Yesterday, I checked in to the Marriott Fairfield Inn. Nice and clean. When I checked in, I asked the girl if the bedbug problem had gotten to their hotel yet. She was adamant that it hadn't. To be on the safe side, though, I have Ruppert and/or Reilly standing by to check the internet (bedbugregistry.com) to look up hotels for me. The first thing I did when I got to the room was strip the bed and check the mattress. Just to be on the safe side.
But, before I got to the hotel, and after I came off the toll road, I went to get something to eat. There's a place in Topeka, over by Washburn University, called Tortilla Jack's (1618 Washburn).
It's a hole in the wall but they have fast food that will knock your socks off. It's been a staple for years - university kids have been going there for decades as well as other people in the community who know about it. Tostadas and Sanchos are at the top of my list, but there isn't anything wrong with any menu item.
Back to the hotel. I put newspaper inside my boots, hoping to dry them out (ski boot trick) and I had wet clothes hanging all over the room. When I awakened this morning, most of it was still wet. I knew the air would dry out the pant legs and the boots eventually. I felt like I was going to develop a cold - nose was running and I had a gravelly throat. I looked around for a Walgreen's, got some DayQuil and Zicam, and quickly slammed them both. Also bought some NyQuil for tonight. Hopefully, that combo will knock it out. I rode back to Tortilla Jacks for a picture and then went over to see Dean. Dean is a Renaissance man. LT with the PD, has a law practice, teaches at Washburn for the Master's program in Criminal Justice and has two year old twins. He told me he hasn't slept in years.... Great to see him and afterwards, I got on the road. It was about 11.
I took I-70 until I got through Kansas City and then dropped down to US 50. I took a two lane farm road to get there. I was thinking how nice it was - green, lush, grass smell, quaint houses with porches, family owned farms. Really nice. It was what the rest of the afternoon would be like. Missouri is heartland territory. Big trees as far as you can see. Gentle rolling hills. Cows grazing in the fields. Peaceful and relaxing. I pulled in to Tipton (I knew it was going to be a keeper because the town water tower was painted to look like an 8-ball. You could see it in the distance.) and spotted an Amish bakery. Went in and looked around. The women were running the place - inventory, making food, ringing the cash register. There was one Amish guy on a cell phone - I think he was the guy keeping it all together. Or thought he was. The women had it going on. I told one of them I was looking for something to snack on and she offered to make me a sandwich. I told her that I didn't want that much, so she made me half a sandwich that turned out perfectly. Fresh bread they baked in house, home grown tomatoes, cheese they made themselves, and German bologna that came from another Amish company. Pickles and lettuce are anyone's guess. Man, it was good. I stood around outside and talked to a few people while I ate my sandwich. Two little kids were drawn to the bike. Four year old: "My brother likes motorcycles." Me: "What about you?" Four year old: "No. My brother does though." Me to the three year old brother: "Is that right?" Three year old: "Uh huh." Me: "They're fun, aren't they?" Three year old: "Uh huh." Me (as Bronson): "Well, you hang in there."
More riding through MO on US 50. I got to the capital (Jefferson City) and there was a fire. Three police cars went roaring by along with a few fire vehicles. I looked around and think a car was fully engulfed - smoke was billowing into the sky.
When I was about an hour away from St. Louis, the traffic picked up. 50 got a little crowded. Fifteen minutes later, US 50 merged with I-44 and it was madness. I was still 42 miles from St. Louis and it was bumper to bumper, three lanes in each direction, all hauling ass. I came in from the south and the Arch was visible a long way away. As I got closer, I-70, I-64 and I-55 all merged for a while and that was pandemonium. The roads were torn up, too. (Where aren't they torn up - especially on the interstate around big cities? KC was chewed up, too. The good thing about America, though, is road crews are working on the roads, making them smooth again.) I took I-64 for a short distance and jumped back off on US 50. More farmland and two lane roads. In the first small town, an old woman turned in front of me. It was only because I was slowing down that I didn't end up flying over her car. She waited for the line of cars in front of me and then just went for it. Nothing behind me. I was wondering if she wasn't going to let me live as long as she's lived. Which may have been many, many decades - enough to turn the keys over to someone else. I honked at her and she looked at me with a dazed expression. I don't think she even realized what happened.
The sun went down after that and I rode to Salem, IL in the dark. I'm at a hotel tonight. Tomorrow, I'll make it to my relatives' in IN.
Couple of notes. I should have bought rain gear. I thought about it yesterday. The leathers held up but rain seeped in. Wouldn't happen with rain gear. I found out I left my other pair of sunglasses at Scot and Sylvia's. Now I'll be anal about the pair I have since there's no backup until Scot mails them out. Highway pegs would be worth any amount of money. There are only so many positions to slide my feet on the footboards. Highway pegs would let me stretch out like in business class. Oooohhhh, yeah. Also had trial and error for the IPod earbuds. I have a pair of Panasonic ear pieces that are great. Unfortunately, with the wind, highway noise, and the motorcycle, I couldn't hear the music. They're great without that kind of noise, though. I had a bandana on yesterday that covered half of my face from under the sunglasses down while I was in the rain and put it on today again. Instead of just running it over my nose and tying it in the back, I covered half my face, including my ears, and then tied it off. That kept the ear buds in place - and the music loud enough to hear. Genius.
More tomorrow. Thanks for reading and for posting. This is great - what little I'm writing doesn't come close to even an adequate job of what I'm seeing.
1 comment:
I get the hwy peg thing. I've somehow jacked my right foot recently - I think because of a single riding position (human bodies are so fussy about ergonomics). And I don't even have floorboards to move around on.
Went out to the coast today for a few hours and it was cold and windy - thought about your day in the weather. I suppose it's character building (or skill building) to get blown around and have to react. Definitely was thinking about proper attire (at home in my frickin' closet!), and highway pegs today.
Btw, the four yo across the street keeps asking about my bike too. While I was fixing his chain yesterday, I told him about hot pipes, and to avoid the m/c when I first pull up. He's funny and super inquisitive. He sees bicycles in terms of wheel size (his big 6 yo sister translates for me).
Post a Comment