Quote of the Day: "The wind in Kansas would make make me mad - I mean at first mad and then finally insane."
I stayed in Greensburg last night. If you live in tornado alley you will not need to be reminded of the devastation that occurred in Greensburg in 2007. For those who don't remember I have included the next several photos that show the affect of an F5 tornado on this town. Winds were in excess of 215mph and the base was 1.5 miles wide at one point. 95% of the town was destroyed and there were 12 fatalities.
There was a brick church behind these steps:
In the next photos - demonstrations of the resiliency of people's sense of humor in the face of terrific adversity:
The Big Well Museum - This is the largest hand dug well in the world. It was a museum prior to the tornado and now serves as a dual museum of both the well and the story of the tornado:
Helen explained the details of the tornado and it's results:
A new green and "tornado proof" designed home:
New government buildings:
New school:
There are a good number of city blocks that are still empty:
Main Street:
New Art Center:
Mutt and Jeff:
This is Sam from the local hardware store. I asked him if he was feeling creative and he jumped right in to help with a problem I was having with my compass. It had been reading Northeast regardless of which direction I was traveling due to being located too close to the metal of the bike:
Sam helped fabricate this new mount at no cost - Thanks Sam:
Rode on to Pratt with some significant challenge to keeping hydrated:
Had a great lunch at the Uptown Cafe and Grill in Pratt:
Photo of fried apple dumplings in a martini glass. Of course this wasn't on my table:):)
I don't care how old you are sitting next to each other at dinner is a good thing:
I have found my new favorite type of road - a road not yet open to traffic. I was able to ride on this for 12 miles on the way to Kingman KS. I was a good thing that the road was so good and no worries regarding traffic as I mis-calculated my fluid requirements in the 100F heat and ran out of water 10 miles before Kingman:
Shot of the main street of Kingman:
I arrived in Harper at 9:30pm:
Daisy of Casey's Sub Shop built me a sub - she should be proud of this baby:
In Harper I was hosted by the Mennonite church - I had nice discussion with Weldon in the morning (sorry no photo - what was I thinking?)
Re the quote of the day: Honestly the wind hasn't been as bad as it could be in Kansas, as it mostly hasn't been in my face. I am going primarily east and the wind has been out of the south blowing me from right to left.
About Soldiers Best Friend ..... If you have been following along you already know that I am trying to collect donations for the charity called Soldiers Best Friend. This is a charity that provides service dogs to Vets that are suffering from PTSD. These dogs can literally be life savers for these men and women.
My blog averages approximately 175 hits per day. I think that suggests folks are interested in the trip and hopefully are being informed and entertained. I am at the half-way point of the trip at 2151 miles. I consider this my job for the summer of 2014. I am putting in the the "blood, sweat, and gears" to steal a phrase - so would you consider a donation to this very worthy cause?
I've done the math for you .... My entire trip is going to be approximately 4200 miles long. Do you think you could donate $.006 per mile (like about slightly more than 1/2 cent per mile)?? If so then that would be a $25 dollar donation to SBF. Or better yet could you afford to donate at $.012 per mile (1.2 cents per mile) then that would be about a $50 donation. And so on .... give what you can - I know this sounds like a Nation Public Radio fund drive but come on - what a worthy cause!!
Please follow the link below to donate and include my name - just "Neil" will do or "Neal" if you like that spelling better:):)
It's time folks please.......
And finally please remember the cause - soldiersbestfriend.org I will go into this in more detail and perhaps some level of haranguing later on, but for now here is the link .... and an additional link for donation SoldiersBestFriend - Donate Please :):) Oh and I would be a lot more comfortable if you use the "honorarium" option vs the "memoriam" option - you'll understand when you click on the link:):).
As you donate please enter my name in the "In Honor of Spot" so the folks at SBF can tally the results to encourage me and let me know WE are getting something done TOGETHER. I recognize we are really trying to honor the Vets but this is the only way SBF can tally the results of this drive (tour).
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