Today was going to be a long day and required a good breakfast. The Super 8 in Pittsburg provided nothing except coffee and orange juice. What a disappointment. Fortunately there was a breakfast joint across the street where Greg, Sue and I went.
We have encountered so much rain already on this trip. There was more in the evening and the skies were overcast when we left. Which was good since we had a long day planned. There really is not many places to stay between Pittsburg and Toronto so it is necessary to make a commitment to carryon the entire way. One could stay in Chanute but that makes for too short of a day. Bill definitely wanted to stay in Chanute. Greg was willing to continue beyond Chanute and he rode with Sue and I between Pittsburg and Chanute. But they were hurting by the time we got to our campsite.
Along this ride we met Paul. Paul was traveling solo from Georgia to Salt Lake City. Along the way he found a baby kitten and who became his passenger. We convinced Paul to travel with us to Cross Timbers State Park and camp with us. Which he did. Traveling with a kitten created many unnecessary hardships, such as a carrying cat food, more laundry trips because of the cat poopig where it shouldn’t, and not having enough space for human food.
Once leaving Chanute there were few services but there were hills. It was hot, it was a long day but we made it to Cross Timbers State Park, which is just south of Toronto, KS. Today was also a day where we were all going to camp. When we arrived at the campsite is was after 6 and the ”boys” were a little cranky. Understandable so, because it was a long day. At the campsite was Joel who we met before in Farmington, MO. After settling in by getting sleeping spots arranged, showered, and fed it was off to bed for all of us. We just needed to wait until the lightening, thunder, rain, and wind to arrive in the middle of the night. The storms were expected.
Today’s stats: total mileage 100.69 miles, average speed 14.1 mph, total elevation gain 1286 feet, elevation descent 1430 feet, maximum speed 31.0 mph.