I checked the weather channel and it's web site before leaving St. Louis this morning. I had hoped to go to Dodge City Kansas today but it and Denver were under a severe weather watch. I guess this crappy weather explains why every state I have traveled through has been so green. Even South Dakota and Kansas were green.
I set my sights on getting to Colorado to see my buddy Bill Burnett who lives in Colorado Springs and works in the X-ray department at the Air Force Academy. He and I were buddies when I worked in Manteca. He was a reserve. We got divorced at the same time and rented a house together. After I moved back to Oregon he married the love of his life, Rosie and they eventually moved to Colorado. They are camping this week so I got no answer when I called their cell phone. Probably no service up in the mountains.
Anyway I rode from St. Louis to Limon Colorado, a trek of 730 miles. I like riding so much that I enjoy the time I spend looking at things and cleaning out my mind.
I have discovered that everyplace I have gone I have encountered nothing but nice people. I figured that along the way there would be some unpleasant people but so far, not a one.
Of course a lot of my contacts are my stop every two hours for gas. All I have to say is , "Sure is" and thanks because everyone says the same thing. "Pretty hot to be riding one of those things today". And "that'll be $3.15 for two bottles of water". Maybe tomorrow I'll mix it up a little and instead of saying, "Sure is" I'll say, "Beats the hell out of hopping around on a pogo stick" or something like that.
Another one of my mindless thoughts today was that I didn't know what the word crotch was until I was in high school..I always though it was crouch. It wasn't until I learned the real word that i realized why my little league coach liked me to tell about the time I got hit in the couch when I was playing catcher. He had me tell all of his buddies the story. I believed they thought the story was funny and didn't know they were laughing because I was an idiot. OK. Why did I think of this out in the middle of Kansas.. It was when some guys on crouch rockets went blasting by the opposite direction of the freeway.
Anyway the last 45 minutes of my ride was my windshield was so splattered with bugs I had to stop and wash it off. There was a line at the gas station..cars, trucks; everyone was washing off bugs.
I checked into a hotel, did my laundry (bug splattered pants today and a gasoline spill on my other pair yesterday) and I'm ready for bed.
It was over 100 degree's most of my ride today. I put a bottle of water in my leather pouch on my windshield so I can take a swig while I'm riding.
If I don't see Bill tomorrow, I'm heading for Utah to the cemetery where my dad and his sisters are resting.
I took a picture of miles and miles of Kansas and the only cloud over I-70 today. The rest were south and west.
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