I was not planning to make Roy's this year as I can only really pull off one big trip a year and I plan to attend NatSTOC in Spearfish, SD this summer. That trip is still on. However, Panda was on spring break and I wanted some BBQ so we started planning the trip. I was concerned about a few things:
1. That is a lot of miles for an 11 year old.
2. Lodging; I tend to camp to save money but riding two up would make it hard, if not impossible, to pack a tent and sleeping bags.
3. That is a lot of miles for an 11 year old, we were going to have to take a lot of rest breaks.
4. Communications between us while on the road.
5. That is a lot of miles for an 11 year old.
6. How am I going to pack everything a 11 year old pre-teen girl will want to take?
I decided we would get there when we get there and take as many breaks as needed. I reached out to the Kansas ST folks looking for cheap lodging options. I was offered a free place to stay approximately 50 miles from Hutchinson and had the offer from a Team Colorado member to split the cost of a room with her and her husband. After talking with Panda we decided to split the cost of a room.
I wanted to make this trip all about Panda and involved her in all the planning. She helped pick routes, decide on lodging, every decision was a joint decision. Just planning the trip was a lot of fun. We decided to ride with two of the Team Colorado folks on the way out and to ride alone on the return trip.
I got her helmet wired up with a ChatterBox headset so we could talk while under way. Problem four solved. We did have to make several adjustments during the trip to get her speakers in the correct place for the best sound and comfort but I have had to make slight adjustments with every headset I have ever used so that was no big deal.
I gave Panda one saddle bag liner and told her that was all the space she had for packing. She was very concerned with the space limitation of this situation. She has camped for years and put those skills to use. When I got home from work on the Thursday before the trip the first thing she did was show me the bag. She was very proud of herself for making it work, (I too was proud). She was sad however that she had to make the hard decision to leave her teddy bear that she sleeps with behind.
Friday morning finally came and we got ready for our departure to meet the two Team Colorado folks we were going to be riding with, BakerBoy and Follow at the Flying J in Aurora. We had a 7:10 am meeting time so it was an early start to Panda's day. The whole family got out of bed to see us off.
We head from the truck stop with BakerBoy leading the way. We decided to take 2 lane roads for our trip out. I let our riding partners know that if Panda has an issue with the distances we would break off from the group and just meet the later at the hotel. Turns out she had no issues, or at least none that she told me about. I think I was ready for a break before she was. Oh to be young again. We rode along looking at the scenery and just chatting up a storm. I gave her my camera attached to a lanyard and she sat on the back of the bike and took tons of photos.
We stopped for a break at about the 150 mile mark and then again for lunch about the 250 mile mark. We made another stop at about the 400 mile mark. We then pressed on to our first tourist stop which was about 60 miles away. We stopped to see an Agave Americana, commonly known as the century plant, in Chase, KS. This plant gets it's name because it only blooms once in a 100 year span and then dies. The plant we were stopping to look at is 35 years old and is now blooming. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see one of these bloom. There is a pretty good wiki on this type of plant here.
We then did the last push to the hotel in Hutchinson, KS. Panda's first 500 mile day was in the books. I could not have been more impressed with her! We lounged around at the hotel talking with the other riders that were there and went as a group to dinner at Applebees with the other Team Colorado folks in attendance.
Above is just a couple of the bikes that showed up. There were 6 bike/7 people from Colorado who made the trip.
Saturday morning we got up and got ready for the BBQ run. There were 44 bikes, 1 scooter, and one car (poor guy had a broken foot so he could not ride). In attendance were riders from Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Illinois, Louisiana, and Missouri.
Let me tell you, the BBQ was well worth the trip.
After eating some good ol' BBQ Panda and I took off with Kansas local and fellow ham radio operator WØQNX to go tour the salt mines. These are the same mines featured in an episode of "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe." We spent much of the afternoon 650 feet below the Earth's surface. It was a very cool experience. Due to the constant temperatures and humidity levels they have turned much of the mined area into storage. They keep some cool stuff down there to preserve it like the costumes from the original Batman and Superman movies and a newspaper reporting President Lincoln's death.
After the mine tour, we rode over to Youder for some pie. It is not an ST trip without pie!
We then headed back to the hotel where we met up with the rest of the Colorado crowd and sat around in the parking lot shooting the breeze.
Sunday morning came and it was time to head home. Took me a bit to get Panda up and moving but we got on the road at approximately 7 am central time. We decided to run I70 back home and said out goodbyes to the rest of Team Colorado who were riding in a group back.
I70 is pretty uneventful in Kansas, except for the cross winds. Panda did not like the cross winds at all. There was a few times we were hit with a strong gust and her screams came over the intercom. We worked our way back stopping every 100-150 miles. We chatted like old friends and just enjoyed spending time together. We also did our part to decrease the bug population. Panda could not take looking at the world through bug guts anymore and had to clean her face shield at a gas stop.
We arrived home right at 3 PM mountain time. Panda tells me she loved the trip and she is already looking forward to the next one. Soooooooooo....
Being it was April Fools day I let her relax in front of the TV for about a half hour and informed her she had to get her gear back on because I left an important item at the hotel in Hutchinson. We had to go back to get it. She freaked out!!! I took her to the garage as she was begging to be dropped off at Grandma's because she had no desire to ride that far again. I messed with her for a little bit before I told he it was a joke. She wants another trip just not that soon apparently!
Anyway, I will end this post by saying we have over a thousand miles of memories that will be with me for the rest of my life. I am looking forward to another trip with her. Below is a map showing our traveled route taken from my Spot Tracker pings.
No comments:
Post a Comment