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Frank has made good progress since last week and is already about 100 miles into Kansas, about 70 miles North of Wichita at a small place called Cottonwood Falls.

This is one of the largest states he will cross at about 450 miles wide so may take a few weeks to cross. He is about to turn South to take his detour to the namesake of his home city in England , Norwich. It will take over a week to reach this destination. The weather has again turned warm, it touched 90F a few days ago and as it gets warmer his pack seems to get heavier. Whilst his feet are now fine his back is the only part of his body which is complaining. He keeps checking through all the items he is carrying to see if he can reduce his load, but since sending his heavier camera home a while ago he decides he still needs everything. The terrain has turned a bit hillier making it even harder work in the heat but in a short while he expects to reach the Great Plains, where it will be completely flat for hundreds of miles, with a landscape closer to his native Norfolk (England). By this time the predominant agriculture will be grain, but the area he is in at the moment is dominated by cattle with grain elevators in every town. Although a lot of people associate Wichita with a romantic song from the 60's by Glen Campbell about a communications repairman, it is now quite a significant city with over 300,000 inhabitants. Frank plans to avoid going through the centre as he now feels much more confortable in the rural environment where he is spending most of his time as he progresses with his walk. In this part of the US most towns he passes through average only around 650 people, with a large one having 3000 inhabitants! In relation to these Wichita seems enormous. A few days ago Frank had a day off on a thundery afternoon in a town called "Council Grove" which is on the Santa Fe trail. He looked at old wagons and a fording place, before continuing his walk the next day.

We will catch up with Frank next week and advise any further news bulletins received in the meantime.