Today was not big based on mileage; we biked an average amount (about 57 miles). It was big, however, in the things that we saw. First, we saw a big American flag at a veteran's memorial in Girard, KS. It was listed as a sight to see in our trans-Am map, but we were a little disappointed. It didn't look all that big to us...at least it was only a 1/2 mile off route. 

The next big things we saw were in Walnut, KS. We were just pulling into the convenience store to take a rest, when we saw three huge soda cans. Well, they weren't really soda cans. I think they were some sort of fuel tanks that had been painted to resemble various Pepsi products. The artist had done quite a nice job.

The last big thing of the day was the wind. Luckily, the gusts stayed mostly under 20 mph and were usually at our sides. Still, they made our journey a little trickier.

We made it to Chanute, KS around lunchtime (we got an early start since rain was forecasted for the afternoon). We were pleasantly surprised to find a city campground. Not only are the first 48 hours free, but they have running water, electricity, toilets, and even hot showers. What a deal! 

We heard that there might be a storm heading in around 7pm, so we rode to Taco John's for an early dinner at 5pm. Just as we got there, the storm came in, with heavy winds and rain. We had to stay there for 2.5 hours waiting for the storm to die down enough for us to ride back. As we were waiting around, we noticed a couple walk in who had the same tan lines on their faces as us, from sunglasses and helmet straps. We also heard their accents and guessed that they were the Norwegian couple, Jonatan and Linda, that were also cycling across the States and had been a day behind us for about a week. They had stayed in all the same places as us, too. 

We swapped stories about our trips; we heard about their terrible trouble with dogs and about Jonatan having to buy a new bike when his frame cracked. It was great to meet some other cyclists, so we don't feel like we are the only crazy people doing this! They also have a website, with some amazing photos: www.pavei.tumblr.com

Once we got back to the campsite, we found that our tents were completely drenched. Michelle's tent had a huge pool of water in it, since one side wasn't staked down. The other tent wasn't much better, so we opted to leave the tents, grab our stuff and head across the road to a hotel for a dry and much more comfortable night's sleep.