Day 32 – rest day in Wichita, and we’re glad we took it!

I got a massage last night and we all realized today how tired we had been. We all slept in, then Brad and Sue chilled and shopped for tomorrow’s lunch while Tammy and I set out for three destinations.

First, we found a wonderful Trek dealer, the bicycle X-Change Shop on the old Chisholm Trail (used for post-Civil War cattle drives from Texas) which tuned up our bikes, put new, even more durable, tires on Mark’s bike and put a new, cushier seat on Tammy’s bike.

Second, we found Tammy’s grandparent’s house, in which Tammy’s Mom had grown up. The current owner, who bought the house after grandma passed in 1966, was sitting on the front stoop. We asked him if we could walk up and say hello and Tammy explained why we were there. It seemed to make his day as much as ours. Gary will turn 90 this year and attributes his longevity to his twin habits of smoking two packs of cigarettes and drinking thirteen cups of black coffee each day. We think some friendships and genes might play a part, too, but didn’t argue. Tammy knew the house right away from the old open porch on the right that has since been winterized. We’re so glad we went.

Next stop was the Kansas Aviation Museum. Beech, Cessna, Boeing and others have, over the years, and still do, produce planes and/or parts in Wichita. Why Wichita? Because its lack of both fog and mountains make it an ideal place to test and fly aircraft. The museum is located in the old ICT (Wichita) airport control tower, from where we could see the 3 runways for the test flights conducted by Boeing and Spirit Aeronautical (world’s largest manufacturer of aircraft structures) which Boeing announced on July 1, 2024 that it will be acquiring to improve quality, supply chain, etc. hmmmmm