Day 12 Fri, Sept 26, 2008

On Hwy 56, I rode through small towns such as Ensign, Montezuma and Copeland. The state of Kansas seems larger than the whole world! All before me and around me were large fields, some unplowed, some filled with grazing herds, and large silos. On railway lines, trains were patiently waiting at grain elevators to be filled, to be shipped to various corners of America.

There are multiple semis moving at breakneck speed creating a vacuum, attempting to drag me onto the road. At the same time, some of them are trailing the scent of animal manure along the straight and narrow highway. Alas, the highway began to lose its shoulders and safety once more became an issue. The speeding vehicles gave me a sense of insecurity because at any given moment I could be swept onto the highway. Pam came to my rescue and we drove until the shoulders reappeared.

The agricultural fields appear to be inundated by bramble weeds. These are bunched up shrubs with very thick strands of wiry stems. When these grow dry during the late summer and fall, it appears they get uprooted by the strong winds and ramble along the highway. Now I understand the song, “Ramblin Rose.”

I stopped at a rest area because my fingers were getting numb. I rubbed my fingers to get the feeling to return. Then Raymond appeared. He and his wife of 8 months and their 2 dogs arrived in a pick up with a motorcycle in the back. Both Ray and Judy are truck drivers, who are not working right now. Judy told me a story of a serious accident in her life.

She owned her own semi and transported good for merchants. She was on her way from Atlanta back to Liberal, KS, with a full load of goods, when suddenly a strong wind toppled her truck and a she was hit on the back of her head by a TV which slid forward. She said, “I don’t remember anything about it.” She lost her truck and insurance paid all but $19,000 of her expenses. She is presently unemployed and about 8 months ago she married another trucker, Raymond. He had a stroke some years ago, but seems to have recovered quite well. They are both in their mid 60’s and are heavy smokers.

Raymond conducts a 24-hour road service. He repairs trucks and trailers. His first wife died of throat cancer. He wrote a song about her, one line of it was, “I was depressed when she done died and left me”. I decided to sing a song for the “young” couple.

When I arrived at the parking lot of our motel in Liberal KS, Pam pointed out a small array of Monarch Butterflies. They appeared to be restless, never sitting for more than a minute. I tried to take some close ups. They appeared to be young. A very colorful hedge they chose as their resting place.

We got cleaned up and headed for a Mexican restaurant within walking distance. They had an interesting series of paintings hanging on their walls. I took pictures of them. After making inquiries, I learned that the artist’s name was Alfredo and he was at home in Mexico at the time. He uses his colors quite well.

We ended the day by watching the first presidential debate on CNN.