Day 36 - ending at Salina, KS - Following the Ponca Trail

August 19, 2024

Day 36 - ending at Salina, KS

Day 36 - McPherson, KS to Salina, KS

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I was up at 4:37am this morning. I wrote that down to my note card then scratched it out later, since I fell back to sleep until 6:05am. I wasn't in a big hurry, since today's mileage would be less than the last several days - just 41 miles to get to the KOA Campground in Salina, Kansas. I was packing up when Jim brought over another Keurig-made coffee for me. Camping here has worked out so well for me, and the owners have been so kind. I handed Jim the extension cord he had loaned me as he wished me well on my trip.

My pre-planning had me going south back into town this morning to eat at Neighbors Cafe, but they aren't open on Mondays. So I decided on 5 Loaves Country Kitchen instead. I got started heading that way at 8:19am. Stopped for Gatorade along the way, then went through a pretty park in town. I arrived at 5 Loaves at 9:04am. It was bar room dark inside, but the food was good.

The plan for the next part of the day, once I cleared McPherson, was to ride north on The Meadowlark Trail. I arrived at the start of the trail at 10:07am. Wind today was moderate out of the east, and the early morning was overcast. I like riding on rail trails, and this one is a good one. It runs all the way to Lindsborg, accept there's a 2 miles section in the middle that isn't complete yet. At least I thought that section wasn't complete. When I got to that missing section there was a motor grader parked on the road, and it looked like they've been working on the trail. So instead of taking my road detour, I kept going straight. Well they hadn't gotten very far along with packing down the dirt and eventually I was on what looked like ballast for a railroad bed. I was able to ride on some of that, then did some walking. I hadn't thought about bridges not being complete. Fortunately the railroad ties were still there for the one bridge I needed to cross. The other incomplete mile was definitely not a trail, so I took a detour on roads to the west instead of to the east as I had planned. That was somewhat of an adventure of its own. There was a low muddy area, but I was able to get through and stay clean.

At 11:42am I was back on the northern half of the completed trail. I was at a bridge with a bench nearby right at noon. I'd ridden 17.3 miles during this pleasant morning.

I was at the end of the trail and in the town of Lindsborg at 12:22pm. I went off-route to get a picture of the mill in town, then saw they were open. I decided I had time to tour that. That took more than an hour because they have so many other buildings around that are included in the tour, though it is a self-tour. Milling is a more complicated process from start to finish than I realized. The collections they have in the other buildings are extensive. I think what would have interested me most was to see inside the 1904 World's Fair Swedish Pavilion, but it was closed for renovations.

I didn't get back moving again until 1:56pm. My goal now was to get out of town on the Valkommen Trail. I skipped going through downtown, since I'd seen that before when I passed through Lindsborg on a bicycle trip in 2016.

I knew there was a possibility that I could mistakenly get on the loop this trail has on the north side of town, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I did ride that loop instead of getting off the trail at the point I should have. I finally got on Old Highway 81 and cleared town at 2:28pm.

I stayed on Old Highway 81 as it curved north at Bridgeport and then past Assaria. I'd taken so many pictures at the mill back in Lindsborg that I needed to charge my phone. I had the phone tucked inside my front basket bag. It went flying out of the bag onto the highway when I hit a rumble strip. The phone landed just across the white line, and there was a car coming. The car missed the phone and the phone was still working, so all is well. I'll have to figure out a better way to secure the phone when I'm charging it while riding.

At 4:00pm, south of Salina, I turned east off the highway. My plan was to follow bike paths and bike trails on the east side of town. The bike trails were on top of levees for the Smoky Hill River. Later I left the trail to get on Iron Avenue. I was headed to the northern part of downtown. I wanted to see the mural painted on grain elevators. It's impressive. From all the pictures I took, I now see I was too close to the silos for most of the pictures. The better pictures are to be had from farther away.

I looked at my watch. It was 6:00pm. I was fairly close to the campground, so decided I had time to get some supper first. So I backtracked some to get closer to downtown, to where Cozy Inn Hamburgers are located. They have an outdoor window where you order. I was a little confused at first, since there meal deals included 6, 4, or 2 hamburgers. They explained to me that they were small hamburgers, often referred to as "sliders." So I ordered their four hamburgers with chips and soda meal, then sat at a picnic table in the sun to eat them. As I was leaving I noticed they also have inside dining. I went in to check that out. It's a small area with a counter, behind which they are cooking the burgers. I wanted another soda to drink, so ordered that and two more burgers, which I ate at the counter. It was a busy, crowded place inside. The cook was asking each of us where we were from. She said they serve 1200 to 1500 burgers a day, and double that on weekends. This was a fun, memorable meal for me (both of them).

Back at the bike I ventured half a block farther south and a block east into downtown to see what there is to see. They have walkways in the middle of the blocks. Overhead of these walkways are metal structures that look like walkways above, but they aren't.

I finally headed back north on Santa Fe Avenue, got back on the levee trail for a short ways, then went under I-70 and turned left to the campground. It was 7:30pm and this campground's office stays open till 8:00pm, so I didn't have to self-register. Tent sites here have electricity and water included. I'm at site #4. It's not the best site for a tent, especially if it's going to rain a lot, but I can't be set up every night as great as I was the last two nights.

It was definitely cooler today. The east wind was nice because it wasn't blowing against me too much. It's been a good day.

Jeff