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A snake in the grass... September 27, 2008Leave a comment ;)
I would have expected a snake, but instead, the little prying eyes in the grass were of a different variety. The strange things I see when I pedal across the landscape. I bet some child is really missing this little guy. The day dawned a bit later than I expected. Now that I am back in the central time zone, getting up at 6:00 am, left me without light to pedal by. Back in bed for a little more rest before getting up and going around 8:30 am. I was only planning on 80 miles today, since I expected some forecast headwinds. It would have taken me about 117 miles to reach Woodward, OK, so I looked for places to stay in Laverne or Buffalo. Since both are relatively small towns, I thought it would be best to call ahead and make reservations. I am glad I did. In Laverne the only hotel was being renovated and all FOUR rooms were occupied. In Buffalo, I ended up learning that rather than having a hotel, they have a collection of ladies that rent out rooms or houses. Sort of a motel call tree. I made plans to stay at a small bungalow in Buffalo and headed off in that direction. The wind I was expecting never materialized, so I pedaled effortlessly south, but not before doing my tourist thing in Boot Hill. Wyatt Earp was in good form in the early sunshine! The road south had a small shoulder, but the cleanest shoulder I have yet to pedal. Not a bit of glass or stone. It looked like someone had swept it clean! So nice! Both sides of the road were lined with crops. Primarily sorghum in a variety of colors. Mostly burnt orange, though! That would make my sister happy, given that she is a University of Texas graduate and her favorite color matches the crop. The road was pretty straight and my speed was averaging 13 mph with a slight tailwind. I dropped into what I thought was a large valley and found a sign talking about the geologic history of the Big Basin. I would have enjoyed going to Jacob's Well, but the road was dirt and the Oklahoma stickers were in great form. No need to get a flat, so I headed back down the road. I crossed the Cimarron River which eventually flows just north of my place in Guthrie. From there I turned east and picked up a quartering tailwind and a few more hills. This was the first place where I began to see the bright red soil that Oklahoma is famous for. I eventually stopped in Buffalo at the local pizza parlor and tried contacting the lady with the bungalow. Since she didn't answer, I contacted another lady on the call tree and ended up getting a room at the Woolly Bison Inn. Great room at a very reasonable rate. The nicest hotel I have stayed in this entire journey. If you pay attention to the website, you will see that I had planned on visiting a school in Wichita before heading south. Since I have some personal commitments in OK over the next week, I unfortunately had to change my plans and head directly to OKC. Hopefully in the future, I can make a trip back to Wichita and share my story with the students there. My apologies for not being able to stay with my original plan. With the excellent amount of sunlight I have been having recently, I want to share some information explaining my Solio solar charger. Here's copy of their basic explanation of how the charger and it photovoltaic cells work: "Solio has been designed to harness the sun's energy, shortening the process of transforming it into electricity by using photovoltaic cells (PVs). PVs convert sunlight into electricity that can be used immediately. The process is clean, fast, noiseless, and—thanks to Solio—easily portable. Here's how it works. Light from the sun hits the solar cells, exciting electrons within the cell. Some of them break free, and are channeled through a conductive metal strip to create an electric current. This current can either be stored in a battery or used directly in the form of electricity. The stronger the sunlight and the more rays that hit the cell, the more electricity is generated." To get a better explanation of how a PV cell is constructed, please visit this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaic_module More Images: ;)
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4 Comments
Sep 28, 2008 7:43 am - eddy gemmell wrote : hi john, just aught your site. don't know if you remeber me, i interviewed you for radio in scotland a few weeks ago when you were here with Christy hanson. i will be following your blog and updating my listeners on how you are doing. keep up the good work. eddy
Sep 28, 2008 6:13 am - Bill Ingalls wrote : Great stuff! Your pix of the open road make for great arm chair traveling! May the wind be at your back.
Sep 27, 2008 11:50 pm - Sandy McMahan wrote : I have enjoyed all your photos but after living in the panhandle of OK for 10 years, I totally understand your flatland pix! Can't wait to see you in Ada, OK!! Congrats and you are in our prayers~ Add a comment: |
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John, Nice to catch up w/you yesterday. Hope the Wichita kids aren't too let down. Good luck in upcoming weeks and call me if you're too bored someplace...