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Day 32 – Pittsburg to Ash Grove, Missouri

Posted by Alan on Wed, 7th Jul, 2010.
Filed under: Kansas, Missouri

Wed 7th July 2010

It was just right for cycling first thing with some cloud cover, very light wind and not too hot. So we set off in good spirits and pleased that we would soon be leaving Kansas. It’s not been our favourite State mainly because of the weather and we’ll be quite glad to leave it behind. We crossed into Missouri only a few miles East of Pittsburg and it gave us a boost to know that another State is behind us.

The terrain today has been quite hilly and not unlike the English countryside. It was very picturesque and quite different to some of the remote areas we’ve been through. The hills are steep but short so we at least get a break from pedalling on the downhill sections.

On our first stop today we were soon joined by a mange kitten that was very attracted to Chris. it was clearly a wild cat and was in a dreadful state and was alone. It wasn’t very old either. We tried to feed it with what we had but it must have heard that Chris was the pizza man and would settle for nothing less and went hungry.

We made good time today and reached the Hunting Lodge in Everton by 1:00pm only to find nobody there. A young lad arrived soon after to feed all the dogs and informed us the owner was in Texas. So we had no choice but to leave followed by one of the dogs which only left us when the young lad came along in his pick up and took the dog back.

We cycled on to the next town called Ash Grove where there was a B&B and the City Park for camping. We weren’t keen to camp because the forecast is still not good and at the local grocery store we were informed that the B&B had closed. Oh dear, the next town is miles away! So after a few phone calls by the lady in the store we were instructed to go to the City Hall and collect a key to a house in the City Park as we were to be allowed to stay there the night. So we cycled off to collect the key and were told there was no charge, just drop the key back in the morning. We then cycled to our new accommodation in the park and were met by the local Police Chief, who already knew we were staying there. He said he would look out for us during the night.

The house we are in is a kind of community building but it has toilets, hot water, air con, power and a roof! So it’s a good place for us to stay tonight and quite unexpected. In addition the lady in the grocery store came running out with a bag of free fruit for us before we left her shop. We have been well looked after here.

We had a request on one of the comments (Dave Bailey) for a run down of our day. I promise to do that soon Dave when I feel more awake than I do right now.

Daily Mileage -73.5 miles

Time in Saddle -6hrs 31 mins

Total Climbing – 2,470 ft