Hotter'n a fahrcracker on the fourth of Jool-eye

Happy 4th of July to everyone who actually might be reading this.  I hope your holiday was safe and fun.

Ours was hot.  

We started out in Great Bend, leaving our hotel after a quick hot breakfast courtesy of Super 8.  We were taking a bit different route today, choosing to go through Hutchinson, and if all went well, on to Newton.  The difference between would be about 40 miles, so we needed to make sure we could get to Newton if we left for there.  We used Google Maps this time, since Adventure Cycling doesn't really have a trip into Hutchinson.  And for those who go there, they advise strongly not to take US-50, which we learned from Pueblo, CO is a bit daffy.  We chose to do this route simply because it is the 4th of July, and our guess is that we aren't going to find many services open, especially in the smaller towns.  

Taking a break in the heat during our Google Map meanderings

Traffic was certainly that of a holiday.  There was little to no traffic, at least early in the day.  We traveled along and eventually found the flaws in the Google Map system.  Eventually, there would be some turn, or some direction we were told to take, that turned out to be... a dirt road.  Not knowing the length, nor the severity of said dirt road, we opted to stay away.  They can tend to get worse and worse, and with 85 pounds of bike and pack, they could result in flat tires quickly.  We aren't prepared for off-roading on this adventure.  In any case, we found roads that would eventually get us to our first destination, Hutchinson KS.  We also found, along the way, a very odd option on the Adventure Cycling's list of places to stay.  Hedrick's B&B and Exotic Animal Farm, near Nickerson on the way to Hutchinson.  We found it when we were riding by and spotted a number of ostriches on a farm.  I went over to look, and a number of his friends came over to check us out further.  We also saw in another part of the farm some zebras running around.  Then it came to me that this had been an option.  If it wasn't so far from Great Bend, and we could have made it there, it would have been a very interesting stay.  A little out of the "Tiger King" but I'm sure it would have been interesting.

Hedrick's B&B's official greeters

We did eventually get into Hutchinson.  We looked up a couple of restaurants, but as usual Google Maps shows a lot of chain restaurants, and that's not we're looking for.  We found a local alternative, called the Hickory Stik, located in downtown Hutchinson.  After wandering through the sad streets, it was good to find they had a commercial corridor and not just a series of strip malls.  Unfortunately, most of the shops in this part of town are still poorer activities such as check cashing and vape shops.  I don't think the people of Kansas, at least in this town, yet appreciate their downtown as they should.  It was a really nice collection of buildings, including a beautiful Fox Theater and other unique structures that could make it a nice place.  The Hickory Stik was a barbeque restaurant, perfect for eating on the 4th.  We went in and ordered our meats, and sat down to wait.  A boy of about 13, from a big family group, came over to talk bicycles with Jerry.  He asked all about bikes, and how he could fix up his Walmart bought bike with a new pair of wheels.  Very nice kid, and when his family left they gawked at the collection of stuff all over our bikes.  We really are a traveling circus with all the bags, bottles, and bars.  As we were leaving, and passing the Fox Theater, I saw a soldiers and sailors monument, with Abe Lincoln on top.  Abe wasn't looking his best, but it was a really patriotic monument here on Independence Day.

Soldiers and Sailor's monument in Hutchinson

We made it out of Hutchinson just as the day got really, really hot.  As we've come down from the altitudes we hit in the mountains, the humidity has continued to increase.  It only hit about 90 today, but the humidity made it feel much much hotter.  We continually were filling up our bottles to keep hydrated as much as possible.  We left for Newton, again taking Google Maps, which lead us on a nice sparsely used road parallel to US 50.  This was great, until it became a dirt road.  A little frustrated, I just took us down to US 50 and we headed east for Newton.  There's nothing wrong with using this type of road; as a matter of fact, they typically provide a nice shoulder, with rumble strips between us and the car traffic.  That's the rub.  In being courteous, drivers of cars and trucks will move into the other lane, even when we are well into the shoulder of the road, and they make this horrendous rumble noise when their tires roll over the strips.  I don't know how to properly describe this noise, perhaps something out of an old alien science fiction movie, but I know it will haunt our dreams.  We found why Adventure Cycling warns everyone off this road.  A bridge of about 100' length, over a railroad, that has a poor shoulder.  It was just silly - they would send us 20 miles out of our way to avoid this.  Sorry, not today on this hot of a day.  

This highway trip had the effect of taking us back into our work-day routine - 1 off, 1 on, back and forth, knocking off miles on a boring road until we can get to our destination.  Our routine has a way of making the miles go by quickly, but it also reminds us how dull this part of the trip has become.  The scenery is the same, the land is pretty flat and unremarkable.  Just get them over with.  I'm ready to get out of Kansas, I think.  It's like riding through Ohio, but about 4 times as wide.  

We finally did arrive in Newton, and the Google Maps did take us off US 50 and onto some city streets, which was an improvement.  We saw where people live, not just where they drive.  Much better.  We did find that the hotel we had called and chosen, the Sky Palace hotel, was located on the far side of Newton, near the truck-stop near the Interstate.  Oh well, you can't choose where they put the hotels, and in this case the 4 mentioned included a Comfort Inn, thinking they could charge Hilton prices, and a couple of really sad places, one of which was described online as "the worst hotel I've ever stayed at."  The Sky Palace was formerly the Days Inn, but was bought, I think by an Indian family by recognition of the decorations and color scheme they chose to paint the interior.  However, it was a good price and a decent place.  We had dinner at a regional chain of ice cream - hamburgers, but it was about the only restaurant open on the holiday. They also have a small market so we plan to get a quick bite and a snack on the way out of town tomorrow.

Today's score:  102 miles ridden, 2,010 feet climbed (I have no idea where, but Strava said so).  Over 90 degrees and lots of humidity.