear detours and even did a little trail blazing through a backyard or two. We worked up quite the appetite so they took us to get some world famous Kansas City BBQ at Oklahoma Joes. Visiting this place was one of the main reasons they told us we had to stay another day and it was worth it. Full, happy and tired we lazed beside the pool before getting ready for one more treat.

       We went out to Westport that night to see a band called Flannigan's Right Hook at this bar, Kelly's.  Again, we knew our extra day was completely worth it. These guys were awesome and put on a great show. They covered a lot of songs by putting their own touch on them and had some really fun Irish songs of their own. We stayed WAY later than we even imagined we would and made our grand exit by getting down on the dance floor. Getting back to the car was a whole experience within itself among the crowded streets packed with all the bar goers.

       Of course after our long night we got a super late start leaving their place but that just meant we got to spend a little more time with our excellent hosts. Thanks for showing us such a great time guys! We still got some miles out of the way and had time to stop at TWO Sonics before turning in for the night. We hadn't seen a single Sonic until after the middle of Kansas and we have not been able to resist the many we have seen since. It's starting to feel a lot more like home y'all! There are definitely many differences that we have noticed the more eastern we get and it is odd the things that we have found comforting. We stayed in Lone Jack, Missouri and today we will head for the Katy Trail which we will take to St. Louis. Keep it real errbody.

     

Awesome lady kept popping up on us in KCK

Beautiful art here in KC

MURAL!

This place at the Crown Center. That is all.

Making breakfast for our hosts.

Look closely at the detour signs. Surely this was a joke.

On the roof top at Kelly's

We tried to put together outfits appropriate for the bar, however Jordan did not pass dress code with his sleeveless shirt. Luckily they let him have this little treasure from the lost and found. . .SWAG!

Kansas City/Lander buds!

The whole gang listening to Flannigan's Right Hook.

Alicia and Superman/Jesus running guy.

Made it to the state line!

Spicing Up Kansas

   So Kansas has not gone has expected to say the least. We haven't had any tail winds to accomplish a century day and we didn't make up any lost time. Although, it definitely has not been boring, as we anticipated it to be. A trip to the ER always provides some excitement and we have met a lot of great people and taken some interesting roads. Not to mention, we made it to TWO county fairs.

      After Tawnia dropped us off in Mcpherson, the three of us spent hours lying around on benches in their parks then Nick showed up later on bike. We planned on just camping in the city park because, well, it didn't say you couldn't. However, once Natalee's boyfriend, Brian, found out where they were, a few phone calls were made and the parents of his friend Kate had offered to let us stay with them. Natalee has met Kate a few times but never her parents so that was extremely kind of them to take in potentially smelly and crazy strangers. Ruth and John met us at Mcpherson's awesome pool that we had to check out, and lead us to their home. They were such excellent hosts! They pretty much doctored Natalee's ankle, which was giving major problems at the time, back to health by forcing her to kick back and relax while keeping ice on it. We chatted with them for hours and they informed us of a new game called Yolo Polo. Once again, if you have to ask you can't afford it. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay with them. Even though we did not know them directly, it is nice to have any type of a connection while we are so transient out here traveling.

      We left their house feeling much more solid as we hopped on the bikes again, but we were still going to take it easy with a medium length day to Marion Lake in which Israel hulked up to pull Natalee's trailer. We definitely didn't expect to be camping on a lot of pretty lakes in Kansas but this one was gorgeous. It was also sadly where Nick parted ways from the vagabonds but, we expect to run into him someday since we can't seem to stay away from each other for very long. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise reflecting a burning color off of the water. Time to shoot for another day. Today was different though, and yet the same. Our beloved and so terribly missed headwinds were back and stronger than ever. And it was HOT. We powered through the winds for several hours, which is not too easy to do when someone has a gimp leg, and finally made it 30 miles to Strong City. We really hoped to make it another 25 to Emporia but there was no telling how long it would take. 

