Day 35 - still at McPherson, KS - Following the Ponca Trail

August 18, 2024

Day 35 - still at McPherson, KS

Initially last night it was pretty warm in the tent. The heat from the dryer was still radiating off the sheet I use inside my sleeping bag. But by morning I was covered up in the sleeping bag, thanks to the pleasant breeze flowing through the tent. Being a day off, I didn't feel guilty about sleeping until 7:40am.

I ate a couple of toaster pastries, then got started on selecting pictures for the journal. Campground owner Jim stopped by at 10:45am asking if I'd like a cup of coffee. I followed him over to the office, where there is a Keurig machine. Jim doesn't drink coffee, and we were both getting confused on how the machine worked, so Jim got Lori, who knew just what to do. That coffee was such a treat for me this morning.

I've been sitting on the deck stairs on the west side of the house in the shade to work on reports. As the sun made its way west, I kept having to move up a step. Finally there was not enough shade left. So at 1:00pm I moved over to the room with tables that they have here. I finally had yesterday's report posted at 2:15pm. I was quite surprised with how cloudy and windy it was when I looked outside. So I checked the weather radar, which showed pretty intense storms to the east.

Even though the tent is on the west side of this house, the strong east wind was shaking it a lot. So I got out my four extra guylines to add support to the poles. There is a slight chance for rain here later, but now it was just windy and cool. I'd almost fallen asleep earlier posting the report. When I'm not on trips, I almost always take a Sunday afternoon nap. It was breezy and cool in the tent, so I gave taking a nap a try, starting at 3:00pm. That works so well. I was awake and ready to carry on at 4:10pm.

The rain to the west was still far enough away that I had time to make it to where the restaurants are. I checked for restaurants using Google Maps. Initially I was thinking Applebee's, but then noticed Woodie's Smokehouse in the same vicinity. I'd never heard of that place. I left the campground at 4:20pm for Woodie's. The Farmer Stacker Sandwich is what I ordered when I arrived. It is definitely a knife-and-fork type of meal. Very good. Woodie's only offers cinnamon toast or cookies for dessert. I could see the nearby Braum's out the window as I ate. Maybe it was time to get that banana split I've been obsessing over. So that's what I did next. I was back at the campground at 5:58pm, contently full.

I called my wife shortly after. It's a joy to talk with her. She mentioned folks at church are wondering when I will be back. OK, I just did some figuring. If I'm able to stay on-schedule from now on, I should be back in Morton on Tuesday, August 27. But knowing how things go, you better add a day or two to that.

With the earlier cloud cover and the breeze, it has been mercifully cool today. The forecast for this coming week is for highs in the low to mid 80s. I'm looking forward to that.

Let me see now if I can get some comment responses posted before I call it a night.

Jeff

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