It was a leisurely morning waking up because of expected morning showers that we didn’t want to ride in, and we left around 915 once it finally cleared up. It was a really nice ride and essentially flat for the first 13 miles to Girard. Girard is a really cute little town with a nice town square; in the center is the old courthouse with nice grass and trees around it that takes up one entire square block. Around that square are various businesses and the vibe is bustling. So many downtowns in America are deserted and dilapidated, but in Girard it is clear that the town square is still the vibrant heart of this tiny city. We got a coffee, which seemed like a good idea when we ordered, but we quickly realized that sunny and 75 degree weather right after riding a bike for an hour is a bad time to drink a hot coffee. But we solved the problem - we went back inside the cafe and got a big cup of ice and poured the hot coffee in and soon we had iced coffee! We rode on out of Girard through country a bit hillier than we expected but still a breeze compared to what we’ve ridden through over the past month. In Walnut, we stopped at a convenience store and got Gatorade and ice creams as it was starting to get a bit hot, around 80 degrees. Continuing on, with similar hills and the heat peaking around 84 degrees, we eventually rolled into Chanute, 56 miles and our destination for the night. Vanesa rode much better than me today, my tires and my uncomfortable saddle pressures slowed me down and made my ride harder but it sure seemed that she was killing it! (Nice ride, darling!!) I’m Chanute we had planned to either camp at the RV park or find a church, but given the expected rain tonight and the fact that this is a big town and there aren’t obvious churches with pavilions to sleep under, we decided to just get a motel room again. It’s a super budget motel, but since motels for some reason are more expensive than every other town we’ve been in recently, we tried the cheap one first. We asked to see the room, and it’s fine! So we stayed. It’s a little dated but it’s clean and the beds and pillows are comfortable. The WiFi is awful but hey, you can’t have everything for 65 bucks. We walked across the street and got pasta and breadsticks from Pizza Hut for dinner. V walked over to Family Dollar and got a few snacks for tonight and to carry on the bike. Now we chill in our air-conditioned room and we’re happy to not be camping when it’s 85 degrees out and going to rain. Vanesa is torturing me with a Hallmark channel romance movie while I type this, and all is well here. We are having fun and it’s an adventure every day. Riding our bikes, planning our route, and then seeking food, shelter, safety, showers, laundry facilities, and bike products we need consumes our time. It’s simple. The regular distractions of life fade on a journey like this. And it’s nice to unplug from regular life and challenge ourselves, as well as just have fun and do something crazy and amazing like ride a bike across the USA. Real life awaits in less than 2 months now, and we definitely miss our home, our couch, our friends, our TV, and the Pacific Northwest. But for now, we’re gonna enjoy the heck out of Kansas as best we can. And maybe we’ll walk up the street and buy a bottle of alcohol later at And yes, Dick Liquor is a real liquor store here.