Day 23 Yates Center, KS to Nevada, Mo.(84 bike miles;1670 cum miles)

With Charlie still mending, Kriss and I set out for what will be our last day in Kansas. Despite the mishaps, we have all grown quite fond of the charm of the small towns with the tell-tale grain elevators that could be seen from a mile or more away as we approached various towns. There was also beauty in the farms and fields, with an occasional church in the distant landscape.

We passed through the small town of Piqua, population 150, then the somwhat larger city of Iola, population, 6,000. Next came the town of Gas (which reminded me of our own Gas man :). I could not resist taking a picture of a drive-in, rarely seen today, which is how I saw most of the movies that I saw as a child!

Our lunch meeting spot was Fort Scott, which was about 5 miles from the Missouri border. Ft Scott is a National Monument run by the National Park Service. It had been an outpost prior to 1853 to protect the settlers from the Indians, but became irrelevant when the settlers moved further westward into what was supposed to be Indian territory. It was reactivated during the Civil War.

It was very nicely restored and Bill particularly enjoyed seeing the recreation of the tall grass prairie.

Martha, of course, was in heaven, with l0ts of placing to walk and learn about.

Leaving Fort Scott, we waited for a passing train and were off to Missouri, with Charlie back in the saddle again!!

And we are now in Misssouri.... and on our way to Nevada (Nah-vay-da), Missouri!

Nevada is the home of Coffey College, a two year women's college. We had a great dinner at the Cherry St. Grill in Nevada, where we were served by two young women from Coffery, one from Maryland and the other from New Mexico.