Waking up I had been completely turned around as far as what day it was. I was very happy to discover it was Sunday and not Saturday since I wanted to use the library in Hiawatha which I wouldn’t reach until late in the day. I was given a choice for leaving town which was four miles out of the way to go through Horton where there would be a gas station with coffee, or go the shorter route with no coffee to Hiawatha down back roads. The choice was very difficult and I mulled it over the whole morning while I packed up, had breakfast, and watched the beginning of Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase.
They all walked with me down to the end of their road before saying goodbye. It was here that I finally made up my mind and went for the quicker route rather than the coffee. I’m still not sure how I feel about that decision.
The road was just like the others I’d been on in Kansas, long, straight, and flat. I followed it five miles then turned left and went another five miles. Just before getting back on Rt. 73 a blue mini van pulled up. Gavin leaned out the window and yelled hi to me. Evidently Gavin missed me already so they came out to see me. It was perfect timing too since I was just about ready for another break and an air conditioned van was just what I needed.
We sat and chatted for about fifteen minutes then they headed up to Hiawatha to go swimming and I turned down 73 aiming for a duck pond they told me about. I had figured it was three miles but finally found it, hot and weary, around the fifth. Hiawatha was in sight, a Texaco and McDonalds sign punching above the town tree line, so I called it a day and sat down at a picnic table under a shelter by the pond.
Here I discovered the Kool Aid packets I’d bought back in Atchison were unsweetened and therefore useless to me. I had some sugar on me so I loaded it all up and drank two cups then sat with my head on the table for an hour resting.
Diane and Gavin found me like that around 6pm. They rode up and said they’d come from Dairy Queen and offered to drive me up if I’d like for some food. Nothing sounded better in the world than that so off we went. Our first stop, though, was a place called the Davis Memorial. It was an elaborate memorial that a man did for his wife consisting of eleven statues of them in their youth courting, married at different stages of life, and finally him sitting next to an empty chair where she was not. It was really a very beautiful display. After this we went to Dairy Queen and I got my coffee and a burger.
Gary met up with us there and we all went back to the park for a bit, picking up oodles of Kansas paraphernalia for me to read that night. We hung out in the park a while then I found a hide away spot to camp in and they headed home. That night lightning was on the horizon and eventually made it my way. Despite the many holes that have developed on the bottom of my tent over these past few months I was happy to have the tarp up and was quite dry. I suppose I have learned some things on this trip. The storm past as I read my tourist pamphlets and then I went to bed.