      Once again the timing couldn't have been more perfect and we met Paul who happened to be driving a big cargo truck for John Deere back to his store in Emporia and just happened to have grown up in the cycling community. He felt for us riding into the winds and didn't mind to help us get to Emporia. When he asked where to drop us off and we clumsily stumbled over our words since we had yet to even look into where we could possibly sleep, he told us that he would take us to his house to get cleaned up and to stay for the night. One of our hardest days quickly turned into one of our best experiences. Paul and his wife Sara had twins, Julia and Pierre. They were an incredible family so full of love. It was so apparent how much love they had for each other, God and even random strangers like us. We loved playing with the twins while Paul fixed us a wonderful meal. Then we met another amazing person. His friend Sal came over for dinner. Sal was another positive and loving person that anyone would be grateful to have a conversation with. He even took us all to breakfast the next morning. Sara was an excellent host for us once we returned, bellies full of pancakes. She even let us use her van to go to the bike shop and the grocery store. Letting someone drive your car who has barely even been inside a car in 2 months..now that is trust! We had such a great time with them that we even stayed for lunch. They gave us an experience and taught us lessons that we will never forget. We hope you guys are starting to realize that the bike has not been what this trip is all about.

     After we left Emporia, the real adventuring began. We have started doing a little off-roading in Kansas. We took The Flint Hills Nature Trail for a good part of the day. The first part of the trail was great with very small gravel on mostly dirt, then it got pretty rough with big chunky rock so we decided to abandon the path. It was an adventure non the less and it is always nice to get off of main roads with cars zooming by. We camped on Pomona Lake, which was also beautiful and had a super clean bathhouse. It would be a place worth spending a couple of nights for a camping trip.

      We set off this next morning with the intentions of leaving Kansas, but better plans came about. We met Alicia and John a few weeks ago back in Lander, Wyoming. They live in a suburb of Kansas City and when they found out what we were doing they said that we had to come and visit them. So once in Ottawa we made the decision to just go for it. In order to go the shortest route we could possible find, our i phone maps took us some interesting ways. Most of our turns were less than 2 miles apart so it kept us on our toes. It followed quite a few dirt roads and paths that weren't really roads at all. Besides being lead through the woods to a bridge that was not fit for crossing, we were impressed with the route and did eventually end up at John and Alicia's house in Olathe. 

       We could not believe that we were actually seeing each other again after randomly meeting in Wyoming. We ate dinner and talked until we were all yawning too much to finish a sentence. Today the plan is to explore Kansas City, which will be quite different from the small towns of Kansas that we have been going through. We are keeping things interesting so stay tuned for what is to come!

Nick enjoying Mcpherson's city pool

We have mastered those selfies. Our wonderful hosts in Mcperson, John and Ruth.

Julia showing off her Woody pajamas.

"Safety First!"

We were so thankful for Sara and Paul.

How did we get here?

I am just not sure.

Oh the places the iPhone will take you.

More dirt roads

Tennessee!

This is quite the change of scenery.

Curve Balls from Kansas

       Kansas hasn't exactly been the smooth sailing we thought it would be. It is the state that most people look forward to for raking in the miles and easy riding. If you're behind on your average, there is always Kansas so no need to worry. Well that hasn't exactly been the case for us. We have had a rough time getting in any sort of rhythm in Kansas. First we had headwinds that turned 60 miles on flat terrain into an all day event. We were expecting to do 80 miles easily on most days. When we left Scott City the winds were finally starting to come straight out of the south rather than the southeast. That makes a world of difference. We arrived in Ness City at a decent hour and we were deciding rather to continue on while it was still early to some unappealing areas or stay in Ness City to experience their county fair and free camping, then take advantage of the better wind patterns the next day. Then it would be our time to shine and really start getting into our rhythm. About that time another curve ball hit us.                    

      Before going to the fair we were going to take advantage of the city pool to cool off. Little did we know there would be some obstacles between us and relaxing in the cold water. There was a very steep sidewalk leading to the pool area. On top of that, a swarm of monstrous looking hornets. Under these circumstances, Natalee decided the best thing to do would be to run through the swarm of hornets with her bike. Within less than a minute of this decision, the sidewalk was covered in a decent amount of blood. The weight of the loaded down bike made it roll much faster than expected and the teeth of the chainring essentially ended up puncturing her ankle. Luckily it happened only a few feet from lots of bored lifeguards. Connie was the pool manager and she and her lifeguards were very nice and caring. We didn't know at the time how much of a set back this would end up being.

      After cleaning up the mess we set up camp alongside and interesting group of people, not that it was a surprise or anything this far into the trip. They were a group of all natural nomadic Christians, some of who have been traveling since 1979. Interesting right? They were following the TransAm but we slowly realized that it wasn't just a summer thing for them, it was there life. They were incredibly nice and cooked us dinner and breakfast. Natalee some how even fell into a strange reflexology foot massage due to her injury that began growing more and more tender.

