| sari & i found ourselves spinning right along this morning. as you know, we're usually at the end of the pack, but today by the time we made our first subaru stop there were 8 riders behind us. we're trying to practice keeping our noses to the grindstone--& our feet to the pedals--so we're not out after dark on the 111-mile day scheduled for this tuesday. everyone had an easy time of it today; the roads were flat, with a few rollers near toronto, & the winds were neglible. & when they did kick up, they were often at our backs. now THIS is the way we pictured ourselves riding to oregon! |
| eating on the road wasn't easy today. just ask rose. she rode right past the little cafe in toronto, about 38 miles into today's ride. 6-8 other
riders found it & stopped for breakfast. sari & i spotted the bikes when we rode into town...a tiny town with an almost-deserted main street early on a sunday morning...& went into the cafe. when we found out there was no pie, we chatted for a few minutes, used the restroom, & pedalled on to another possibility debby had told us about 2.5 miles down the road. |
| what a find! from the outside, Lizard Lips Grill & Deli didn't look like much more than a very small gas stop on a hill out in the middle of nowhere. but if norman rockwell had driven by today, he would have stopped to paint the scene inside: half a dozen tables crowded into the deli side of the place were filled with kindly local folks enjoying their mother's day dinner. the special was roast pork with copper pennies (sliced carrots), potatoes, applesauce, & spice cake. the women were dressed in their mother's day finery. we mothers in bike shorts & helmets didn't quite fit, but were warmly welcomed. sari, gerrie, & i each had a piece of pie...coconut cream for gerrie & sari, chocolate meringue for me--not homemade there, but very good. gerrie ended up buying a piece of the homemade spice cake to take with her; she stopped on down the road & enjoyed it later. |
| anne & debby stopped, too. several of us bought t-shirts: "Lizards of Kansas." it depicts 6 lizards & even lists those "not shown"....as if anyone would expect a t-shirt front to be the definitive source of info on a state's lizards. at the bottom it advertises "Lizard Lips Grill & Deli, Country Junction, Inc., Toronto, Ks." i also get a kick out of them specifying their own incorporated area on the t-shirt...separate from the nearby town. it's a proud little group there in country junction, inc! i bought one of the t-shirts for one of my sons, but i'm wearing it right now & am guessing that neither mark nor scott will ever get it. |
| she's a one-woman chamber of commerce; she told us a lot about the landscape & history of the area. she explained that this section of kansas is a "tension" zone...where the prairie & trees vye for dominance in the landscape. the others in the photo are linda's brother glenn; linda's "stalwart companion," as she calls her, carlene hall; & in front in red is mom. |
| linda has written a little book that's for sale at the deli: "Slim Chance and Sadie Straightarrow: Continuing the Search for Truth--Do Lizards Have Lips??" along with the story is a section of famous soup recipes from the deli & a "special invitation" to come to lizard lips & "let us cook for you." it's at the junction of highways 54 & 105 approx 90 mi east of wichita. it's open 7-7, 7 days a week; soup is served mon thru fri 11-3. it's worth a trip from wherever you are. |
| as sari & i were packing up our bikes out front getting ready to leave, a tall, lanky, middle-aged fellow was ambling into the deli, his mother walking ahead of him. she was slim, & was attired for this special mother's day outing in a white frilly blouse & nice pants, with her makeup & hair just so. the fellow drawled, "you're beautiful, ma." she replied without a pause but in such a loving way, "i always knew you thought so." it was all i could do not to let the tears fall onto that dusty gas station parking lot. i'll never forget the stop at Lizard Lips on mother's day 2000. |
| by this time sari & i had regained our favored spot at the end of the pack. we pedalled west to a historic marker to read about these vast (4-1/2 millions acres) kansas grasslands...the Bluestem pasture region, or Flint Hills. i decided to take a picture of it so you can read for yourselves: |
