We crossed into Kansas today, our 6th state and 3rd in three days. This has to be the only cross-country route where you spend one and only one day in both Texas and Oklahoma.
Our one day in Oklahoma was a delight. Members of the Chamber of Commerce of Guymon came to the hotel and shook our hands as we went to dinner last night. Combine that with yesterday's treats at the hotel, and the quality of the roads we traveled, and it was quite a nice day.
Today's ride was essentially a rest day. I slept in until 7:30. We rolled out at 9:00. By 11:30 the day's work was over. This is part of 9 consecutive days of riding, so an easy day was most welcome. Close to the end of the ride we crossed our 5th border.
Liberal, KS. claims to be the official home of the Land Of OZ, located a convenient 2 blocks from our hotel. We went on a tour of Dorothy's house and the Land of OZ, narrated by Dorothy herself. This poor girl was just mortified to be doing this. It was classic cheese-ball stuff. The whole thing was just so over-the-top corny that we had to fight laughing the whole way through. For $5 it was not to be missed. This picture explains it all.
There is a windmill on the site with no blades. There used to be a farmhouse. In what must be the definition of irony, the windmill was damaged and the farmhouse destroyed by a real tornado a few years ago. The Land of Oz damaged by a tornado. I couldn't make this stuff up.On another subject, I have to relay the story of snake-bitten Frank. This poor guy has just been followed by a black cloud since we left L.A. In 2 1/2 weeks here's his litany of problems.
He had 5 flat tires in the first 4 days.
He walked across a cattle guard, his foot fell in and he twisted his knee. He couldn't ride at all for several days.
His rear derailleur busted at mile 48 of 108 on the road into Tucumcari. Jeff, one of our crack mechanics, converted his rear cassette into a single speed. Frank rode the remaining 60 miles that way, including "the Wall" that I talked about a couple of days ago. With his bum knee.
In the process of finishing that ride he rubbed himself so raw that he was unable to ride the next day.
Finally, he had to have an emergency root canal done. The pain medicine didn't work properly and he's gotten 2 hours of sleep over the last two days.
In spite of all this, he was back out riding today. I would have dissolved into a whiny, blubbery mess. He never complains. His one comment is that he's sure his Karma is turning. We all hope so. He's much too nice a guy to have this streak continue. Keep rollin' Frank!
One final note: I changed the settings on the blog yesterday. You should no longer need a Google account in order to post. I opened up comments to everyone, not just users with Google accounts.
One final, final Note: May 31st is an important day in my family. I'd like to send out Happy Birthday wishes to my Dad, my daughter Jennifer, and my cousins Larry and David. Enjoy!
Today's Google Earth file: http://tomerceg.googlepages.com/liberalks.kmz
2 comments:
The Orr's are headed your way. They crossed into Kansas on Hwy. 50 today. Charlie says, if he can find you, he will buy you dinner. Not a bad deal.
That would be great! We're in Dodge City tomorrow.
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