Eye on the Sky

I could probably have also named this blog entry "Doubleday" because that is what it turned out to be. When I got to Herington, KS, my planned overnight there, the Herington Inn & Suites and the only motel in town, had no vacancy. What? The woman behind the front desk explained that it was graduation. I'm not kidding. Herington is smaller than Perkins! Nothing else to do but ride on. So, I rode to Junction City, KS, 18 miles farther north, making my day's total mileage 79 miles. I would absolutely not have been able to cycle 79 miles yesterday. Today, however, I had a SE tailwind for most of the miles!

Junction City is only 11 miles from Milford SP campground where I had planned to stay tomorrow night, but I wasn't up to 90 miles; wasn't really up to 79 miles, even with a tailwind, particularly as I am now entering the Flint Hills, and believe me, they are daunting to this out-of-shape woman with no training behind her.

Left the Stardust at 7:30 a.m. and got here about 3:00, I think . . . I actually cannot remember when I got in. I am in a two-story Motel 6, surprisingly a far cry from last night's Stardust as it is nearly brand new. Across the way is an A&W root beer place.

Just after I got in, Lucy called to wish me a Happy Mother's Day, and after we talked, I made a beeline for the A&W. A guy dressed in business attire but wearing a long silky purple robe, wished me and every other female in the place Happy Mother's Day. Yesterday Valerie Bloodgood sent me a beautiful butterfly Mother's Day e-card; earlier today while I was on the road, Jessica called; and I talked to Jeff just a few minutes ago so all have wished me Happy Mother's Day. I actually do not think of myself but think of my own mother on this day.

I stopped in Burns, KS, thinking "goodie, goodie" when I saw the sign for bakery/café. Burns is about the size of Glencoe, maybe a little smaller, and everything in the town was closed on this Mother's Day Sunday. I stopped again about 20 miles into the ride at a little roadside café in the middle of nowhere. Three hand-lettered signs on the door said that they did not accept plastic or checks. I had just $7 in cash accessible (I carry most of my money in BOB and was not about to unload him). I studied the menu for a few moments and then decided on the $3.50 biscuits and gravy. Not one of my favorites, but I thought a little carbo loading would help my energy level and it fit my budget. Then I enjoyed sitting among the locals and listening to them talk about farming, skeet shooting, hunting, hunting dowgs, and farwood. Farwood was the topic at two different tables--probably since it is a scarce commodity out here in this farmland with its enormous fields.

A storm was blowing west to east all morning. In the CS yesterday the owner told me to "keep an eye on the sky," so that is what I did today. I could see a front forming to the west and was watching some dark peculiar clouds to the east. A few miles after the café, it began to rain. I pulled on my O2 raincoat, dug out the shower caps (one to keep my saddle dry when I am not on it and one to pull over my helmet in mild rain). Put the camera, phone, and my wallet in plastic bags, and then continued on. This, the first of three times I was caught in the rain today, was short-lived. Of course then I had to pull off the jacket as it makes me too hot. The second rain was pretty heavy but the third was short lived again. Rain I can take, but I keep an eye out for storms in this area.

Where I would go if there was a bad storm or a tornado is anybody's guess. Most of the farmhouses out here do not sit on the road. They are way back in the fields and too far away to get to quickly. I guess my best bet would be a ditch or culvert.

I'm too lazy to insert all the pix in the text, so have inserted them with captions below.

Tune in tomorrow.



The road, devoid of traffic early in the morning.



A nice invitation but one I would like to turn down

The front just beginning to form; my camera didn't capture it well

Hwy 77 . . . endless Hwy 77

This old barn and grain silo was near the turnoff to Burns, KS. From a distance it looked like a Norwegian stave church.





Add a cafe and this constitutes all of the business in Burns, the bottom three all in a single business

This "Hair Shop" sat right next to the closed Burn's bakery/café

Took this to show how rocky this area is and also to show how shallow the topsoil, though a field of wheat was growing just beyond and above it

Clever pipe spider at a pipe supplier



Entering the Flint Hills