I awoke at 0516, earlier than needed and because I am now blogging the same day I was able to set an alarm for 0630 and catch another hour of sleep. When the alarm went off at the appointed time I was still a little skeptical of our deparfture time, even though it was my idea!

I had packed some items on the bike the night before so packing up was accomplished in about 10 minutes. When I had everything outside, my leathers on and ready to go, I always take a look around the room to ensure I am not leaving anything behind. I am good to go, so leaving my key in the room I walk out and pull the door closed behind me.

Then I realize that I have left my helmet in the room, on top of the microwave. I looked right at but it did not register as something I needed to take. Those moments are always scary, am I having a mini stroke? Am I turning into a tottering old fool?

I have to wake up the front desk guy to get another key and retrieve my le chapeau. We get gas and then leave town, it is 20 degrees, light wind and just beautiful outside. We are still on highway 54. We chose this road as it runs diagonally South and West towards Tucson, our next destination, and it is usually a lightly traffic'ed tertiary road, although it does occasionaly turn into a two lane divided, or at times even an Interstate.

We pass through a small town, slowing to 35 or even 25 MPH, every 20 - 30 miles so there is no problem for fuel for Bill. We put in a solid 150 kms right off the top then stop for gas for Bill, and as is his recent custom a Burrito or Cheeseburger for Breakfast. I have a banana. I was also feeling a bit sleepy, not tired, but sleepy. I bought a 5 hour energy and mixed it into my water bottle to take the edge off.

While we are there I fellow pulls in driving a bright Orange 1972 Bronco. I strike up a conversation with him for 10 minutes. We still haven't see any Scout's or International Harvester products since we've been in 'merica, but a few Bronco appear from time to time.

After he drives off I enquire as to the time and am shocked to find out it is only 0830! Seriously, you get alot accomplished when you arise at the CoB!

We drive through an area full of windmills, always a good sign if you are driving towards the mills, means tailwind! About 2 hrs into the drive today we enter the Witchita area which had traffic lights every 1000' or so, timed to ensure the highway 54 cars had to stop at every one. Took us about 60 frustrating minutes to clear the area. I say frustrating, but really, I am on a motorcyle trip in 'merica, not at work or something worse. How bad can it really be?

We are headed towards a town called Liberal, KS, it is 4 miles north of the Oklahoma border where the panhandle is. The state is only 34 x 166 miles at this point. Interesting Wikipedia article about how it was created, by 2 differing legislations recognizing 2 different lines of latitude. For 40 years it belonged to neither state and attracted squatters and lawless hooligans. Also spanned some boom towns, one called Beer City!

We pulled into Liberal around 1300 having done about 526 kms in 6 hours. It felt unnatural to stop, but we had done our work for the day. We checked into a quaint mo'tel. The sign had an AARP advertisement on its marquee, made me think of Bill! It was across the street from a restaurant called the Branding Iron, and next door to a gas station. The TriFecta!

I unloaded the bike into my room, which was still being cleaned, then went for Tasty Adult Beverages, Ice and Jerky. Bill was popping popcorn and we convened for Dust Busters on the Veranda. I have grown to greatly anticipate our time together after the ride. Conversation topics range from things that happened on the road, to music, to business, to family. Always an entertaining confabulation.

I think the reason this time is so special is that although we spend 6 - 8 hours a day together on the road, because we are in separate vehicles, it is actually quite a solitary affair. We get a bit of interaction at fuel stops, Dust Buster convo's and during dinner.

We crossed the highway to get to the Branding Iron, I had a passable Rib Eye, Bill some kind of Mexican dish, what else, eh? We bought him a bottle of high end Tequila last night so he gets his daily fill and doesn't have to beg for something other than Patron at the bars we frequent.

After dinner we return to the mo'tel and retire to our rooms. It is 1900! We are going to cross into the Mountain time zone tomorrow so we are going to leave at 0800, it is a sleep in day!

Day Ten

Iola, KS to Liberal, KS

526 km