Day 47: 49 miles, Jul 4

But butt hurts! Also, my body just claimed the rest it needed after the past two days, so I didn't get an early start today. No matter, however, since I only needed to get to Newton, KS, where a few maildrops awaited me the next day.

Turns out it was a great day, however. The first person I met was just about 10 miles east of Nickerson. What stopped me what this unusual house with a wind turbine above the roof. Also, it has large south-facing windows with just enough roof overhang for passive solar heating in the winter and shade in the summer.

As I looked and the house, owner Terry Galyon came out to greet me. Turns out, he's the designer and manufacturer of the wind turbine. He and I talked for a while about 12 volt systems, diodes, etc. -- my dad had exactly such a system on his sailboat -- and I asked him to pose for this picture. He's proud of the house, and rightly so; he only spent $40 on wood to provide additional heat last winter!

Both Terry and I can't figure out why more people don't build houses like this these days. According to him, humans have understood the power of passive solar heat since ancient Egyptian times!!!

Visit his website at http://www.tlgwindpower.com