Yes. That was the route, most it along Route 66, at least from Oklahoma City to Amarillo!
Just completed a 638 Mile drive, total drive since Sunday, 1125 miles.
Mission Accomplished. I made it about 50 miles North of the Amarillo to Dumas, getting off the road at 11pm, and into the room unpacked at Midnight.
Ready to Roll out the DrivewayLeaving Buddha’s house, I planned to rise early and beat the Heat. That did not work out. My smartphone alarm.. well… it did not make any noise in silent mode. Whoops. I use a real alarm clock at home, and try to refrain from using this buggy, radiation emitting, distracting, poorly designed gadget wherever possible.
After saying goodbyes to Buddha, Diana, Jetta, and Biscuit.. I hit the road around 9 or 9:30
The forecast was the same as the day before, extreme Heat. The forecast would remain in the Lake of Fire category until Friday when it’s predicted to tamp down the temp just a bit.
I can only hope.
The brunt of the heat was targeting the exact place I would be had I gone to Denver via Ft. Smith-Tulsa-Wichita-Salina through Kansas on I-70 to Denver. 104 degree heat. I chose to skip Kansas and make for as far as I could ride near or beyond Amarillo.
Little Rock, and Arkansas along I-40 from there to the Oklahoma border was very scenic. Gorgeous weather, great roads, light traffic. A Bluebird day!
Around noon, near Lake Euphala OK, the temperature began spiking. Finally I found a great place to stop and eat, about 10 miles East of Shawnee. Robinson’s is renowned for Ham Sandwiches. They also make good beef jerky too. I stocked up for the trip.
I met a really cool man, Dallas Morris
Dallas used to take coast to coast long distance motorcycle rides with his wife on a 1977 BMW Slash 7 . He only stopped when his hips would have no more of that tomfoolery. Riding a bike at his age! Really!
He was on his wa to a guitar festival not far away. I wanted to come along but it would cost me in terms of major backtracking. I had to pass it up.
This is the problem with covering large distances. You sacrifice all these serendipitous opportunities. Those same opportunities that enrich the fabric of a journey, are also the same which prevent actually finishing the journey. If I don’t make it all the way to the top and back, it will likely be because of this, wanting to jump in with the things and people I find along the way. To just say, “To heck with the goal, let’s go do this awesome fun thing right here in front us”.
This is a sweet looking Slash7, to give you idea of the style.
The restaurant let me commandeer a table to myself for a couple of hours, weathering the heat. They filled up my Camelbackpack with ice cubes, and let me spread out my maps on the table. People loved to jump in with advice about the trip. That’s pretty much how I decided to zero in on Dumas. Rumors and advice form total, but very entertaining, strangers, like this one like Dallas.
Later a man walker up to me at a Love’s Truck Stop to say hello and chat. He had ridden from Tucson AZ to Chicago to be with his brother dying of Pancreatic Cancer. He was returning back to Tucson. Really nice man, Richard Smith was his name. Shout Out TO Ya!
Glad things are going well. Sorry about the sunburn and the unholy heat.
Take care, be safe, wear sunscreen, stay hydrated. ❤️~gee
Yes. some folks are harping on the sunscreen thing. Moab was 104 degrees yesterday. Good thing I had some reserve water on the bike. I drained the camelbak, refilled it at least 2x on during the day! It’s like driving in a convection oven.