Out raced a storm

       Hot? You kidding me? 83 degrees at 6:15 am.  Mary, Larry and I hightailed it out of Chanute to Girard 50 miles away. The storm behind us as we left was the same one that hit Hutchinson with a tornado. Great!  We saw it creeping up on us and cranked up the revolutions.  The rumbling got louder and just as we arrived in Girard, the lightning started up.

      With the oppressive heat, no way was I about to camp. Nowhere to hang our hat, I began calling the churches.  The Methodist church came to our rescue. Open frig policy, mac and cheese, bible study, everything but a bed.  Sleeping bags and camping mattress on the floor but nothing new. 

    I am leaving the TransAmerica route tomorrow to avoid the Ozark mountains

and eastern Kentucky. 115 miles to Clinton, Missouri where the KATY rail to trail begins, another twist to a great adventure.