Yippeee! Hmmm, no Colleen. At least I'm welcome.
They dropped a couple names o towns I'll be going through (Big Sur, Sacramento) so I'm ever so slightly worried. But not really, I'm a lot more concerned with just getting to CA. Recent bodily malfunctions have got me worrying if the Aug 6 San Fran deadline is realistic. The group has been going faster lately, so I really don't think their pace will be an obstacle, only my abilities.
Went to get some food and find a can opener in Pittsburg. I coudln't stop thinking about how much I hate these city strips. I snapped a picture to remind me of the sick feeling in my stomach. Am I the only one that finds em disgustingly impersonal and wasteful? I dunno if me bum is ready, but I'm sure ready to be out in the middle of nowhere again.

I didn't find a can opener and the guys at Ace were jerks. What the deuce.

On the plus side:

The library is FREAKIN SWEET. In my cross-country library tour, I've never seen a library so schweet: public, university, hole-in-the-wall, or otherwise. They have an entire shelf of graphic novels, a totally relaxing reading section, and some friendly (and chatty) front deskarians.

I've been reading the main stories (Columbian hostages rescued, 600 Starbucks closing, fireworks-related home destruction, Witchita teenager murdered over a car honk), checking out the Rolling Stone interview with Obama (pretty sweet). I also remembered that the radio that I brought with me (thanks Aunt Jean-Jean!(no that's not her name, but I can't type in Mandarin, sorry) is also an MP3 player, so I loaded up some NPR podcasts. Prarie Home Companion seemed appropriate, as well as some BBC World News to keep me up to date, and some Car Talk to counter the car-hate.

Bike shop here is kinda sad. Have yet to come across a nice one. The closest one was in Charlottesville, but the employees were kinda jerktastic.

Steven
07-03-08
Still in Pittsburg, KA.

OH YEAH!! Missourri is MO. I don't know how I didn't figure that out sooner, MoDOT trucks were all over the place.

Last tidbit, FYI: While I love the fact that gas prices are at record highs (for obvious reasons) it also kinda sucks for many of the people in the areas we visit. Rural drivers have to drive farther to get necessities, and gas costs them more because the trucks that deliver the fuel have to burn more fuel to deliver the fuel. Super.

Okay, time to go rest.