Day #11 - Sullivan, MO to Amarillo, TX
Knowing that I was headed into hotter weather I wanted to leave around 4:00 AM so that I could make it to the hotel by 1:30 PM. I have been having problems with a cracked screen on my iPhone so it turns out the I don't hear when the alarm goes off. That's my excuse and I am sticking with it.
I ended up leaving at 6:00 instead and continued down I-44 for OKC and beyond. My previous day's drive plan was to drive to Tulsa, but the heat caused me to decide stop earlier in the day. My "cool vest" gear does not work well when the humidity is high like it is in St. Louis. I switched out of the cool weather gear and put the "cool vest" on about 5-hours into the trip which was just before arriving in Tulsa. By then it was in the mid-90's and sunny. I pressed on and when I was only 2 miles away from my hotel in Amarillo, I hit a traffic backup due to a dual lane closure for construction. I pulled off onto the frontage road and checked into the hotel at 4:00. Only a few hours later than planned.
Around sunset, I walked to a nearby restaurant and swore I would not get a late start tomorrow. I went to bed around 9:00 PM and left a 3:15 wake up call with the front desk.
Today, I covered 712 miles.
Day #12 - Amarillo, TX to Winslow, AZ to HOME
I got the wake up call and started loading the bike just before 4:00 AM and hit the road. My GPS planning tool told me that it would be an 8-hour drive so I figured with some breaks I should get to the hotel around 1:00 PM. I failed to do the "MATH" and account for the two time changes (MDT and MST) that were between these two locations.
The temperature was 68 degrees, so I put on the sweatshirt, neck band and light gloves to start out. The first hour or so was a little cool but bearable. However, when I crossed into New Mexico you start climbing into the higher elevations. I pulled off into a closed rest area and took off the sweater and put the leather jacket on and continued on. I was freezing when I arrived in Santa Rosa so when I stopped for breakfast and gas, I put the sweatshirt on underneath the leather jacket and added the heavy gloves. I was pretty comfortable by that time. It was about sunrise when I left.
As I was coming into the Albuquerque area, I started to become drowsy. I tried fighting it off before realizing this is a sign that I am too warm. I took off the gloves and opened up the jacket and was more comfortable to continue.
One of the objectives for a trip like this is to stop as few times as possible and only stop when you have to. I try to stop only when I am 20-30 miles from an empty tank. So you have to make adjustments while riding. I stopped in Grant, NM and shed all of the gear as I gassed up. It was 9-9:30 so I continued on. Earlier in the morning's journey, I realized the two hour time change and that I would be arriving at my planned destination at 10:30 AM. Thinking of alternative targets, I came up with Flagstaff, Williams or Kingman, AZ.
I stopped for lunch in Holbrook, AZ and looked at my options. I decided to press on since I had not made a reservation at the hotel. I broke out the "cool vest" and decided to press onto Flagstaff. As I pulled into Flagstaff the elevation was 7,000' and was comfortable, so I headed to Williams, still cool. I finally pulled off for gas at Seligman, AZ for gas and soaked the vest for the next segment. By this time we are into the 100's and not a cloud in the sky.
By the time I am to Kingman, I am too close to home not to press on. I stop and soak the vest again and it only works for about an hour. I also refilled my thermal mug with ice water and drove off. I stopped at one of the desert gas stations about a hour further on to re-soak the vest again. The gas station is officially called "Mile Marker 47 Gas" but it's actual name is "Uranus Gas". There is a firing range there where a year or so ago a young girl was firing an automatic machine gun and accidentally killed the business owner who was supervising her.
I pressed on for home and after stopping to fill my gas tank just before getting to the house I called home to have my wife open the garage door because I didn't feel like digging to find my door opener.
I walked into the door just a few minutes after 5:00 pm.
In a period of 15 hours, I crossed the remainder of the Texas Panhandle, the states of New Mexico and Arizona. The total distance covered was 882 miles. Since I a a glutton for punishment, I took a quick shower and then went with Trish to a Financial Seminar and a bite to eat before heading home and to bed for the night.
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