Oh what a day. We really took out time checking out this morning. Got on the road 1030ish. Needed the sleep. Headed south out of town into Kansas and fueled up in Oberlin. We found a ‘scenic byway’ on the map about 30 miles south that headed east for a ways. Seeing as how scenic this part of the country is, we headed down there.

I don’t get it. At about mile 12, there was a dip in the road. Mile 15, an% abandoned farm truck. Mile 30, a small grove of trees. I believe the KS Dept of Tourism needs to drive these scenic routes themselves before publishing. Just a thought. At any rate we stuck with it because it headed east and the only north or south roads off it except gravel. Very very hot. Supposed to be over a hundred. And the wind again. At least 30-40mph coming from the south.
Passed though a few small towns. New Almelp, Lenora, Edmond. Not much there. Stopped at a small town park in Logan because there was a tree there for shade and we needed to hydrate. Good thing we had water. The pump there was dry.

After 70-80 miles we found a paved road north and headed to the main two lane road. Fueled up and stopped for lunch. Jonathan got a cup of chili and a salad. Asked him how the chili was and he answered straight out of a can. Alex got a Texas burger or something with chili over it. That was the second half of the can. It was 2p and we were attempting to get to St. Joseph, MO, to spend the night and we had about 275 miles to go so we scooted.

I gotta tell you. This was a brutal ride. I usually wear my armored jacket no matter what. I figure if I go down, I won’t become tar paper. I also wear a full helmet. Same reason. It has vents you can open and you can crack the faceshield to let more air in if needed. It was so windy I couldn’t crack the faceshield open because the wind was buffeting it too much. The jacked has vents but it was way too hot. I needed to get some ventilation to dry off the perspiration.

We stopped at the geographical center of the United States. Truly in the middle of no where, We looked and left pretty quick.

I took the opportunity to take off the jacket and put on sunglasses instead of the face shield. We stopped for fuel about an hour later. I drank a liter and half of water. We motored on. Hotter and windier. Stopped in about an hour to drink water again. Another liter. Speed was 60-65. All over the road.

This is probably too much information, but the wind was blowing one of my nostrils shut with the wind coming straight from the right side (don’t try this at home kids unless your mom and dad are there with you!). Not kidding. It’s really annoying

Bugs. Let’s talk about bugs. There are a lot of them. I am not sure how many. In looking at the kill patterns on my pants legs, the bikes wind screen and my sunglasses, we probably didnt make a dent. Quick quiz. What is the last thing that goes through a bugs mind when it hits the wind shield? His butt. That was Alex’s favorite joke 25 years ago or so. I kept thinking about it as he was riding in front of me and you could hear and feel God’s little creatures having their last thoughts

We didn’t take too many pictures today but let me help you out. Close your eyes. There ya go.

I don’t want to trash Kansas. There are many things that they redeem themselves with. Roads. Very straight. They have that down. Lakes. I saw two. I think they were man made but they looked nice. Maybe it will catch on. Currency. They accepted U.S. currency everywhere we stopped. So if you are planning on visiting, no worries there.

I will say the farther east we go, there is more trees and green.   And to all my Kansas  friends, you know  I love it there.  Just not today.. 🙂

No way we would have made St Joe. 630 and well over a hundred miles to go. We motored into Seneca, KS (one of those towns in bold type on the map). All the mom and pop hotels were full up so we did my usual fall back. Stopped at Spanky’s bar downtown and did the google thing and found a nice place. More than I wanted to spend but truth be told, at that point, I would have spent more. Had a quick beer and dinner with my sons. Nice dinner. Nice place. Air conditioned.

Checked in. Took a shower. Now sitting out on their patio smoking a cigar, typing this. Thunder boomers rolling in tonight. Its a little after nine. Trains are rolling in the distance. A very pleasant evening. A good way to end the day.

I have no idea our route tomorrow. East. I would like to stop at Western Ill University campus. My old Alma Mater (yes it is legit). I haven’s been back since I graduated, over 35 years ago… We’ll see. Weather, time, routes etc. 14 days out tomorrow. Just under 4,000 miles. Probably a thousand more to go. Its all about the journey

Did I mention the heat and wind today?

Life is good.