Hopkins 4K for Cancer

June 27, 2002

Day 26 (77 miles) Frankfort, KS to Fairb
We awoke today to the wafting aroma of biscuits and gravy cooked by a local parishioner. The only problem with this was the fact that it was 5:30 in the A.M. Otherwise the breakfast was great, and according to Uber Leader Ryan, a real southern treat. We got the earliest start of the trip today as we actually had wheels rolling before eight. This was a good thing, because no one wanted to be out in the afternoon after yesterdays heat. We were able to pound out around 52 miles before stopping for lunch around 11. In those 52 miles we crossed our seventh boarder and added Nebraska to our list of states to be bested. The terrain was pretty much the same, with some long rolling hills. The roads were nice though and the lead groups made decent time, averaging over 20 miles an hour for the last 25 miles. Travis got us some good meats and cheeses donated for lunch and we lounged there for anywhere from 30 minutes to three and a half hours. Even with this long break for lunch some of the groups were able to get into Fairbury by 2pm, which was nice due to the fact that we beat some of the worst heat of the day. In Fairbury, we stayed at the crystal springs campground, which was our first day out in the woods. After cleaning up and taking a dip in the pond we sat down to a good pasta dinner cooked by camp stoves. After eating we settled in to make some s’mores and sat around the fire. Our total mileage to this point is 1667 miles, which means that we are almost halfway done. It’s a good thing we hit up the flat part of the country first, cause I know everyone here is itching to climb hills for miles and miles a day into air too thin to breathe….

-Gary Lombardo