Yesterday I did 131 miles; I did extra so I could visit Strataca, formerly the Kansas Underground Salt Mine.  Forget cycling, the highlight of the trip so far has got to be finding the final resting place of the original footage of "Dracula: Dead and Loving It".  Don't believe me?  Here it is: 

It's in the town of Hutchinson, KS, about 650 feet underground.  It's still a real working salt mine, and they take you down the old mining shaft in their elevator, which is very dark.  I enjoyed it very much. 

The reason for the film footage is that they also operate Underground Vaults & Storage, which is a company that stores extremely valuable items.  If you think about it, nowhere is safer than an underground salt mine.  In fact the federal government uses salt mines (not this one) to store nuclear waste.   

I also went to Harley's Bicycles in Hutchinson, which was an amazing bike shop.  Run by a friendly faced guy named Bob, they were "can do" people.  What my Dad told me long ago is true: there are can't do people and can do people.  The bike shop in Newton is famous, and I'm not trying to dump on them because I know they do a lot of great work for the TransAmerica.  But they were not can do people.  Harvey's has been there for 96 years and I can see why.  They let me tape up my handlebar, put a washer on my GoPro, sold me gloves, showed me GPS units, and all for about $25.  Can do people. 

I leave you with an Ode to Salt.