Author: silverflash2

We spent a leisurely morning in our room catching up on emails, writing blog entries, reorganizing our luggage and getting some supplies. Kansas weather continued to provide some challenges. Rain and high winds (40 mph gusts) in the forecast, so Bill figured out a way to secure (we hope 🤞) a cover for our bikes.

On the way to Manhattan, we decided to drive through Salina, KS, our friend Phil’s hometown. Phil’s descriptions of Salina over the years were accurate — a wheat growing area with grain milling as the chief industry. It is also home to Kansas Wesleyan University and Kansas State University’s College of Technology and Aviation.

As we left Salina toward Manhattan, our home base for the next three days, the already strong winds became stronger!! It quickly became clear that the bicycle cover was NOT going to withstand the strong gusts. We had a difficult time standing up when we stopped to remove the cover! A Kansas State Highway Patrol officer saw us struggling with our bike cover, so he stopped to see if he could help. We decided to just take the cover off because it was very clear the wind was not going to slow the rest of the day. We removed the cover and got back in the car (Sue had trouble opening the car door and was very happy to have her leg inside the car when a gust of wind SLAMMED the door shut) to continue our journey. When Bill got behind the wheel and started the car, he forgot to select the Conserve mode, which produces a smooth and slower start, so when he stepped on the gas we peeled out and threw gravel from the side of the road back toward the State Trooper’s car. We were very lucky we didn’t get pulled over after that particular merge into interstate traffic!!!

Manhattan, nicknamed “The Little Apple,” is in the heart of the scenic Flint Hills. It is the home of Kansas State University and has a distinct college town atmosphere.

After checking in to the hotel, we had a wonderful visit and dinner with Brock, Jacee, Cassidy and Colton Corby.

Tomorrow, we plan to ride the Blue River Rail Trail from Marysville to the Nebraska state line. We’ve got our fingers crossed that the forecasted thunderstorms and high winds hold off until the afternoon!

This morning we rode 30.1 miles on the Arkansas (pronounced “r-Kansas”) River Bike Path. The wide, paved path followed the banks of the river most of the way.

We passed a dam and were entertained by numerous Canadian geese and goslings along the way. We rode past the museums on the river district and rode to the Sedgwick County Zoo. Interestingly, we did not see any animals, so we turned around and headed back.

Other interesting sites we saw along the river were the statue of the “Keeper of the Plains” and a tree house in a tree that looked very inviting!

The weather was not the best– winds were steady at 14 mph with gusts 20+ mph and we had a light rain for about half of the ride. Sue learned that biking in the rain, if not the most comfortable, is possible! She is hoping for better weather for the rest of our rides!!

After our ride, we enjoyed a nice warm shower and a delicious dinner at the Rib Crib. Bill said the ribs were the meatiest he has ever eaten. That pig must have been HUGE!! He asked for a “to go” box and can’t wait to finish his meal for lunch tomorrow.

After breakfast at a local restaurant, we said goodbye to Kyle and he went to work. We decided to visit some places of interest in Liberal before heading to Wichita. Our first stop was Dorothy’s house where we enjoyed a personal guided tour of a replica of the house Dorothy lived in prior to her trip to OZ.

This was followed by a guided tour to and through the Land of OZ!

After our visit to the Land of OZ, we went to the Mid-America Air Museum, the largest aircraft museum in Kansas.

The 3+ hour drive to Wichita was VERY windy!! Bill was really glad we weren’t pulling a trailer! 😂 The flat plains were littered with hundreds of spinning turbines.

A google search revealed that wind accounted for 42% of all electricity produced in Kansas in 2020.

Wichita, the largest city in Kansas, is flat and windy, but the vast plains are replaced with more trees and vegetation. We are looking forward to our ride along the Arkansas (pronounced “r-KANSAS”) River tomorrow.

This morning we headed out toward Liberal, KS, where we planned on spending the night with our dear friend Kyle. Our route took us through Clayton, NM, considered to be the most haunted town in the state. Fortunately, we didn’t see or hear any ghosts as we passed through. Crossing the panhandle of Oklahoma, we went through Boise City, OK, the only American city to be bombed during WW II. The story goes that shortly after midnight on July 5, 1943, the city was mistakenly bombed by the crew of a friendly B-17 Flying Fortress. It’s a miracle more American cities weren’t bombed as our young pilots learned their way around the war machines they were required to learn to fly in an incredibly short time before they went into live combat.

