To protect and serve...and perform trail magic?...

Day 159
8-13-2006
Started: Near Lehigh, KS
Finished: Highway 56, KS
Today's Miles: 22.0
Total Miles: 2123.8

The clear sky and bright moon was all the light we needed this morning as we packed up our gear much before sunrise. The wind was blowing strong and it was quite a beautiful morning. We both felt like we were sleep walking for the first couple of miles but as soon as the sun did come up, we were woken by its powerful rays. Today was going to be another hot one. The heat out here in Kansas is no joke. It doesn't take long for our bodies to feel completely drained of all their energy, no matter how much liquid we put into them and no matter how many breaks we take. When you add the heat exhaustion to already tired bodies from a terrible night sleep you basically have two hikers sleep walking down the side of a highway while pushing a blue baby jogger. We were quite the site for sore eyes today. We enjoyed a short break in the town of Canton while sipping on some cold Gatorades. Canton is famous for its Hot and Cold water towers and holds a Prairie Days festival every June to celebrate the beauty of the early summer prairie. This part of Kansas is definitely flat and hot this time of the year but the wide open spaces and endless miles of farmland are quite beautiful. After leaving Canton our next stop was in the town of Galvia where again enjoyed another round of cold Gatorade. It was pushing noon at this point and normally we would try to find a shady spot to get out of the sun for a couple hours during the hottest part of the day, but since we were only five miles from our destination for the day, we thought we would zap the remainder of our energy and continue on into town where we would be able to get off our feet the rest of the night. However, a couple miles short of our destination we had a small run in with the law, and this time we were glad the law won. Officer Blair from the McPherson Police Department stopped us on the side of the road to ask us where we were headed. He assured us he was only stopping us for his own personal curiosity and that we were not breaking any laws by walking on the side of the highway. He invited us into his vehicle to enjoy the air conditioning while we chatted about our trip. After inquiring about our plans for the rest of the day, he was on the phone with a local motel to see if they had any vacancy for the night. Before we knew it we were the recipients of the most amazing "trail magic" that could not have come at a better time for two heat exhausted hikers. Officer Blair had completely taken care of a room for us for the night in town and even packed all of our gear into the back of his truck and dropped us off at the front door of the motel. Concerned about our safety in the future he even supplied us with bright orange vests that can be worn when we are walking in heavy traffic. We are so grateful for Officer Blair's "trail magic" and will enjoy getting out of the heat for the night. Tomorrow we will return to where Officer Blair picked us up and head back into town. We absolutely love meeting all of the kind folks in Kansas and can't thank Officer Blair enough for his hospitality in McPherson.

Your Friends on the ADT,
Randy and Sheri
Follow our Journey at www.treckusa.com