Day Seven - One Week Out

So we begin our seventh day with our same routine, though we slept in even later this morning - 6:30 AM. We might have been late leaving had it not been for the fact that the hotel breakfast was essentially non-existent. We went to the breakfast room and noted there was no fruit of any kind anywhere in sight. We went to fill bowls with cereal when the attendant informs us "there's no milk - there is oatmeal". So I pick up an oatmeal packet and look for hot water and don't see any so I ask do you have hot water, to which she answers "you'll have to microwave it". Well, that was enough for us. We dropped everything and just walked out. We got on the bikes and left the parking lot at 7:00 AM sharp. We were going to wait for breakfast until we got to our first waypoint in Hennessy, but I was leading today and hungry so I ran some GPS searches of the route ahead and it didn't look promising. As luck would have it we had just turned a bend in a little town called Minko when I spotted a diner that wasn't listed on the GPS. We pulled in and it turned out to be a great breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast and coffee for $6.50 and the bacon was probably the best either one of us could remember. We also chatted with another rider who was already there. He was a retired crop duster who had a bad plane crash so was now retired and just out for a breakfast ride. He seemed a little jealous of us and our ride. We continue northbound on US-81. It takes us an hour and ten minutes to cover the 60 miles up to Hennessey and there we snag our first waypoint of the day - The Hennessey Post Office.

Now we head direct east on OK-51. Its a two lane road that is very straight, but it does undulate up and down hills. There is a lot of farming and mining activity all along it and we spot numerous oil wells and supporting infrastructure all along this road. We stop for a coffee break in Stillwater which is just about the half way point between Hennessey and Tulsa. After the break we continue on 51 and work our way into downtown Tulsa seeking the main post office there. When we arrive we find a building that is a full city block in size, and though we find two entrances, none of them is labeled with the words "Tulsa, Oklahoma". We're not sure if this will do but here's what we got for photos.

We're running low on fuel so next stop is gas. We find a station, fill up and head out northbound on US-75 for a bit before we turn northwest onto OK-11 which turns out to be a sweet little road through the Osage Indian Reservation. Almost NO other traffic, and gently twisting turning and hilly roads. It was only 26 miles but by far the most fun riding of the day.

From there we get on 60/99 just north of Wynona and that turns us westward and takes us over to Ponka City. This is still Indian reservation territory but the road is much straighter now. All this time the weather has been deteriorating with clouds building and the winds have really picked up a lot. As we head through Ponka City the skies ahead are looking ominous. We continue with fingers crossed and as we get up through Arkansas City we catch some sprinkles from a storm off to our east. We were VERY fortunate as it looked like a big one and we are running now on wet roads, obviously from that storm that conveniently moved out of our way just in time! We continue north to Augusta where we turn west and head into Wichita. It's still cloudy but not threatening rain just yet. The traffic is tedious though with traffic and lights as we get closer and closer to the downtown. We finally reach the post office and get our photos. Just as we are set to leave, it starts to sprinkle!

As we head out of town towards the interstate it continues to sprinkle. Then when we get on the highway it starts raining harder and we're contemplating stopping to gear up, but Larry thinks we're going to run out of it so we hang in there and sure enough after another 5 minutes or so the road turns more westward and the rain tapers off and the further we go the better the skies are looking. I radio to Larry what a charmed life he's leading. We continue on into Hutchinson, KS where we spend the night.

Stat's for the day:  435.2 miles in 8:13 elapsed time, 6:25 saddle time.

For the week: 2,806 miles in 65:13 elapsed time, 51:05 saddle time