Other than a question or two about navigation, we had no problems getting to Marquette, home of a pretty impressive motorcycle museum with a large wooden rocking-motorcycle out front. I took Deanna and Sonia's picture on it, but I was too programmed by traditional masculinity to have any interest in such silliness myself. I didn't go into the motorcycle museum because they had the wrong kind of bikes for me, but I did appreciate a flyer on the outside of it advertising that Marquette welcomed cyclists of my kind as well. Only after leaving did I realize I should have taken a picture or two for friends.
Salina was the next notable city we went through. Salina is relatively large for Kansas, and had some neat artwork and a great coffee shop / bookstore named Ad Astra. We spent a while there charging devices, getting iced drinks, and tearing through a bag of burgers from a place called Cozy Inn which deals exclusively in delicious sliders made with an abundance of onions. We found out about Ad Astra from someone driving down the street who shouted that we should go there because that's where weird-looking people go. I felt pretty good about being included in that category, instead of just watching weird-looking people from afar and wishing I had the consistent confidence to pull off something more interesting than default acceptability.
The tailwind and lack of navigation issues continued all the way to Bennington. The first person we spoke with, Vanessa, asked where we typically sleep, which is one of a long list of FAQs that I get on the road. I responded with "Don't know where we'll be tonight, but we generally camp wherever we won't bother anyone. Sometimes in the woods, sometimes in a nice person's yard." Vanessa, it turned out, was a nice person. She advised us to check out the local soda fountain and find her at the library when we were done.
The Bennington soda fountain is a real piece of living history. I would wager that the woman who runs it, as well as the college student who was staffing it, both know more than anyone I've met about the history of soda drinks. They're also happy to make them for you in authentic style, whether you want a chocolate soda, a grape phosphate, or a Green River float. Apparently, Green River is a near-extinct soda that used to be as ubiquitous as Dr. Pepper or Coca-Cola. Bennington is one of two locations in the US where you can still get real Green River syrup mixed with real acid phosphate, as opposed to imitation Green River mixed with phosphoric acid, both of which are very important distinctions if you're into this kind of thing. The soda fountain was complete with vintage pinball games and soda-themed memorabilia, including a Dr. Pepper electric guitar.
Vanessa found us before we found her. Turns out that she not only runs the library, but is responsible for its existence in the first place. She bought an old church for $1 after explaining that she intended to continue the building's legacy as a house of learning, and has been working hard to do just that. To support the place, she sells old books out of the basement, organizes talks and classes, and has a flock of pink lawn flamingos out front that, for a small donation, will migrate to a lawn of your choice as a prank. Best of all, she's totally on-board with my belief that makerspaces represent the future of libraries, and has created a little arts-and-crafts space in the basement as a start in that direction.
Vanessa's son has wanted for ages to take a long bike trip. Both he and his sister had personalities that I can only describe as very "from the internet", which I can totally relate to, so I enjoyed talking with them. They busted out an impromptu grape-and-cheese platter that was very welcome. Eventually, I went outside to engage in my nightly ritual of escaping into my bivy to get away from biting insects, escaping back out of the bivy to avoid roasting myself, and then putting on long sleeves and pants, spraying myself with too much bug repellent, and flopping on top of the bivy to sleep.
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