Sunday, September 13
This is the first time on this trip that
there has been other campers in the tent area.
The couple next to us was sitting by their fire when we rolled in….and
made conversation as we were setting up.
And the guy was a dead ringer for Wallace Shawn….a.k.a. Vizzini!! I expected him to caution me about getting
into a land war in Asia and then to laugh like a maniac before dropping over
sideways, but all he did was make small talk.
Pity….. J
I usually wear my camera on a harness when
we take these big trips. I know I look like a touristy biker but I’ve found
it’s much faster and easier to get the picture if the camera is in front of me
instead of having to dig through the saddlebag for it. And that’s more important to me that
projecting a bad ass biker look….that’s Kim’s job. J
Last
night, we were checked in by a very polite older gentleman in the KOA
office….as soon as he saw my camera, he asked, “Now you don’t use that while
you’re riding, do you?” I assured him
that no, I do not…I didn’t tell him that I’ve thought about it, though. Good sense prevails on that one….
Day started kind of dreary…in fact, we woke
to the sound of a light rain. It wasn’t
really chilly but not as warm as it’s been either. But as we took our time taking down camp, the
sun came out and felt soooo good. And
there was a slight breeze to help dry out the tent. All the same, I had a long sleeve shirt and
my fleece on….by the time we left (about noon), I was down to my normal riding
attire: Short sleeve shirt with sleeves
tucked up and under my bra straps. Phone
indicated it was 90o in Hinton, OK, at about 3 p.m. It was a warm one….
We had the fun of meeting Gwen Jacobsen
today. She used to play World of
Warcraft with Kim; today was the first time they met. She
lives near the campground we stayed at last night…came out to meet us this
morning. So, so glad she made the trip
over to the campground…visited with her for over an hour…took pictures…shared
some laughs…got hugs…then we went our separate ways. And even though we may never see her in person again, there’s always Facebook.J
I realized that we were in the vicinity of
Route 66….thought we should try to find it and ride it for a while. Looked at the map…didn’t seem too difficult
to find, so we decided to run blind…meaning no Phil, just the map inside our
heads. Okay, so we got off track on 240 around Oklahoma City….unknowingly headed
south via a westbound road, but we got that figured out with the help of an
actual map and set ourselves on a route that kept us off the highway and got us
to Route 66….Highway 37 was just the ticket.
It took us about 100 miles and a couple of hours, but we managed to
reach our goal and were riding on some great roads, so it was all good! Route 66 goes by different names sometimes and
even merges with US 40 for stretches. We found our access point and then rode it
for about 20 miles before heading back to the highway. There has been some upkeep…probably because people
live along it and it is an iconic slice of American road history…but it’s not a
smooth road. There were a lot of bumps
in the section that we were on…but I still feel that I can say I got my kicks
on Route 66!
Had just
passed the little town of Tuttle, got into an open area and the wind hit us
without warning. Hit from the
left…shifted the bike over a bit and it tried to rip my helmet off. Thought it was just a gust, but was I
wrong! Came upon miles and miles of wind
turbines, spinning rather fast, so the wind must be a fairly constant presence
around the area. At one point, I noticed
that Kim’s hair was blowing around. I
had braided his hair before we left and had to use a big ponytail band…the wind
was so strong it managed to blow it off Kim’s braid! And then his hair just unbraided. Loose hair on the bike is a no-no…wind knots
are not fun to brush out. At the first
opportunity, we stopped. This time I
made sure that braid was ver-ry secure.
Highway
37 is definitely a country road…it's in good condition, but there aren’t a
lot of homes along the way and towns aren’t real plentiful either. But we passed a couple of churches out in the
middle of nowhere…nice looking, well-kept medium sized churches. It takes money to get a church built, it
takes money to keep it going and it takes people to fill it. So, while the church is visible, the means of
support sure isn’t. Houses, and therefore
people,must be hidden in the hills and out of view from the road.
The wind was fierce, it was constant, and that
just wears a person down. All day we
fought the wind. It didn’t take a genius
to realize that putting a tent up in this wind was ludicrous, so when the sun
got to be too much for Kim’s eyes, we took an exit. Pulled into a parking lot to consider our
options and just that quick, we hear someone talking to us from behind. A grizzly looking guy with a prosthetic leg
is approaching, gesturing to my bike, saying, “I’m bringing my old lady out for
your old lady to show her how to hold one of those up.” When he smiled, I felt a little better about what
I’d just heard. Anyway, his ‘old lady’
and I talked a bit…about riding, about the little monkeys, about the wind, how
far the Texas state line is, etc….while Kim talked to the grizzly dude and
another man who came over. They
eventually recommended a nearby new hotel…we said our good-byes and went in
search of the hotel. When we got there,
I asked Kim what they talked about. He
confessed that he really didn’t understand much of the conversation, possibly
owing to the accents, the lack of teeth and the amount of alcohol consumed. Any one of those could make conversation a
challenge, add all three together and it’s pretty much one sided with a lot of smiling
and nodding.
When I
started riding, no one told me I would get dirty. A rider is exposed to whatever flies through the
air and it’s not just bugs…seeing dust in the distance makes me cringe. I know that my face and arms will feel gritty,
my fingernails will get dirty and if I try to sing a duet with whoever’s on the
iPod, I might get grit in my mouth, too.
Only recently did I realize that my ears can get dirty also. So all you bikers out there, wash your
ears….might be surprised how much dirt comes off on the washcloth. J
Observations from the road:
*Emergency flashers work good for
getting Kim’s attention when I want to stop…blowing the horn does not.
Today’s mileage: 136 miles Total mileage:
1836 miles
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