2021-08-03 Dalhart TX to Lawrence KS - 494 miles

 

A perfect weather day, no rain, a little hazy (fires?). This morning started at sunrise and the temperature was upped 60's so I put the shell over the mesh jacket. A couple hours in it got to upper 70's so off with the shell. Temps maxed out about 85, so all in all a nice day. I took 54 until it ran out, which is a classic 2 or 4 lane road with not much traffic and lots of little town. I was hoping to get some miles in and did pretty well at 494. Really not tired so the bike is working out with my old "Sit-N-Fly" seat cover, an odd little piece of engineering that consists of coils of plastic so there is always air under your butt. No monkey-butt for this fella!

The transition is gradual but eventual things go from flat to rolling, from treeless to tree-full (word?), from brown or irrigated to no irrigation or very little. The Texas panhandle is where all the hamburger comes from with lots of stinky feed lots (I grew up with the same stink so it's a bit nostalgic somehow).    Talked to my brother and he made it to Cranberry Township PA tonight and he heads down the Ohio River tomorrow. I'll head to Kentucky tomorrow and then maybe we meet up on Thursday.

I stopped in Emporia KS and found a room in Lawrence KS. When I arrived there was nobody at the front

desk, just a sign saying they were helping another customer, please be patient. After 10 minutes I lookked around the desk for a bell or something and spied a pair of legs on a couch in the back room. There was a number to call "if it was an emergency" and after the second call, the legs started moving and lo and behold, the front desk person woke up from his nap and sheepishly helped me check in. The room is clean and cheap, and no bugs so far.

And, there is a Mexican place next door that served beer and taco salads so living the dream!!

Odometer:2305-1811=494

Gas: 65.2, 54.90