West 2009
 
 

Day 18

September 13

 
 

Well, my 'personal' odometer turns over today for the 57th time. Making a trip via motorcycles like we just completed was something I could only dream about years ago - but it was a dream that I never gave up on. If a feller doesn't have a dream or a goal, it's a weary life indeed that he lives.

Dave, Andy and I make the short walk across the parking lot to Rosie's Diner, where it all started 17 days ago. We get the same booth and the same server, who just really tunes into Dave's accent.

 
   
 

And this morning, Andy tells me -

"Your breakfast is on me since it's your birthday."

"Well, that's mighty nice and I appreciate it!"

Friends like Andy don't come around very often and stay around. We've been riding together since bicycle days and been through a lot together. And he still buys me breakfast on my birthday - that's amazing!

Dave has been special too - although he did leave me to my own devices in Italy with a totally useless map! But as today, we've probably covered 20,000 miles together between my European and USA adventures. He's a great guide and has kept me out of trouble over there and it's been a real pleasure to try to get him into trouble over here. And I sure hope his cloud follows his plane back to the UK.

Dave's plan doesn't leave until 8 PM this evening, so he's got plenty of time to kick back. But Andy and I have to be back in Topeka and we hope be there about the time Dave gets on his plane. So it's the 'pack up and leave' routine once more, but this time it's only the two musketeers not the three. After the deed is done, we walk out to the bikes one more time. I give Dave big hug and tell him -

"Please try to stay out of trouble - and take your cloud with you!"

We all laugh and with a little sadness in my heart, Andy and I pull out to begin the long journey home.

 
 
 
  As if to make sure we don't forget, Dave's cloud gives us a parting shot of some pretty nasty weather. Just when we think the fog can't get any thicker ...  
 
 
  ... it gets really thick. I've got my heat turned up to offset the bone chilling dampness that encircles me like a blanket.  
 
 
  But fortunately, the cloud never catches us with the rain though there is a crosswind as bad as I have ever experienced. There's little 'romance' on getting there and getting back on the slab, just watching the miles pass one by one. That's why it is so important to have your bike set up for comfort and it's rides like this that remind me of that fact.  
 
 
  I70 across Colorado toward Kansas is pretty much just a long, straight ride. Fortunately, the traffic is sparse so it gives a feller plenty of time to let his brain sort of rummage around.  
 
 
  We make our first gas stop of the day at Stratton, about thirty miles from the Kansas border and take a break from the not so pleasant weather. But then a day riding in bad weather is still better than a day working by any measure.  
 
 
  But Dave's cloud is ever threatening us with a frog drowning but yet it still holds off. I sure will be glad when he gets on that plane and takes the cloud with him!  
 
 
  The crosswinds have picked up to an ever deafening roar and my Autocom is just not hacking it. It's 'automatic' raising of the volume level is totally ineffective so I determine I'm going to sort something out at the next stop. With Andy's Autocom in complete failure, there is no way for communication at this point anyway.  
 
 
 

So when we stop at Hays, Kansas, I decide I'll do a little "In flight surgery". I tell Andy -

"I'll be a few minutes as I try to sort out my radio. I can't hear a thing on that Autocom so I'm gonna try something."

Since I left the music feed plug pretty easy to get to, I've just got to see if the Autocom headset audio will work with the Valk setup. I know it will plug in, but I also know that the pin outs are different. I swap the music over to the Valk, plug in the Autocom headset to the Valk system and I hear the sweet refrains of my favorite bluegrass tunes. The microphone doesn't work but at least I have the volume control on the Valk system so I can crank it up to overcome the constant blast from the wind. With that bit of handiwork completed, we mount up and head back out into the weather.

 
 
 
  The farmlands in Kansas just stretch out as far as you can see. And without many trees to block the wind, you feel like it blows down all the way from Canada.  
 
 
  But at least they have the good sense to harness some of it, as giant electricity generating windmills stand sentinel in many places.  
 
 
  As we pass Fort Riley, the home of the First Infantry unit, I think of our men and women who purposely put themselves in harm's way every day so that folks like me can enjoy the freedoms that we have. I did my turn back in the seventies in the USMC and am grateful that I could. I'm glad that soldiers nowadays at least get respect - unlike when I was in uniform and every soldier was a 'baby killer' whether you went to Viet Nam or not. I never got the privilege of 'seeing the elephant' of combat, as I stayed stateside my entire tour. But it didn't matter in those days - if you were in a uniform, you were suspect and looked down on for the most part.  
 
 
  At least this part of Kansas is not flat, as Andy and I move through the Flint Hills area. It reminds me a lot of Arkansas and the Ozarks from what I can see.  
 
 
  Soon enough we land back at the Days Inn and we do indeed get the same room and the same rate that we got 17 days ago. I guess it shouldn't surprise me, but in this day of complete lack of service, I am tickled when I receive anything at all. Super has already been decided, so we make our way back across the road to the Timberline Steakhouse. After all, I turned 57 today and a feller just don't know how many more chances he might have at getting a good chunk of meat before his toes turn up ...  
 
 
  Since I had steak last night, I go for the prime rib tonight and I am not disappointed. It's a great meal and great company as Andy and I talk about our trips and experiences together. 40+ years of friendship goes a long way and means a lot in this day of change that's too fast to be good. We decide to get up early and try to be on the road by 5 AM so we can miss the Kansas City traffic. So it's off to an early bedtime to end a peaceful enjoyable birthday.