Sunflower - Kansas State Flower

The sunflower is the Kansas State Flower. The photo is from along the side of highway U.S. 36 about 11 miles east of Marysville, Kansas. I have seen a lot of beautiful wild flowers on this walk.

You may have wondered what happened to me not putting up any posts for several days. I am covering 113 miles this week and have had long days of walking. The high temperature for the day was 101 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity. God has blessed me to do okay in the heat.

I camped after dark along the edge of highway U.S. 36. The farmer, Dave, came by as I was packing up and said that I was okay being there, but just don’t smoke and catch the hay on fire. He was very nice.

I bought my return ticket online yesterday for the flight home, Kansas City to Salt Lake City, Tuesday Sept. 10, flight 819 leaving Kansas City (MCI) at 2:32 PM. Yeah!

I made The First United Methodist Church Newsletter. Follow the link and I am on page four. Very nice people!

Please comment on this post by clicking on the title at the top of the article Kansas State Flower. That will take you to a page just for this article. Scroll down the page and you will see the comment section where you can add your comment. Please comment on any of the other posts as well.

Please Sponsor Claron to help the orphans and other children in South Sudan.

Video of campsite and farmland near Marysville, Kansas

Saturday morning, as I was ready to start my walk from Scandia to Belleville, two woman talked to me. They were interested in my walk, let me take their pictures and donated. Nice people! When I got to Belleville, I had people in the grocery store tell me that they had seen me walking and listened to my story. Sunday, I attended the United Methodist Church in Belleville, Kansas. I enjoyed the services. People were really nice to me and they donated to help the orphans and other children in the villages of South Sudan in our schools. Some of the congregation members exchanged contact information with me. Wouldn’t that be great if we became life-long friends.

Country of the Pawnees The photo is of the Republican River near Scandia, Kansas. This area was the home of the Pawnees (native Americans) for hundreds of years. Today, the Pawnee tribal lands are in Oklahoma. Again, a blog honoring African refugees also honors displaced native Americans.

Walking through this country is stunning to see the vastness of it. The farmland goes on as far as the eye can see in all directions. The annual rainfall increases as I walk east.

I slept at the park in Mankato, Kansas. Steve was at the park in the morning, apparently his regular routine to drive there each morning to read his newspaper. I guess he is about my age. We talked about my walk and many other things. He wondered why we should help children in far parts of the world when there are children that do not have enough to eat in this country. He was friendly, polite and respectful to me, and was sincerely interested in exploring the why with me. I told him that there are a lot of good causes in the world. I am not sure that it is as important which cause you pick to support, but that you support some good cause. I feel blessed to be able to help the orphans and other children in South Sudan. They need and appreciate the help. The photo shows an excavation showing shallow topsoil near Mankato, Kansas. I love how I can get a really good look at the scenery traveling three miles per hour.

Dustin and Katie Kelm stopped and talked to me today. They are riding unicycles with a 56 inch wheel across the United States to raise money to help Syrian refugees.
It was fun to meet them, talk to them and watch them ride their unicycles. They stay in hotels at night. It looks like it would be tough to carry much on a unicycle. It is sad to think of places like South Sudan and Syria and all the refugees, but it is wonderful to meet people trying to do something to help.

Video of unicyclists that were riding across the United States

I was at the geographic center of the 48 states today. Well, since I was walking, four miles away from the exact spot was close enough. I stayed Tuesday night in Smith Center, Kansas. I met Dennis out riding his bike for exercise and we got to talking about my walk. He invited me over to stay at his house for the night. I had a shower, a real bed, home grown tomatoes in tomato sandwiches and a donation for the orphans. Thanks Dennis! In the first mile walking out of Smith Center town on Wednesday morning, I figure that I passed the 3/4 point of my 1083 mile walk. Yea!!!

I was touched by the message on this grave marker for a little one that died in 1903 less than one year old at a cemetery near Lebanon, Kansas along route U.S. 36.

Video at the geographic center of the United States

Do you want to volunteer some time to help the orphans and other children in the villages of South Sudan? Read on for an idea on how you might help by volunteering your time.

This past Sunday, I got a suggestion that I should visit schools. Because of the circumstances, I took the suggestion seriously, but my initial thought was, “I don’t know how to do that.” As in, how do I walk and arrange to visit schools along the way at the same time? After thinking about it, I thought, maybe some of my readers want to set things up for me. School just started here in this part of Kansas. If you are interested in contacting the schools along my route to set up me coming to talk to them, get my email address off the bottom of the About page, send me an email, and lets talk about it.

I can also visit schools when I get back to Utah. Southern Sudan Humanitarian has a Sister School Project which more schools are welcome to become a part of.

I see a lot of signs telling about the local schools here in Kansas. As an extension of loving their children, people also have a lot of interest in the local schools. The picture happens to be a sign out front of a school at the end of my first week back in Utah, but it is similar here in Kansas.

I had someone at church yesterday say, “I bet that you are in the best shape of your life.” I was at a loss for a response. Being in the best condition of my life was not really an objective for me for this walk. I would say that I feel like I am in fairly good shape. I was in fairly good shape getting ready for this walk. See my Exercise post for more details. I have lost maybe 5 or so pounds on the walk. It has been a while since I have had a scales to check my weight. Being in top physical condition requires plenty of sleep which I am not getting. Go sleep a night in your local park and see how restful that is! Good nutrition is also critical to be in top shape. I am trying my best to get some nutrition down me, but that is also a challenge. I feel very blessed that I have not been sick on this walk. But, overall, I guess I am in fairly good shape. Come walk 20 miles with me one day and see if I am doing okay.

The photo is the park in Norcatur, Kansas where I camped one night last week. I put my sleeping pad and sleeping bag out on the table and slept there for the night.

I met a family at church today, the mother, Brittany, said that she heard about the Lost Boys from Sudan about the time she graduated from high school. Their story, being separated by civil war from their families, inspired her to want to be a foster mother some day. Brittany is a foster mother and was very interested in the work of Southern Sudan Humanitarian helping the orphans and other children in the villages of South Sudan. Please Sponsor Claron to help those children.

You can hear about our elementary education and orphan care in the villages of South Sudan by clicking here. I was interviewed on the blogtalkradio.com channel Liahona TiMES Compass.

The bishop for the Phillipsburg, Kansas Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints introduced me to Vince and Vince invited me to stay with him for the weekend. Vince put me on blogtalkradio.com. Vince (on the left) and his friend Mark are in the photo. It was a blessing to have a secure place to stay for three nights. My feet and legs were sore and tired by Friday. I appreciate the kindnesses.