Monday July 13
Woke at 7am, beacause wanted to get to UPS early to ship my broken sena Bluetooth, as listening to earphones in the helmet was not so comfortable. It fits fine, but turning my head would usually pull it out and i would have to stop, remove the helmet, readjust and continue until I had to do it again. I grabbed breakfast and waited for a nearby Cycle Gear to open, so I could get a motocross jersey, as riding in my jacket was way too hot in the Oklahoma sun.
Ran late, but finally got going at 11am from Tulsa. Headed for Colorado but only made it part of the way through the state. I was exhausted and was in a small town with 3 motels and a pizza hut. It was getting dark and they were closing in an hour. No rooms available. It was 9pm and 95° still, so there was no way I wanted to bake in a tent, besides even finding somewhere go camp. I decided I would eat first, and drive 45 minutes away into the nearest town, in Kansas! Not part of the intended route. Fortunately it wasn’t completely out of the way. It was now 10pm, dark, and remote, and still hot, so I took off into the darkness. A special treat awaited me in the desert, lighting: exactly where I was headed. Add to that driving with the necessary high beams and the endless swarms of every size flying insect imaginable coming at me like stars at warp speed. I had a good distance to cover, so I cruised at 75 mph, ignoring any possible wildlife road encounters, because the thought of getting caught in an Oklahoma storm at night with no shelter was about the worst thing I could think of, thank you Weather Channel! Getting pelted by exploding carcasses became the norm, and I kept thinking what will the motel clerk would see as I walk into the lobby. It was bad. My helmet was coated in goo, but the windshield got the worst of it. The bike looked like it had been dragged out of a swamp, kinda cool that something so shiny and new, could transform from a night desert drive.
It started raining minutes after I got to the motel in Liberal, Kansas.
Days travel = 397.2 miles
