I didn’t expect much from this day. Looking at my map, and my handy dandy town population chart at the top of it, I had for the day two towns that I’d hit each with no population set for them. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that since there were towns labeled as having a population of 24. Both had the tracks touch them so I figured they were either ghost towns or industrial depot towns that no one lived in but just worked in.
The first I hit was Baileyville. It looked livelier than the map suggested, but even still not too lively. I was about to pass it when I saw some guys working around a garage. Feeling chatty I crossed over and went up to them asking if there was a place to eat. It turned out the guy’s wife had just bought a store in town that was about to go out of business and it was right around the corner. That was my sign for breakfast so off I went handing him a card.
On my way a minute later a sheriff rolled up and started chatting with me asking about my adventures. We chatted for a bit before I left him with a card as well, abandoning him for my morning coffee.
I had a cheeseburger and some coffee while talking with the waitress some and otherwise watching what’s going on in the world on the news. No one else was in the place, so I stayed for about an hour, wrote a post card, refilled my water, brushed my teeth, and off I went again.
It wasn’t long before I hit another rest stop which I was surprised about and felt the need to make use of since it was there. I went six more miles and found a nice shady spot so I stopped there too and had a Luna bar. On my way to my last break spot I was stopped by a guy in a van. He offered me a ride (which I turned down), then we exchanged cards, he offered me money (which I also turned down), finally he leaned over with a casual smile and asked “D’ya do the Dew?” “I do” and a Mountain Dew I received. Cold, unopened, freshly purchased. And away he went, U-turning a few yards up and passing by with a thumbs up in the window.
Home was my next stop. I crossed the tracks and went into the Conoco that was across the street from a sign that read, “There’s no place like Home. Welcome to Home, KS”. Three guys were sitting inside the gas station chatting when I went in to use the bathroom. I came out and one left so after much deliberation over what to eat or drink I plopped in his seat with a cold soda. The other two talked on about farming equipment comparing Kansas’ and Missouri’s varying types then one got up to leave. Before leaving he let the owner know the chair he was in he’d broken. This was the next event for the last guy.
Without missing a beat he hopped up and started unscrewing it, going over the bolts and coming up with various theories on how to fix it. All the while I’d offer him help or the use of my mini Leatherman tool that I got back in Atchison for the can opener. That calmed down too after a bit and he left saying he’d bring back a bolt for it tomorrow morning. I got some soup and all was quiet for the next hour or so save for one brief moment of lively conversation with four guys from town who got cards from me.
I took a picture of the sign on my way out of town then walked about a mile to find yet another unmapped rest area. It was a little park with two picnic tables so I set up my tent and did some writing before going to bed.