Saturday, June 16, 2007

6/15/07 7:40 PM near Stockton, Kansas


Posted from the Stockton Library after stopping by the grocery store for a mid-morning snack...


We are staying at Webster State Park in a pretty grove of trees off by ourselves. We have a large pavillion with 4 picnic tables to put all of our stuff on.

We continue to be very hungry. We went into a small grocery store today in Palco and wanted to eat all of the food in sight- cake mix, cans of beans, chips, etc. These are things that I don't even eat, but that didn't matter!

The country is getting softer and more inviting. The land is rolling and the fields are smaller and there are trees growing naturally in the wetter places. Compared to the land further west of here it is lush. I know that it will only get more beautiful as he head east. There are a fair amount of oil pumpjacks and tanks along the roads. You can hear the oil slowly flowing into them sometimes but more often you can smell them- not too bad of a smell.

As we were riding north this afternoon we spied a big twin steepled church in a little town (Damar). We had to detour a little bit but we learned about St. Josephs Catholic Church in the process. Built in 1911 it was in stunning shape inside and out. The door was open so we let ourselves in and gave ourselves a self-guided tour. It was a beautiful, quiet and cool break from the road.

Ted: We had a relatively easy day, with beautiful rolling hills, and quaint little towns. Probably the most interesting part of our travels today was a big church in a little town (Damar). The town leading up to it was interesting. It seemed as if a painter had gone over all the closed up shops, and painted them as if they were open, and thriving. Even the houses had people painted into the windows. Believe me, it wasn't as creepy as it sounds, it was nice actually. When we hit the church, the first thing that struck me was the sheer height of the steeples, they were enormous. When we entered through the mock mideval doors, I noticed that the inside was A: quite dark, this changed when I took off my sunglasses. B: big...just as I suspected. C: the stained glass windows were amazing. This church was beautifully becorated with oil paintings on the wall depicting the crucification. The soaring roof was supported by enormous marble pillars, lit by stained glass windows. Some of the aforementioned windows were dedicated to families, and people who had donated, or helped che church in some way. I could go on and on, but the mosquitoes have just come out, and are being mosquitoes. But as I wind down, I look out towards the lake and see a small spark drifting lazily through the air and I realize that the fireflies are out.

Mileage today: 68

Total: 709

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