EUREKA TO CHANUTE, KS 10/4/10

BIMBOs II and III no longer even talk to each other! They just text back and forth all day.

Home, home on the raaaaange

Wow! What a surprise. BIMBO I's sisters Cathy and Nancy along with Cathy's husband Mike just showed up out of nowhere! The girls are riding with the BIMBOs tomorrow. Mike is their designated sag driver. So who is smarter? Megan and Molly also arrived this afternoon with Lindsey, Wyatt, and Sally! OK, M & M have an excuse for not riding. Shawn, this is just before we totally trashed your house. Sorry about the holes in the walls... See if the bishop can cover the cost for you.

Home of Janice Miller AKA Muffet who now resides in KC but still owns this beautiful "painted lady" in Chanute.


Ely McCoy was our gracious hostess for a wonderful evening of conversation and a home cooked meal. Thank you, Ely!

The Allure and surprise of family and friends! Last night we stayed in the worst motel we have had in 5 weeks. The toilets had not been flushed from the previous guests and the bugs were everywhere. The temperature was 35 degrees when we eagerly left this ....hole. We had about everything on we brought with us to keep us warm. In under an hour, the temperature was tolerable, the sun was out and the route was beautiful. Bimbo I felt compelled to sing, "Oh What A Beautiful Morning." We could hardly disagree.

As we got closer to Chanute, we saw deer running across a field. The road kill variety increased to include armadillos. The road had gentle hills and a wide shoulder. What more could a biker want?

Once in Chanute, we were the grateful recipients of Father Shawn Streepy's hospitality as he allowed us to stay at "the crib." Shawn, we are not playing Yahtzee, you loser! Margi challenges you to a tournament on your turf , whenever.

When Debra went to the Super 8 to meet her daughters and grandchildren, she was shocked to find her sister, Nancy, from Florida and sister, Cathy, and brother in law, Mike, from Arkansas at the hotel!

Our dinner tonight was provided by a complete stranger! Ely McCoy is a friend of Janice Miller (a K.C. Express member.) Janice mentioned that we would be biking through Chanute and before we knew it, we were getting emails about having dinner at her house. Elly invited another friend, Warren Alford, who we found knew our friend Marti Lamar's parents, Bill and Joanne Stanhope. We enjoyed a delicious dinner in beautiful surroundings and left feeling like Elly was an old friend.

Tomorrow we are excited to have friends and family join us for our ride to Girard where we will meet additional family and friends for a day of fun.

The "shout out " tonight should have been sent more than a week ago but BimboII forgot. While we were riding through West Cliff, Colorado, I forgot to mention John Ashton and Karen Vance. They have both recently moved there from Kansas City. We enjoyed a great lunch in the city park and I now understand why they would leave KC for this beautiful part of the country!

Another belated "shout out" goes to Nancy Bednar who celebrated her birthday on September 23. Happy Birthday and sorry for the oversight, Baby Sister!