Sunday, July 20, 2003 traveling the backroads of Cowley and Chautauqua counties. The forecast had called for cloudless skies and temperatures approaching 105 defrees F. We got lucky, with overcast skies and temperatures ten to fifteen degrees cooler than predicted. Nine riders made the rendezvous at Laurie's Kitchen (highly recommended) in Mulvane, KS. Coming up from Edmond, OK was Janice Miller, riding her Suzuki DR200, and her husband Gary riding his Suzuki DRZ400. Dennis Murray rode his KLR650 in from Conway Springs, and Jeff Jelinek rode his Triumph Tiger in from Danville. Dave Dixon had the shortest distance to cover to get to the rendezvous, riding his KLR650 in from neighboring Derby, KS. The Wichita group included; Cory Wilson - DRZ400, Tom Hamby - KTM 640 LC4, Brady Allensworth - KLR650, and Roger Baugh - KLR650. Of interest to other KLR riders, Brady was riding his KLR650-A1, and a very healthy first year model at that! Following breakfast, we proceeded to Wilmot, KS as our entry point into the Flint Hills of Cowley county. The lack of rain this month became immediately apparent, with riders quickly enveloped in thick dust plumes. In Cedar Vale, we entered into the riparian forest region of the Caney River valley and Chautauqua Hills. The forest areas provided even cooler temperatures than the upland grasslands. We rolled through the small towns of Hewins, Elgin, and Chautauqua. Just east of Chautauqua, we were delighted to find one of the finest public parks/gardens we've seen, and also arrived to see a wood carver in his final stages of creating a new statue. We eventually turned north towards Peru, then swung west towards Sedan ... and lunch. Following a great lunch in Sedan, we crossed the Flint Hills to arrive in Cambridge, KS ... and exploration of three stone arched bridges along the Grouse Creek. The group covered over 250 miles of prime riding across vast rolling prairie and dense forest land. Only in Kansas! Click on a thumbnail to view a larger image. Use your browser's "back" button, or the "left" arrow in the navigation bar to return to this page.

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