It’s actually not so bad as I am acting… I just feel like being a drama queen for fun. The drive from Boulder, CO to Mena, AR is around 14 hours. We left at 830AM today (the roads were actually dry despite the nasty snow we got yesterday) to retrieve Yuki, and headed out. At 7 PM Colorado time, we stopped for the night in Tulsa, OK. I have never seen Kansas, Oklahoma, or Arkansas, so I am adding some patches to my US States quilt. Note: I do not actually have a quilt. In fact, the only midwest state I have been to is South Dakota, and that was in August for a race.
The views did not hold much excitement after being super spoiled. This is what I saw a lot of:
I was like, “What?! There is actually water in those things?!?” Jeff was also giving me the DL on the corn/grain elevators, which were not scarce. How juvenile of me… but I have not seen many water towers or grain elevators in my time. I got to see many many many of them. In Kansas, there were also a ton of anti-abortion and jesus loves you signs. Nothing wrong with that, so don’t get your panties in a twist… just something I noticed. I hear there are some cool hill somewhere in that state, but I didn’t get the opportunity to see them. I did see an awesome wind farm. That is what I love about the US. Not only each region, but each state has a distinct culture!!
3 more hours in the car tomorrow and we’ll be at our destination. I can’t wait to get on the bike and pedal around, and start prepping for the race. YEAH!! It is also going to be 60-75F for the highs and I am missing a snowstorm in Boulder this weekend. Sweeeeeet. I brought my banjo.
Your so close, yet so far. Give a shout out if you pass near Fayetteville. I’m also looking forward to the warm air and sunshine today. It is 35 right now. 3:45am. Enjoy your visit and have a wonderful time in Arkansas.
Hide the banjo, dem youngin’s in the hills is gonna want it. The world is gonna change from Tulsa to Mena…and then change again from Mena to Oden. Maybe we’ll see ya pedalin’ around the Womble on Saturday.
Power to the pedals!! Have a great ride.
Salina, KS actually produced one hell of a mountain biker. Years before you were racing in Albuquerque, Sandy Knox was tearing up the NM trails on her Moots. That was after her career as a runner, and well after her fame as the starting point guard for KU, which mostly consisted of giving Lynette Woodard the ball.
Mountains – good for off road biking and holding water up off the ground. Colorado – reservoirs and water tanks, but few water towers.
As a native kansan, living in minnesota, I can tell you it tends to get a bad rap. I miss the open prairie it’s like looking at the ocean. The rolling red of the flint hills in fall paired with an endless sky. Watching the waves in the bluestem.
“Kansas, not as bad as you’ve been told” new tag line for the state… haha
BTW i have a team mate ( warren ) in boulder training this week. Black and white Balance Fitness jersey. If you see him, go kick his ass… haha
ha, i stayed in salina two weeks ago when we did that stage race in texas.