42. Manhattan, Kansas

Day 42:  Sunday, August 2, 1981
Clay Center to Manhattan:  40 miles

We had quite a storm last night:  thunder, lightning, high winds.  We stayed fairly dry - not quite all the seams on the tent have been sealed yet.

It was only 40 miles in from Clay Center - and the storm brought us a respite from the south winds - at least for the morning.  Near Manhattan, a car pulled over to talk - Dave, the driver, worked in a bicycle shop in Manhattan.  He ended up spending several hours working on Jack's bike at the shop, then took us home for a bath and a meal.  I guess we'll stay there tonight, too.  It's actually not his house:  his girlfriend Sandy is taking care of the UUA fellowship house for the summer (Unitarians all go on summer vacation), and we're using the facilities.  And we're paying for the supper tonight, in exchange for his free work on Jack's bike.  It's a backyard hamburger cookout.

Manhattan seems like a nice town.  It's the home of KSU.  There are more trees around here, and it's starting to look more like Michigan.

For supper, we all went over to the house of some friends of Dave and Sandy's for the cookout.  The food was great, and the company was excellent.  Manhattan also seems like a friendly town.  And it must have a low crime rate:  there aren't many street lights.  Many of the sidewalks are of brick, probably about 100 years old.

We slept in Dave's tent tonight.  The strong south winds we had across Kansas are milder now, and just about die out completely at night.  The Marmot tent we bought in Missoula is a good winter tent, but has some ventilation deficiencies.  On a hot, still night, with two people, it's downright unbearable.  And we're into the dog days now.