Emporia

We took a detour off route, but will be back on the TransAm tomorrow.

Today ended up being a very restful, unplanned day off. It involved a lot of sleeping, eating, and a trip to the theater to see the new Batman movie. McKinley swears I was sawing logs for most of it, but contrary to popular belief, I did see most of it. Yay for a movie on a rest day!

Kansas: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

So far, Kansas has some of the most curteous drivers that allow us all the space we need, and beyond. We've been honked at once, and it wasn't even a super angry horn, just a "get out of the road" little honk. I was still slightly miffed, but I'm liking Kansas drivers. Two thumbs up to that, Kansas!

The golden wheat fields and green corn fields, backed up against a powder blue sky, is just beautiful. At sunrise and sunset is when the fields are most magical.

Speaking of sunset, there's a benefit to night riding: lights! For being in the middle of nowhere, there sure are a lot of lights on the horizon. Mostly, they belong to factories, but they give the illusion of a city skyline, so it doesn't feel so barren and lonely in the night. Hooray for lights to perk up a night ride!

I'm convinced that Kansas is the armpit of America. It is, by far, the worst-smelling state I've ever visited. There's a plethora of oil drills lining the wheat fields, with ginormous holding tanks nearby; I didn't realize how putrid oil smells in mass quantities. They are everywhere! And then there's the smell of cattle between oil drills; sometimes there isn't any cattle in sight, but the smell is so overwhelming it practically knocks you over. I think farmers must use cow dung to fertilizer the land. Now, add in the 100+ degree heat and that really ups the stink factor; cattle, oil and extreme heat, my favorite combination!

So, that's my take on Kansas: great folks, pretty scenery and hideous aromas.