     After dinner we hit the fair. It was free entry and all the rides were about a dollar. Natalee was also a living legend by that time. Many people were saying they had heard what happened and wanted to make sure that she was okay. News travels fast in a small town. The fair was full of rides that make you want to vomit. Perfect. The Vagabonds are always really happy to be able to get the full experience from any town that they stop in.

    The next morning looked like it might become an unexpected day off when Israel had to piggyback Natalee from the tent to use the restroom. It then seemed like receiving medical attention in Ness City was going to be impossible! The first clinical was full, the second clinic would not take out of state BCBS so I guess you're not supposed to get sick or hurt outside your home state. The hunt ended when the ER took her right in. The only thing was that the nurse had to go down the list of doctors until she could find out who was on call that day. Don't ever have a real emergency in Ness City if you want to live. One X-ray, 4 stitches, a tetanus shot and an antibiotic later we were ready to get things back on the road. We decided that this would be the best time to test out night riding, like so many cycle tourists do through Kansas to avoid the heat and winds.

     We napped the rest of the day and were ready to set out around 9pm. Just in time for the big thunderstorms to roll in. We made it a mile down the road before taking shelter in a strange hotel lobby. Another curve ball. We thought we could wait it out, but waiting and waiting and waiting with no letting up turned into us splitting a $40 room. 

There was an indoor pool in the main lobby, rotary dial telephones next to the toilets, the fragrance of old cigarettes and perfume in the room and Jerry Springer on TV. Totally worth the money. After a few failed attempts we would be back on the road in the morning and Kansas would slow us down no more!

       The morning started of fine. By the time Israel and Nick stopped for lunch they found out that Natalee was stranded with a swollen foot and could go no further and Jordan was also way back because he was sleeping off an oncoming cold. We have yet to worry so now was not the time to start. Israel and Nick's waitress at Papa's in Albert had offered to give them a ride to her hometown Ellinwood for the big fair they were having. We have taken a liking to random festivals in these small towns. All it took was some gas money for Tonya to drive out of the way to pick up Jordan and Natalee. She was quite the lifesaver. She even did us one better by letting us camp out in her yard.

      We met Tonya's whole lively family and they showed us a fun night. 9 year old Cody was very excited to have us and was an excellent host. He even set up his tent right next to ours in the back yard. A good rest was needed for some decision making in the morning. We would ideally be covering a lot of ground right now but we are dealing with our first injury of the trip. There also aren't many places around that are appealing to rest up in for a couple of days. Tonya insisted on taking us to the next town over so we allowed her to. We are resting in McPherson today and we will see where or adventure takes us next. Wish us luck for the rest of Kansas!

Babe watch to the rescue!

There was a lot of blood

You should hae seen the sidewalk before they cleaned it.

At the fair watching the magic show

Just looking at it makes me want to vom

The carasel is more our speed.

The interesting all natural, nomadic Christians without a name.

Cycling nomads for The Lord !

Finally some help 

You have out done yourselves at The Derrick Inn. 

Tawnia to the rescue 

We thought Kansas was in a drought?

Cody performing his light show in tbe backyard with the dogs' light up leashes

Tawnia and Cody to the rescue

It's All Downhill From Here...

That's what they kept telling us. However, it doesn't really feel like it when the wind is blowing straight in our faces. Our days on flat ground are taking longer than they did in the mountains. Maybe the worst is not behind us. Getting caught in the dark on the way to Ordway was no fun (but sleeping in a bar was) so we have been doing much better about leaving earlier. It was a rough start because we had to ride past the massive feed lot. The strong smell of animal waste is not ideal for early morning biking. Surprisingly, we made it through without loosing a single breakfast. We can't really say too much about our riding days lately. They have been pretty uneventful. Nick has continued to be a part of the pack, we fight the winds all day,  break for lunch at something that barely constitutes as a town, then make it to our destination. 

      From Ordway we made it to Eads where we reunited with Matt and Sara once again. They had arrived before us and kind of gave us the rundown on Eads. Everything was closed because it was passed 5 o' clock except for the gas station that had a vast selection of Doritos. They did have one Mexican Popsicle left, but the cashier named Susie had already dibs'd it for herself. We should have known before we tried to buy it because her name was early sharpied across the package. Eads did have free camping in the park which is always a plus.

