I've ever done. Mostly (but not totally) flat, and we were done riding
before the afternoon wind rose. Chanute, which is not exactly a world
crossroads or anything, is home to a pretty amazing museum of African
art and artifacts, a result of the odysseys [sp?] of a couple of
locals in the early 1900s. This couple, Martin and Osa Johnson [I
might not have those names right], basically invented the safari/
wildlife film.
We had lodgings in Grace Episcopal Church, where I found a brochure
written and illustrated by my friend (and the officient at my
daughter's wedding) Jay Sidebotham. The good people of GEC left out
fresh-baked brownies for us, and banana-walnut bread, and fresh-brewed
tea, and lemonade, and muffins, and angelfood cake -- nice; very, very
nice. I even met the brownie-baker, at the drugstore's soda fountain
(old fashioned root beer float) -- who happens to be the daughter of a
guy Hugh and I bumped into when we were trying to get directions to
the church (and who was himself a member of the church). Small town
life is a continuous small world, I imagine.
Another incident worth noting: As we entered the town, Hugh stopped
and asked directions to the church from a lady on the street getting
into her car. She was clearly a directions-challenged person, but we
had nothing else to go on at that point, so we set out along the route
she laid out. Which proved to be just about 100% wrong. Well. She
realized her mistake, went to the church to report that we were in
town, and then hunted us down to give us the correct information.
Which wasn't necessary, since by the time she found us we'd already
bumped into the guy who gave us the correct directions, but what a
nice thing to have done.
The brownie-baker and her husband (who happened to be a church warden)
and her mother later showed up at the church to greet us and take some
pictures and give us a tour of the church and present everyone with a
little memento. They thanked us repeatedly, and profusely, for
visiting and staying at the church, as if it were WE doing them a big
favor, rather than the reverse. "It's just so exciting what you're
doing, and so exciting to have you here." Lovely people......
(Sent from my iPhone)
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