It’s been quite the day. I, of course, heard rain through most of the night but I did sleep pretty well. A bit of water got into the tent but nothing got really soaked and I wiped up what I could with a microfiber towel. The weather app indicated a break from 7-9 am and the radar view showed that I might outrun it.
I thought that it would be a good time to make a break for it so I got up about 6:30 and headed to the showers.
The hot water and plenty of it got me feeling pretty good about the day ahead even if I did have to contend with rain. I wasn’t hungry yet so I got back in the tent and just started packing, taking note of what was wet so I could dry it out later. The tent itself was soaked and dripping but it just got rolled up as is.
BTW, the pipe nipple splint on the tent poles worked great.
I was loaded up and ready to roll at 7:45 and there was only a slight drizzle when I got things ready to go, an early departure for me.
I shot some photos of the lake on my way out.
I rode back to Hwy 60 which is a 4-lane, divided highway that I’ll be riding for a while. I hit a bit of drizzle but barely enough to call it rain. I had put the rain liner in my jacket but mainly to cut the wind because the jacket shell was still wet and I didn’t want to tempt hyperthermia.
Near Mountain View I pulled off for a short break on a road where the pavement ended a few miles from the main highway. Photo time.
When I got back to the highway I stopped for gas and a sandwich since it was 10 am and I was getting hungry.
While my goal today is to get to Elk City State Park in Kansas, part of the goal is to get there early enough that I can hang my wet stuff out to dry so I’m moving along as quickly as I can. That said, I can’t go through the Ozarks without taking a side trip on one of their curvy roads and I picked Hwy 137 out of Willow Springs. Very curvy with lots of ups and downs. Many of the hills were blind at the top and emptied into a curve. Lots of fun. Some photos from that area.
Rather than head back to Hwy 60 I routed myself on a series of county roads. I stopped in front of a church to take a photo or two and to check the map as I needed to find a gas station. There’s one sort of on my way.
The website for the Elk City State Park said that they closed at 4 pm and I pulled up to the gate at 3:59. The woman at the gate explained that I could just self-register if I found an open site and directed me to two loops where tent sites might be available. All the sites in the first loop were either already occupied or had reserved tickets on them. I dropped down the a lower loop, one right on the lake, and only one site of the 6 or so was taken so I select one right on the water. I dropped a few things on the picnic table and went back to the kiosk and registered. $17.25 for the night.
The next task was to get the wet stuff out to dry. I hung up my travel clothesline and got wet clothes on it while draping the rain cover for the tent over my bike and the tent itself over the picking table. It's warm and there is a breeze so it didn’t take long for the tent parts to get dry enough to set up.
Once all that was under control, I rode back to the town of Independence to gas up the bike and to get refreshments for dinner.
I boiled up some water and while dinner was rehydrating, I took a walk around to see the sunset over the lake.
It was a 423 mile day.
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