life outside the fast lane

Yesterday was Father's day and we made St. Louis. It's been a few weeks since I last sat a computer and had a chance to update this and check my e-mail. I guess the last time I said anything here we were in Oshkosh, NE dodging storms. The storm dodging business continued all the way through Nebraska and into Kansas, we actually dipped into Kansas a little earlier than we'd originally intended to hopefully avoid "tornado alley" and have fairer winds. I suppose we were successful on both accounts, more or less. We were never hit by any tornadoes, and the wind was never so bad that we couldn't ride...

I've had a plethora of ideas running through my head the last couple of weeks and now, here, I am plagued by the same question I always am, do I write about the daily grind or a few choice events? It doesn't really matter this time, I'm not rushed and know that I'll be here for a week- plenty of time.

I'll backtrack a bit, first. We deviated from our route to Colorado in Lander, WY to head for the Platte river in hopes of finding flat roads and ethereal winds. It was not without reluctance, of course. I love pancakes but not necessarily landscapes as such, that said, our decision to take the quick path to the plains was more in the interest of time than anything else. So we headed east across WY anticipating a topographically mundane Great Plains. Let's just say that the plains aren't planar. From a few hundred feet in the air you could probably see across the entire state of Kansas, but on the surface, it ain't flat. Neither is Nebraska. Well, at least the parts we rode across. The ground undulates predictably, as tides ebb and flow. The grasses and wheat fields rustle in waves as a wind driven sea. We crossed that sea tracing the arches of some prehistoric sea-monster's back, climbing out of and descending into the waves. What a wild ride. Admittedly, I was a little frustrated at first, 30, 40, 50 miles of that was unnerving, that old jigsaw puzzle of expectation and disappointment. But once I accepted the fact that no holy grail of a flat road and perfect tailwind was in store I enjoyed the rolling landscape and curious wind. In these states the grass cannot hide the wind direction, unlike the sage of the high desert.

I'm getting hungry now and will have to sign off. I'll get back to this soon enough though. I did say that we managed to avoid dangerous weather, but in our first evening in Kansas, in Oberlin, a storm passed over that dropped golf ball size hail. Who knew that hail could bounce?

Have Fun.