Oklahoma into Kansas is part of the Great Plains, characterized by the flat land, dust and high winds.

Windmills, grain silos, natural gas and oil pumps, and irrigation equipment dotted the landscape.

We traveled on backroads and drove for miles without seeing any vehicles other than big green John Deere tractors. Following directions given by our GPS proved to be somewhat of a challenge when the road signs were about 6 inches in size with only a letter of the alphabet and hidden behind trees at an intersection. For example, on the first dirt road we were directed to, we were to look for D Blvd and turn left to get to Liberal, KS. We drove and drove and finally the GPS was starting to get aggravated with the driver (Bill) who wouldn’t turn. She kept saying “make a u-turn,” “make a u-turn,” “make a u-turn.” Finally, we turned around and went back about a mile to find a little green sign marked “D” hidden behind a tree.

Though these little mis-directions can be frustrating, we both felt very familiar and comfortable with where we were. Perhaps we were both feeling our Oklahoma roots!

We arrived at Kyle’s house in Liberal, KS, in the mid-afternoon….

….and enjoyed a delicious steak dinner at the Liberal Country Club. After dinner we attended a town meeting for Seward County Community College. Kyle is the Director of Development and Director of the College’s Foundation. The President of the college had called this town meeting to update the citizens of the community on what the college was doing and what the college had planned for the coming year and beyond. It was interesting to hear reports from several college department chairmen and chairwomen. The comments and questions from the members of the community showed just how interested the community is in what goes on within their community.

You’ve got to love living in America!!

After almost eight months since we ended our first 50-in-50 Challenge trip, it’s time to get “On the Road Again!” Our second road trip (identified as T2) begins from our place in Flagstaff, AZ. Our plan is to drive as far as Santa Fe, NM, spend the night, and continue to Liberal, KS where we will spend the night and some quality time with Kyle Woodrow. We will then continue on to Wichita, KS to begin our bike rides. From Wichita we travel to Manhattan, KS to complete our 50 miles in Kansas. Our itinerary continues to Lincoln, NE, Kansas City, MO, Branson, MO for a week at Still Waters Resort with Joyce and Gordy Young, Fayetteville, AR, Tulsa, OK, Oklahoma City, OK and back to Phoenix via Albuquerque, NM. We expect a very busy and fun trip over the next month!

We had a beautiful, cool, crisp morning as we began our journey. As we drove through New Mexico, the sky became more grey and cloudy indicating possible rain in the coming days. Hopefully, we can get our rides in as we travel the states ahead.

We arrived in Santa Fe mid- afternoon, checked in at the Pecos Trail Inn and set out to have dinner at The Shed, a place highly recommended by Kristi Creedon. When we were here last August, during the Indian Market, there were many tourists in town, and there were no available reservations for lunch or dinner. This year we were not aware of any special events being held in Santa Fe and thought we would be able to get a table without a problem. NOT SO FAST, he said!! When we called to reserve a table, we were told they were full and they put us on a wait list, which at that time was just over two hours. We were hungry and needed to eat so we could go to bed for an early start in the morning. We found another restaurant, Osteria D’Assisit (an Italian restaurant) around the corner. The meal was outstanding and we were able to make an early evening after all.

Off to bed!!

As we were preparing our bikes for this morning’s ride, we saw several hot air balloons floating overhead. Someday we would like to come to the Balloon Festival held in October.

We rode 30.59 miles through the Rio Grande’s cottonwood bosque (forest). Bill was disappointed at the size and waters of the Rio Grande River. He said, “back home I’d call this a crik!” There was hardly any water in the “river” and what there was, was very dirty.

Well, we’ve done it. New Mexico is now checked off the list. Just 47 states to go!!

Since we have done most everything in Albuquerque we had planned on doing this trip, and it’s only 11:00a, we decided to head on back to Phoenix this afternoon. As we were leaving New Mexico for Phoenix we saw this very interesting sign explaining the New Mexico symbol:

You’ll never guess what we found when we arrived back in Phoenix. When we unloaded our bikes we discovered Sue’s front tire was flat. A “souvenir thorn” had accompanied us home!

