We got to Wichita HOURS ago, but, we've been having fun, so we're just now getting around to updating :)
- We left Clayton, New Mexico around 8 AM.
- We got gas 3 times.
- Drove a total of 364 miles.
- Only hit 4 highways/freeways.
- Drove in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
- I stepped INTO Texas.
- The weather stayed gorgeous most of the day. We were anticipating lots of water and lots of wind.. And the water held off most of the day, and when it did start a little bit, it wasn't enough to phase us at all. And the wind wasn't as bad as it's been the last few days.. So today was awesome, weather-wise! We put on our rain coats near the end, more out of the desire to have an entra layer of wind protection than from water.
- We got gas at a station in Clayton as we were leaving, and they offered egg rolls. This worries me. I'm from Orange County, California. Little Saigon. I've know good egg rolls. I don't know how I feel about egg rolls, from a gas station, in New Mexico.
- On our way to Oklahoma, we passed the Texas state line. Dad and I had looked at Google Earth and Google Maps for awhile last night to try and figure out exactly where the state line was so that we could get a picture.. We'd looked and looked, and figured out that "if we pull into that driveway-ish area, we'll be in Texas!".. Well, we missed the driveway-ish area, and had to do a U-turn. Got the picture!
- Crossed into Oklahoma shortly after that. Oklahoma looks an awful lot like New Mexico.
- The way we are traveling is rather luxurious for a motorcycle. Heated seats, heated handles for dad, heated jackets, speakers and mics in the headphones so that we can talk to each other or listen to music.. Well, when it comes to the microphones in the helmets, the way it works is that it only activates when it hears a loud noise. When you're sitting at a red light, all you have to do is start talking and it will pick you up. Sometimes it will pick up the wind. When you're zooming down the highway, you can just talk really loud, but sometimes it won't pick you up until you're a few words into what you're saying, so you have to repeat yourself. Because of this, our general rule of thumb is to make a "clicking sound" with your tongue, and then start talking. However, apparently, I do not have a loud clicking noise, because it never works for me. So, what do I do? I sing. Hahah. Yes. If it doesn't pick me up, I do some lovely "ahhhhhhhh" "uhhhhahhhhh" 'helloooooooooooooooooooo" noises until it grabs me. I've lost track of how many different notes I've had to hit in order for it to recognize that I'm trying to talk!
- Learned something today: my lead foot comes from my dad! (If you know me, you know that I have a tendency to speed a tad, and speeding tickets are a norm for me.. Unfortunately) A lovely little Oklahoma police dude pulled us over, and decided that we were going a little bit more over the speed limit than he liked.. He wrote dad a ticket. And... I got a picture of him. Hah! I asked, to make sure it wouldn't get us another ticket, and then snapped the picture.
- Stopped at two different Walmart's today. I can't remember where the first one was, but I know that we bought yellow duct tape. My lovely, yellow rain coat ripped yesterday (from the wind? Not quite sure how..), so we had to fix it. Duct tape fixes everything! At the second Walmart, we bought super strong double sided tape to prevent us from losing some trim on the bike.
- We stopped for gas right after we crossed into Kansas. It was about then that we learned that Spotwalla wasn't working on my dad's phone. I already posted about that though :)
- I've decided that Kansas, scenically, has been the best state so far. It's just prettier. There's more than just plains and rocks.. There's random rivers, creeks, trees, grass.. It's just pretty. AND.. There's a lot of cows. A LOT.
- Made it to Bev and Kevin's house around 4:30! Bev is my dad's cousin, so it was nice to see a family face! :)
- They took us to a yummy Mediteranian-ish food (I say -ish because they had sandwiches, gyros, hummus, and pasta.. whatever it was, it was delicious!) restaurant called Bella Luna. Their son Brian joined us, as well as my friend Lindsey! Lindsey moved out here to Wichita a few years ago, so that was another face that was nice to see!
- After dinner, Lindsey stole me and we drove around for a bit then headed to a Starbucks to catch up. My dad already posted that he ventured off with Bev and crew to looked at the scenic side of Wichita.
- It took Lindsey and I awhile to find the house on our way back.. We probably passed the house 4 times before recognizing it.. But.. We made it eventually!
- I'm very thankful that we were able to do laundry while here! When we were leaving on Saturday, my dad made me remove some items from my bag, and I was longing for laundry! When Bev said the magic word, I jumped at the opportunity!
We're headed out EARLY in the morning! Our final stop tomorrow is St. Louis, Missouri, but we're stopping mid-day to visit with the Strozewski's at New Tribe's. It's going to be a long day, but should be fun!
Thanks to Bev and Kevin for giving us a place to stay, do laundry, use the WiFi, shower, catch up, and relax! Hopefully we'll get to do that for you next time you're out in California!
Thank you for all of your praying for us today - the emails, texts, and messages have been awesome! Please continue to pray for weather and safety! We've been blessed with no health problems on this trip, which is awesome! Trying to blow your runny nose on a bike while going 70 isn't ideal, so I'm thankful we haven't had to do that! Also, coughing wouldn't be fun as our helmet microphones would pick it up, so that would be deafening to the other person. I get images of me cough or sneezing and ramming my helmet into my dad's helmet.. Not a good thing!
Tomorrow, we're looking at an 11-ish hour day total (from the time we leave Wichita, to visiting with John and Amanda, and then finishing in St Louis).. So prayers for enough energy to make it through and remain coherent would be appreciated, too!
- Kelsey
Posted via email from Adventures of a Family on a Motorcycle
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