39. Stockton, Kansas

Day 39:  Thursday, July 30, 1981
Hoxie to Stockton:  63 miles

As we move toward central Kansas, we're encountering more hills.  The terrain is gently rolling, and the earth is sandier.  More cattle are raised here, with crops only in flat areas such as along river valleys.

We have a mail drop in Manhattan, which is about 200 miles east.  We could do it in three days, but the post office is closed on Saturday afternoons.  So we'll take it easy and pick up the mail on Monday.  On Sunday, I can go to Wamego to visit John, an old Air Force buddy.

As I write this, we're resting in Nicodemus, a community which was settled by Negroes from Kentucky a hundred years ago.  It's a small place, but seems to be doing all right for itself.

After Nicodemus, we passed Webster Reservoir, on the South Solomon River.  The river is dry right now.  The water in the reservoir is a long distance from the spillway.  Even with all the rain Kansas has had this year, most of the creeks and rivers are as dry as the proverbial bone.

Shouldn't there be a stream here somewhere?

We're staying in another roadside rest area tonight.  Jack and I polished off a six-pack in addition to our fried fish and hash browns.  And then I had my first shower since Colorado.  The rest areas don't have facilities, so I filled our water jug, hung it up, and let the water trickle out.  The water was cold - it woke me up after that filling supper.

It seems that the kids in Stockton have nothing to do except cruise the rest area in the evening, so we moved out and pitched camp behind right field in the town's baseball park.