Dodge City, KS

 Well, my hoped for view of the old west was a bust!  I rode through and didn’t stop.  I was overwhelmed by the smell of cattle and their deposits.  For 40 miles there were huge cattle feed lots by the road.  The tractor trailers were everywhere carrying them off to the butcher.  It was rather sickening and made me want to be a vegetarian.  I got to see some of the old building that had been repurposed to function in todays world.  I guess I was expecting more of a Disneyland experience of the old west.

After the sloppy start with heavy rain and fog that passed by 8 am it was an easy ride to Wichita with one stop on the way in the little town of Pratt.  What a find!

This little donut shop was just outside of town and I almost passed it.  But out of the corner of my eye I saw the sign for donuts!  The donuts were excellent reminding me of the days with Mom & Pop donut shops were all around.  The surprise was the coffee.  This Korean lady could put Starbucks out of business.  I lingered for multiple donuts and cups of coffee and then it was time to move on to Wichita.

I stayed in the Wyndham hotel and was probably one of 3 guests in this 8 story hotel.  The area was pretty much deserted and for dinner I walked into town 12-15 blocks and saw nothing but empty building, apartment, parking garages and office buildings.  It was spooky.  I found this tiny French restaurant that was the only tenant in a 5 story building.  There were 3 people there.  The food was excellent.  If they were located in NY it was a $60 meal.  In Raleigh a $40 meal but in Wichita is was $20.  On the walk back I crossed a 6 lane street with no traffic.  The waiter said the the town had been on gradual decline for a few years before Covid but It all accelerated after that.

I asked about the Keeper of the Plains and he told me that Covid shut down most of the show around it but if I just wanted a pretty walk along the Arkansas River it was still very nice.  Covid shut down another of my ideas on the trip.  Also the Salt Mine I passed because of the significant thunderstorm chasing me.  It might not have been open anyway.  Seems Covid is still causing damage in the mid-west.  Off to bed.

The morning was clear and I was intent on making it to MO.  All good on the road again and making the miles in the 300-400 mile range.  I got to Mountain Grove, MO and my random motels hit a new low.  I had booked the hotel via Hotels.com which I used whenever I knew when I wanted to stop.  My lunch time project was to figure out how far I wanted to go in the afternoon then use the App to book a room.  I had found that small towns booked up fast when people wanted to get off the road so I always booked a room.  It has been a good strategy until now!  Mountain Grove had 2 motels, a Days Inn (where I couldn’t get anyone to answer the phone) and the Royal Inn.  I pulled in to be treated by:

The lobby didn’t look so bad but I was hoping the burned up wing wasn’t where my room was located.  Then the pool looked like the army had practiced bombing runs.  The room door had so much space around it that the light from the street shined all night around it.  Funny, I slept pretty well even with the spiders and flies.  This was my low point for lodging!

Riding early in the morning was the key to beating the heat.  Rt. 60 dumped me onto a small 2 lane road approaching the Mississippi.  It ran on top of the dike protecting the beautiful farmland near the river.  The approach was onto a very narrow steel bridge over the Mississippi and after 100 yards a right turn to another old bridge over the Ohio River.  Very old structures,  very high, and the rivers were huge.  

I was welcomed to Bowling Green KY by the Best Western plus with a parking space at the door.

Doesn’t get much better than this.  I must have looked tired since I just completed 400 miles and it was very humid around the rivers.  The desk clerk greeted me with a bag of popcorn and a bottled water.  Nice.  This was the best nights sleep on the trip.  I woke up at 6:30 which is late for me.  This was another 350-375 day and my goal was to reach Kingsport TN which would be half way home.

I reached halfway between Kingsport and Johnson City and was treated at the Comfort Inn & Suites by a nice lady at the check-in telling me that I was not allowed to park in front of the hotel.  Their insurance won’t allow it.  Nice hotel but not a good feel coming in hot and tired.

Tomorrow I will be home after a ride through Boone, NC and 275 miles home.  I will follow this up with some things I learned on the road.  And yes I would do it again!