        Leaving Eads, we got our earliest start yet. We were on the road by 8! This would give us plenty of time to do 60 miles and be done by the early afternoon right? Given the nature of the last few posts what do you really think? Correct, we were once again wrong. If we weren't really putting some force into our pedaling we weren't going over 6 mph. At least in the mountains you eventually get a free ride downhill for a few miles. The wind never stops! And we weren't even in Kansas yet.  To most accurately understand the pain we are going through, we highly suggest checking out our friend Jess's blog http://www.roadtorhode.com/blog and read the post Wind: 1 Jess: 0. It is worth your time and saves us time from having to explain it. Everybody wins! 

   Anyway, after our usual lunch stop we only had a few miles to the Kansas border. The thing is, a few miles doesn't really feel like a few miles in this wind. And it was also a moment of conflicting emotions. We had bagged another state, but Kansas couldn't look any different from what we had seen the past few days...and that was nothing to write home about. We are still staying positive because we have heard good experiences with Kansas towns. Only time will tell. Tribune was the first place we slept in Kansas and it did not disappoint. People were very friendly to cyclists and they had more free camping that even had FREE SHOWERS!  The 6 of us took over the grass again and laid our heads to rest as we said prayers to the wind gods of Kansas. Well I guess we didn't repent enough of our wind sins because the winds were already up to 10mph when we got up and they were only getting stronger. We may have done something right though because they did at least shift from southeast winds to directly out of the south which, did make it a little easier. This allowed us to make it to Scott City earlier than expected. We ended up getting to stay in a church, all six of us again plus 3 more cyclist who were already staying there. It's up and at em again to knock out some more of Kansas.

Kansas

It's a snaaaake!

Our growing family

River Rats Back on Track

Our adventure continues. It was great to take a break from the bike

and get on the river for a day. Sam and Jess did an excellent job of rowing through the rapids while the Vagabonds relaxed and enjoyed the view of Brown's Canyon on The Arkansas River. By the time we got home we pretty much made a quick dinner then hit the sack. We were ready to hit the road again the next morning. Sam rode with us to Salida, the town that he lives in. We spent several hours there before parting ways. We ate a little and checked out the neat art shops but most importantly..we sent home ALL of our winter gear! WHOOO!! It is very exciting to know that it is going to be actual summer from here on out and especially to have less stuff to carry. Ask us if we feel the same a few days from now when we are riding in 100 degree heat. 

   We went on a little further from Salida to Texas Creek Juntion where we did the most homeless thing that we have done yet. We slept underneath a bridge. Well, we can check that off the list. We must have slept well because we were on the road before 9 o' clock. That is also a first for us. Our next city was Canon City, about 25 miles away. We had a lot of downhill with one long climb, but we had a nice surprise at the top. It was where we intersected back with the TransAm and we arrived right at the same time as our friend Nick coming from the other direction! We all descended into town together and started to scope the place out. Canon City has nine state and four federal prisons and we have been told that many inmates' families move closer to them then once out of jail, the freed man or woman ends up staying there with their family. To us this meant entertainment. We spent our time there playing " who used to be in jail?" While that was a lot if fun, we needed to get at least to Pueblo. If the ride was as easy as coming into Canon City, and it looked easier, we would be there in no time. WRONG. The winds were not on our side and the amount of climbing did not make sense to be loosing elevation like the map showed. 

     When we eventually made it, it was once again that time to find a place to sleep for the night, way too last minute. But hey, once again it couldn't have worked out any better! We met Dane, the owner of a bike shop in town that does A LOT to make the community more bike friendly. He immediately offered up his place and we had dinner with him

and his friends Previn and Josh.

They were hilarious and we had a great time chatting. They did a great job showing us that Pueblo had more to offer than just being the "armpit" of Colorado as we have heard so many times. 

     Dane was an excellent host! It took us a while to get out of town after finding groceries and what not but 50 miles is nothing to worry about when going east with the winds right? Well actually, wrong again. Can't we catch a break??? More head winds. Like strong headwinds. And rain. We stopped shortly for an Ethnic Popsicle Break (no I didn't just make that up) hoping the winds may change for the good but nope. They really only got worse.  The ride was sooo slow and it got dark on us quick. And dark in nowhere Colorado is REAL dark. Riding bikes into the wind and rain in the dark is not really ideal but we finally made it to Ordway. Ordway did not have many more lights either. Pretty much everything was closed. Oh and I also forgot to mention that Ordway and the entire 10 miles leading up to it smells strongly of animal manure. And the big question is where do we end up sleeping tonight?? Well pretty much the only place we could find open was the Veterans of Foreign War bar. We went in to get out of the rain and wind and ended up with a field to stay in. That progressed to allowing us to camp on their back patio. We win again! However, there is a catch. We had to try to sleep under a string of blue party lights and with ACDC, J.Lo and other various artists blasting on the speaker system. Hey you take what you can get right?

