Saturday, Feb. 18…Against the Wind (Bob Seger)

   Didn’t set the world on fire with our energy this morning but we were up earlier than yesterday. The room wasn’t extravagant but we generally don’t go for that.  I’m more concerned with how much it cost to sleep for 8 hours.  Anyway, the bed was comfy and that’s what mattered…fell asleep fast and slept hard.  And I don’t care what Folger’s would like me to believe…the best part of waking up today was taking a deliciously hot shower.

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   There are only a few logical ways to drive from Charlevoix to Picacho but I like to vary the route…see more of the country, find the road less travelled, etc.  Rapunzel gives us a couple of main options…one of them through St. Louis and one of them avoiding St. Louis. There are several factors I take into account but I usually go for the avoiding route.  And it’s not just St. Louis I try to avoid, it’s toll roads also.   

   Rapunzel and I have been at odds for the past two days…I would set the route and she would revert back to her desired route when I wasn’t paying attention. I am not exaggerating on this.  It’s frustrating that the GPS can’t accept that I know the route I want to take.  And, of course, we got to a point where she wasn't trying to direct us through St. Louis anymore because that wouldn’t make sense but she tried her best to get us to drop down to I-44 which would take us across Missouri then into and across Oklahoma but I overrode her attempts.  Tolls, Rapunzel, the road’s got a crazy number of tolls!

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   Today’s weather adjective would be ‘windy’.  Oh, goodness, was it windy!!  The way the truck and camper were wiggling around it almost felt like we were on ice. Once when we were turning a corner the wind caught the camper and Kim was sure that it was only on two wheels at that point.  Yikes!!

   This I know: Don’t waste your time and money stylin’ your hair when in Kansas!  

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   I’ve passed my share of vehicles with little kids in the back seat, their faces pressed up against the car window, looking out as the world passes by.  I felt a connection to them today as we rolled through hundreds of acres of farm fields while driving, driving, driving. I gazed out the side window looking at the fields for patterns and wildlife.  Sometimes it seems as if the patterns made by a plow or a planted crop magically move as we speed past. That intrigues me.

   Today’s sightings: a field that had an optical illusion feel to it…an eagle just standing in an empty field…numerous hawks either flying or sitting on fence posts…and there was one who seemed stalled in mid-air when trying to fly against the wind.  

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   Cotton in Kansas?  Today we saw an unharvested cotton field along Hwy 50.  Since it’s still winter and the temperature reached a high of only 52^o  today (which seemed good to us but I’m thinking cotton needs a little more warmth), it seems too early for cotton so would that be last year’s crop that was forgotten?  Did a little research on Google and yes, indeed, cotton is becoming more of a viable crop for Kansas due to a couple of factors: a hotter, drier climate and dwindling water supplies plus a younger generation of farmers which see a need to diversify in order to stay in the business of farming.  Corn producers currently have no need to feel threatened by the uptake in cotton production but the winds of change are blowing through the Kansas farm fields.  Oh, and cotton in Kansas is generally harvested in September to October.

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   To alleviate the tedium of fighting the wind while driving, Kim asked me to find some info on Google about the salt beds underneath Michigan and read it aloud to him.  The first article was from michigan.gov and the first five words under Geology made me do a double take. The words were “The southern peninsula of Michigan…”. I checked to make sure I had clicked on the correct site and then had to think it out because I’m a Michigander from birth onward and have never heard the Lower Peninsula called the southern peninsula.  Never!  I mean, it makes sense but I’ve not heard it called that.  And has anyone ever referred to the U.P. as the northern peninsula?  Makes me wonder if a Michigander or a transplant wrote that report.  In addition to the new name for The Mitten, I also learned that there are salt beds scattered about the Lower Peninsula and that the Detroit Salt Company (under ownership of the Kissner Group) provides North America with a full line of ice melter products ranging from bulk rock salt to bagged rock salt and premium blended formulations. Way to go, Detroit!!

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Roadside America stops today:

   *A silo painted as a Classic Coke can in Emporia, KS.  It was an easy find but the paint job is looking a little tired.  Roadside America has this to say:  The "Classic" brand labeling was hastily created after the new Coke formula marketing disaster of 1985. The labeling distinction was finally retired in 2009, so this silo may become a historic landmark of sorts.

  *Large salt block in Hutchison, KS…the 1,260 lb. salt block is in a display case.  I didn’t take a picture of the salt block because the case reflected all that was surrounding it.  The following is an excerpt from an article from the website kansastravel.org:  The community of South Hutchinson was founded by Ben Blanchard's Inter-State Investment Company in 1886. In 1887, Blanchard hired a firm to drill for oil beneath the town. When no oil was found, he dumped some oil into the well to try to convince investors that they had struck oil.

   Although this scheme failed, Blanchard's well had passed through a salt vein. He was uninterested in the salt, but the first Reno County salt processing plant was established in 1888. By 1910, 26 different salt companies were formed. Today only 3 salt companies remain, but salt mining is still an important Hutchinson industry.

  His attempts to dupe investors made me chuckle.

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   We’re tucked into a hotel in Liberal, KS. We managed to put almost 500 miles behind us today despite the wind.  Just a little over 800 miles to go!  Hoping the wind isn’t such a factor tomorrow.  

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