We left the nice bike hostel in Newton, Kansas and want to say a big thank you to Heather and James Barringer again for their hospitality. We have gone over 1000 miles now and have less than a week left. Today was sunny and hot again and had gently rolling hills. There was very little wind and we actually found a shaded spot to eat our lunch. Yay! We left lunch before Leah which was rare because she was behind us. About a mile down the road Bob and I both stopped abruptly. A black panther/cougar came out in the road around 75 yards ahead of us, looked at us with glowing yellow eyes and turned around and went back in the ditch. We froze and really couldn't fathom what we were seeing. I know.... I didn't get a picture. Many things went through our minds trying to grasp what we were looking at. Bob said, look at the long tail and the cat like way it walked! That's when it sunk in that we were really looking at a cougar! Amazing and stunning! Then I tried calling Leah on the phone and there was no cell signal. I then used the radio but I didn't get a response. We sat in the road waiting for her to get to us. At this point we got out the Bears spray, pepper spray and knife. When she got there she got the air horn and bear spray out. We were well armed and on edge. If anyone had scared us, it wouldn't have been pretty. For the next 5 miles we rode in a tight formation, on guard, looking around all the time. Leah was extremely jealous she didn't get to see it. Yesterday the bike shop owner told us how he had been stalked for 4 hours by a cougar. Leah never left our sight the rest of the day. When we got into Cassoday, Kansas we went to a convenience store to get some food and cold drinks. While there we talked to some locals who have seen a Panther. They said a cougar has a 60 mile radius. We googled pictures and it was exactly what we saw. Cougar, Panther, and mountain lion are all the same animal. One couple we talked to the most, the husband was a retired professor and the wife had been a music teacher. Before they left they bought us fresh baked brownies and gave them to us at our table. How sweet! The husband, who is in his upper 60's, has lived here all his life and never seen one but his wife and son have. Daily we are asked where are you coming from or going to? Almost daily, we are asked, how do you steer those things? One person even asked if we steer them with our feet! Our goal at the beginning of the trip was to just make it into Kansas. Now our goal is to finish Kansas, amazing (which is a really long state) and just make it into Missouri before we are done next week. We went 38 miles today.
July 15, 2016
We left the nice bike hostel in Newton, Kansas and want to say a big thank you to Heather and James Barringer again for their hospitality. We have gone over 1000 miles now and have less than a week left. Today was sunny and hot again and had gently rolling hills. There was very little wind and we actually found a shaded spot to eat our lunch. Yay! We left lunch before Leah which was rare because she was behind us. About a mile down the road Bob and I both stopped abruptly. A black panther/cougar came out in the road around 75 yards ahead of us, looked at us with glowing yellow eyes and turned around and went back in the ditch. We froze and really couldn't fathom what we were seeing. I know.... I didn't get a picture. Many things went through our minds trying to grasp what we were looking at. Bob said, look at the long tail and the cat like way it walked! That's when it sunk in that we were really looking at a cougar! Amazing and stunning! Then I tried calling Leah on the phone and there was no cell signal. I then used the radio but I didn't get a response. We sat in the road waiting for her to get to us. At this point we got out the Bears spray, pepper spray and knife. When she got there she got the air horn and bear spray out. We were well armed and on edge. If anyone had scared us, it wouldn't have been pretty. For the next 5 miles we rode in a tight formation, on guard, looking around all the time. Leah was extremely jealous she didn't get to see it. Yesterday the bike shop owner told us how he had been stalked for 4 hours by a cougar. Leah never left our sight the rest of the day. When we got into Cassoday, Kansas we went to a convenience store to get some food and cold drinks. While there we talked to some locals who have seen a Panther. They said a cougar has a 60 mile radius. We googled pictures and it was exactly what we saw. Cougar, Panther, and mountain lion are all the same animal. One couple we talked to the most, the husband was a retired professor and the wife had been a music teacher. Before they left they bought us fresh baked brownies and gave them to us at our table. How sweet! The husband, who is in his upper 60's, has lived here all his life and never seen one but his wife and son have. Daily we are asked where are you coming from or going to? Almost daily, we are asked, how do you steer those things? One person even asked if we steer them with our feet! Our goal at the beginning of the trip was to just make it into Kansas. Now our goal is to finish Kansas, amazing (which is a really long state) and just make it into Missouri before we are done next week. We went 38 miles today.
2 Comments
|