Wandering with Tedder and Tamara

On to the ride. As expected, it was cold out of Kearney. It wasn't as cold as I'd expected though- one of the advantages of being at 'only' 5000 feet instead of 8000. Still, I used all nine of my handwarmers, placed over my arms, body, and feet. They didn't do a lot, but better than nothing. The large patches on my chest really helped, I think.

The ride is pretty simple and plain leaving Kearney. The interstate just goes east. There isn't a lot that is spectacular, though I do like the sloping plain, and it helped that the sun just rising as I got started. It didn't help that I rode directly into it all morning, though.

There was a tiny patch of Iowa, then into Missouri. I needed gas, but skipped an exit because I didn't think there was any. (turns out it was out of sight from the highway). I rode another 20 miles, then spent the next 40 miles scared I was going to run out. I took an exit because I knew there was a tiny town at it (exits are all 4-10 miles apart). The little town was two houses.

Back onto the freeway and down to the next town, which claimed to have a Sinclair station, according to the freeway information signs. It said it was 3/4 mile off the road. I went about a mile and found an old set of above-ground fuel tanks and old-style pumps, but they were inoperable. The guys in the fueling shack looked at me weird. I think maybe it was for the company only.

They pointed me across the street and down maybe 200 yards to the Sinclair station. I couldn't believed I missed it until I pulled onto the street. There were enough trees that it was invisible unless I'd gone further.

So, all that for nothing. Based on the fillup, I think I might have had at least 35 miles left in the tank.

From there, on to Kansas City. I went to Ian's house, he came out and inspected his new bike. After sufficient time, he took it out on the road to make sure it was what he was expecting. Of course, it was. He came back a happy camper. We shot the bull a little, then got a highway tour of Kansas City while picking up his wife, Jasmine.

It was interesting to hear about how the various automotive factories put their finished cars on the railroad lines for distribution, but they'll use terminals some distance from the factory as the start point. So, GM might haul their vehicles 200 miles to the east before putting them on rail. Conversely, Ford, who is 200 miles to the east of GM, might send their vehicles 200 miles to the south. And if Chrysler is south, they might use their local terminal (combined with the Ford shipments).

Dinner was an authentic barbecue place in the area. A pretty good contingent of ADV scum showed up- maybe around 15 people? Besides slow and confused service, the food was good. I've never tried deep-fried corn before. It's really sweet. Interesting.

No big plan for tomorrow, just at the airport by 1pm or so.

Wednesday, 9/12:

I convinced Ian to take me to a Waffle House for breakfast. I've never been to one before. I knew it wouldn't be wonderful, but it was worth trying, right? They are set up for fast service, and the food isn't terrible. I'd put it a half-notch below McDiners like Denny's, but it isn't priced much lower, either.

The rest of the morning was spent typing this blog, getting photos in, and updating the GPS data.