Why Nova Scotia?

Why not Nova Scotia might be the better question. It's one of those exotic sounding places that I've never been to and that's reason enough for me. I plan on leaving around the 8th of May and spending several weeks on the ride. Along the way I'll be camping out, visiting unsuspecting friends , and maybe getting to ride along with them for awhile. Let me know if you're up to either!

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Jun 22 – On to Kansas City - It's getting hot out there











Early morning heat was an indicator of things to come today. The sky was clear and the weather people were predicting the same all the way to Kansas City. Once the bike was loaded I didn’t waste any time getting on the road, it was the only way I was going to stay half way cool.

Not long into the ride I stopped to visit the Missouri Mines historic site. After seeing the giant elevator rig over the mine entrance I tried to imagine what it must have been like to ride that baby down into the bowels of the earth. It was depressing just thinking about it and once again I counted my blessings for the life of relative ease my career had provided. I’d worked hard to earn a living but nothing like what those miners must have faced.
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On a happier note I stopped to watch farmers in the field mowing hay. The summer smells were all around and I was transported back to a childhood when I spent summers on my Grandma’s dairy farm. At the time I didn’t particularly like it as there were no other kids to play with and I spent my days keeping an eye on a bunch of dumb cows chewing their cuds. Eventually my family moved into town and my herding days were over.
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The temperature continued to rise throughout the day and I stopped often for water and a stretch. The route I’d chosen on the map actually ran on 4-lane highways quite a bit which surprised me. When I set it up I thought it would be mostly on little 2-lane back roads but that proved not to be the case. I was riding with my visor up wearing my sunglasses and occasionally I collided with a really large juicy bug. A couple of them were especially yucky to the point I had to stop and clean things out. Ugh.

I arrived at my friend David Hutson’s house in Kansas City in late afternoon, hot and dry and ready for a cool G&T. I finally got to meet his son Noah, an up and coming Kart racer who’s been winning most of his races lately. I like him, he’s a nice kid and I think a lot of that is due to the special relationship he has with his dad. Later David cooked up some really great steaks on the barbeque and we had a super dinner accompanied with appetizers, salad, and a nice red wine.

Not a bad way to finish the day.

2 comments:

  1. Where you heading next? We are in Texas and heading over into Colorado on our Hack on Saturday....We plan to wander around the southern mountains of Co. for a few days. If you get near Co. next week let me know where you are. We might be able to meet up somewhere....Doug S.- Jupiterhack.blogspot.com

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  2. Hi Doug,
    It looks like I'll be way north of you, I'm going to head in a general westward direction after I leave IA. There's a slight chance I may head to Duluth but a lot depends on the weather but in any event I think CO is out of it for this trip. Mac and I are thinking about riding our hacks up the Dempster highway next year and if that happens I'll be passing through MT. One of these trips we'll definitely meet, I'm sure.
    Anyway enjoy your ride to CO and stay in touch.
    Best,
    LL

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