With wonderful memories and hundreds of photos to remind us of our first 50-in-50 Challenge adventures, we are glad to be home! Time to start planning the next trip!

We did not have a chance to get to a bike shop yesterday and we learned that the Sandia Peak Tram would be running today, but, not tomorrow, so we decided to go to a bike shop this morning and see Albuquerque from the top of Sandia Peak today. We went to the bike shop and got the location for the start of our ride on the Paseo del Bosque Trail along the Rio Grande River. The bike shop told us this path is the most popular path for pedestrians, cyclists, skaters and skateboarders, so we plan to be on the trail early tomorrow.

We drove to the base of the Sandia Peak, hopped on the tram and rode to the top of Sandia Peak (elevation 10,378 ft.). From the summit it is possible to see 11,000 square miles!

We hiked one of the trails on the summit and were treated to beautiful panoramic views and the aroma of pines and firs. We were excited to watch a hang glider soar overhead. It looked like so much fun!!

After the tram ride we drove into Old Town Albuquerque and strolled around the plaza, visiting shops and galleries. We stopped at San Felipe De Neri, the oldest church in Albuquerque, serving the community without interruption since 1706.

Our busy day ended with dinner at Sadie’s Restaurant. All the salsas and sauces were too spicy for Sue, but Bill really enjoyed the HEAT! Jars of the famous salsas and chile sauces are destined for Phoenix and Tucson for our family members with iron stomachs!

We got up, had a leisurely breakfast and packed the car for Albuquerque. The trip from Santa Fe to Albuquerque is only about an hour.

The highlight of today was visiting dear friends of almost 50 years, Ric and Jill Sherman. Ric had a shooting competition in Albuquerque so while he was at his competition, we spent the afternoon with Jill and their puppy Barley in their RV. We updated each other on family news and talked with Jill about their experience with the RV. We knew a trailer would NOT work for us, but, maybe an RV?? We met up with Ric for dinner and enjoyed a wonderful evening together.

We pan to visit a bike shop in the morning to get recommendations for a trail to ride. We need only 28 miles to check New Mexico off the list!!

One thing we have learned from our rides in Colorado is in the summer we need to get an early start on our rides to beat the heat and, in some cases, the traffic. So, we hit the trail in Santa Fe at 7:18a local time. We started from a parking lot that was recommended by a local bike shop. We began riding on the Arroyo de los Chamisos Trail and after a few miles we merged onto the Santa Fe Rail Trail. We actually rode alongside the railroad tracks. We rode to the local arts and crafts and farmers’ market area of town. As we walked our bikes through the arts and crafts market we stopped and had a very interesting conversation with a man displaying his wares. Actually, he was spinning greasy (unwashed) wool from his angora goats into skins of yarn.

We continued into the farmers’ market and saw a man fire roasting chilies. We were on our bikes and without an empty carrying bag so we were not able to bring any of those chilies back home with us.

We headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and get some lunch. We were hungry after riding 21 miles and shopping in the market!

After lunch we headed down to Historic Santa Fe.

Santa Fe, New Mexico’s capital, is renowned for its Pueblo style architecture and as a creative arts center. Founded as a Spanish colony in 1610, it has at its heart — the traditional “plaza.” Turns out, this weekend is the weekend of the Annual Santa Fe Indian Market in the Historic Santa Fe Plaza. It was very crowded!! As we explored other areas of Historic Santa Fe, we came across the San Miguel Church, regarded as the oldest Christian church in the nation. Although it first appears in historical records in 1628, it is believed it was actually founded in 1610. The church was built for – and likely by – Indian groups from central New Spain (Mexico).

From San Miguel Church we went to the DeVargas Street House, which rests on part of the foundation of an ancient Indian pueblo dating from about 1200 CE.

In Loretto Chapel, built between 1873 – 1878, we marveled at the Miraculous spiral stairway to the choir loft. The stairway is comprised of two complete spirals without center or side supports. How did they do that???

Finally, we visited The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Construction of the cathedral began in 1869 and continued until 1887.

It’s time to get some dinner and go back to the hotel to get some rest. Tomorrow we travel from Santa Fe to Albuquerque.

With hopes of more adventures in Colorado in the future, we left Denver this morning. Passing through Colorado Springs we saw the US Air Force Academy and Pike’s Peak. We arrived in Santa Fe and are resting up for our New Mexico experiences.

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