Strolling Amok

Day Five, WaKeeney Kansas

Change of plan for today and probably tomorrow. Once I passed from Colorado to Kansas and stopped at their Welcome Center, I saw the light, brothers and sisters! Yes, I was headed for Hays, a Walmart in Hays, with yet another empty promise of WiFi from a nearby motel. Looking at it in Google maps, it looked too congested for a rig like the Defiant. And I hadn’t overnighted at one of the many fine Colorado rest areas because that’s agin’ their law. But the Kansas Welcome Center hands out maps with rest areas pre-marked on them and invites you to stay. Most of the areas even include free dump stations, should you feel so moved, no pun intended.

So I’m about 25 miles short of Hays, moistly soaking in balmy 93-degree temperatures, and will likely wind up at another rest area short of Topeka, Kansas tomorrow. When possible, I prefer to drive for 3-1/2 to 4 hours each day (200+ miles), plus an hour or so for any refueling, pit stops, and lunch. See, I make a late start after a fortifying breakfast of eggs, bacon & ‘taters, then hit a restaurant for lunch, drive some more, and I’m usually back off the road by four o’clock local time. It’s a nice way to travel. My alternate route was a touch shorter but demanded longer daily drives to take just seven days instead of nine, but I decided against it. Why rush? – (if one can call that rushing).