Drooling Tica the river dog

Ethnic Popsicle Break

Home Sweet Home

Colo-rippin-rado!

The vagabonds have had a big last couple of days. We had a lot to accomplish upon our departure from  Kremmling. We had a lot of miles of climbing ahead of us, our first time deviating off route and our biggest pass yet to go over. Pretty big day. The ride from Kremmling to Silverthorne was scenic, but on a fairly busy highway with no shoulder. We took a break in Silverthorne then got back at it with Fremont Pass still ahead of us. Thisnis where we deviates to that we coukd visit Sam Jordan who is living in Salida, CO for the summer. The good news was that there was a really nice bike path leaving Silverthrone for several miles. Riding on a seperate bike path is a really nice treat compared to highways. Bumps and cracks are not a concern for automobiles but biking over unkempt highways can make your day miserable. A bike path is a guarantee for a smooth surface which can make a world of difference. You can also spend much more time taking in what is around you instead of checking your mirror every few seconds to make sure that huge truck is at least trying to give you some space and there is usually prettier scenery to take in. This route in particular was very asthetically pleasing. This was the first time that we were in the middle of huge jagged mountain sides. Colorado has offered a huge variety of landscape for us. The path made the ride all the way to Copper Mountain extremely enjoyable, even if it was uphill.

      Once we made it there, we hopped on the highway to conquer our very biggest and last mountain pass! The grade was not too steep and we knew this was the last time we would spend hours without ever going over 8mph, so the ride continued to be enjoyable. We climbed and climbed and enjoyed the views that Colorado provided for us. The high elevation did not make it easy to breathe but that didn't get us down either. The road would flatten out a little then climb higher again, flatten and climb even more until we finally reached the top. Spotting the big summit sign is always such a relieving moment. It means the end is in site! We're not sure if it was the lack of oxygen, the fact that we were done climbing for a loooong time, or both but we started to get a little crazy up there. We spent lots of time taking pictures, being goofy and just soaking in the moment. We realized it was almost dark and figured that was our cue to get going.  We had about 11 miles of down hill left and at that elevation it meant layering up one more time before sending our cold gear home. 

          We felt so accomplished as we coasted all the way to Leadville. The ride was so quiet and peaceful with our satisfied hearts and nothing except the wind in our ears and the soft pitter patter of Mosquitos hitting our jackets and faces. Okay that part wasn't as peaceful as I just made it sound. 

We made it into Leadville where we would stay for the night. A lot of city parks allow free camping, well some do, so we just assumed it would be okay to do the same here. They had a huge white tent set up that was perfect for sleeping under! We had an easy destination the next day. We would travel about 45 miles, mostly downhill, to meet Sam and visit for a day. We bummed around Leadville a little that morning since we knew the ride wouldn't take very long. We made it 34 miles to Buena Vista in a little over and hour and a half. Our conclusion is, going fast is way more fun than going slow. Sam met us in Buena Vista to grab some lunch then we met him about ten miles down the road at his boss's house that he is house sitting and they so kindly allowed us to stay there as well. Andrew and Kayla needed Sam to stay in order to take care of their dog and pack goats. That's right. So before dinner we took all the goats out on a goat walk to the river behind the house. This one was of those things that we could not predict happening on this trip.

           Afterwards, Sam made us a lovely dinner then had some friends come over to enjoy a "the fire ban has been lifted" bon fire. He was particularly excited for us to meet Gracie because she unicycled across the country, east to west then north to south. And you may all lose interest in us now. Just kidding. We really enjoyed talking and sharing stories with everyone and also the musical stylings of Sam Jordan and his banjo. It was a good ol' time until everyone was ready for good ol' bed. Today Sam and his girlfriend Jess will take the 3 vagabonds on a Colorado raft trip! Shred some gnar y'all.

Some strange arrangement of art on the highway near Kremmling. Not really sure what is going on here..

Leaving kremmling Co

Our view looking up from the bike path.

Selfie Central at Fremont Pass

Reppin' for Ride for Reading!

Grand Pappy Long Legs has put a lot into this trip along side the worry doll.

Pretty sure I got at least a few bug parts in my eye on that descent.

Sleeping in the " ice palace " Leadville CO

On the road to Buena Vista

Awesome canyon towards B.V. CO

Just goin on a goat walk in Colorado

Israel the Goatman Valdes!

Goat smooch ?!