At home and away, part 3

 I set off on what I knew would be long hike Wednesday morning. It was very windy, and cool, but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. My mother's place where I've been staying is on the east side of town. I walked due west to the far west side of town and then north, where I eventually picked up the flood control levee again. I followed it a while but then took off on an eastbound street that ran not far from our old neighborhood. There I came across a self-service bike rental spot operated by KanCycle, "Bringing Bike Sharing to Rural Kansas." I had hiked over five miles at that point and thought that a change in my mode of transportation seemed like a good idea. I downloaded the app, entered my email, phone, and credit card number and quickly unlocked a bike. I adjusted the height of the seat and made a few circles around a fairly empty parking lot to regain my bike riding skills, which hadn't been exercised in a good 20-30 years or more. 

Since I was near our old neighborhood and had a fast mode of conveyance, I detoured past our old house and made a lap around Sunset Park, a city park where I had spent many hours when growing up in Salina. Eventually I made my way back across to the east side of town at a park with another KanCycle spot. I dropped off the bike, happy to pay the rental fee of $3.20 for the ride across town and back through my history. It was there that I picked up the eastern side of the flood control levee and it's trail and made my way back south. My entire route that day was 12.5 miles, probably 8 of which was hiking, and 4.5 on the bike. 

The flower pictures are from my gardens back home, along with pictures of Della and Serena.

This picture captures two icons of Kansas, the sunflower itself, and the stiff wind blowing it.

The footprint of my new hiking boots, made in dry loamy Kansas soil, as opposed to the mud back home in the swampland.

Here is the KanCycle sign.

The bikes are not fancy but they were pretty comfortable and easy to ride.

The muddy Smoky Hill River.

The view of the trail atop the flood control levee.

Here's the map of my 12.5 mile route.

Della and Serena

If you look closely you can see that Della has a pear in her mouth.

You can also see Maya through the door, inside the house.