Hannibal, Missouri to Loveland, Colorado

After a pleasant Tuesday night in Hannibal, MO, we left at sunrise, 5:40am, because we saw that the weather forecast was for very high temperatures through northern Kansas.  Our goal was to make Smith Center, KS so we would have less than 400 miles to ride the following day going into Colorado.  The morning temperatures were very nice, almost to the point of being chilly at 60 mph.  Route 36 runs straight across Missouri from Hannibal to Saint Joseph.  Along the way we passed through (or near) Marceline, the hometown of Walt Disney, Laclede, the birthplace of General John Pershing, and Chillicothe, where we could not find one place to have breakfast, so we had to settle for McDonald's, where I was undoubtedly the youngest person by at least 25 years!

It was another 75 miles to Saint Joseph, MO, the last big town before we entered Kansas.  At that point it was starting to get pretty hot and we still had 215 miles to go to get to Smith Center, Kansas, where we had reserved a room.  Saint Joseph was the starting point for the Pony Express when it ran from there to Sacramento, California in 1861 and 1862, so from there on we saw many signs for Pony Express stops, as well as signs for the Oregon and California Trails. 

Waiting for the train to pass

Dad's helmet sticker

 From Saint Joseph, MO to Belleville, KS, we could definitely feel the increased temperatures - it was reading 109 degrees on Dad's Goldwing by then - and the wind was picking up, gusting at times up to 30 mph.  Of course we had no luck, hitting several road construction stops as well as a train crossing, which stopped us flat under the sun.  The only light-hearted moment was passing through Dorothy's place, the town of Home, Kansas - get it?  There's no place like Home?! 

Belleville to Smith Center is 63 miles, and we really wanted to push through even though the conditions were pretty lousy.  On that last leg we hit 115 degrees with 30-35 mph winds gusting out of the south, gusting so hard that we were riding in a constant leftward lean just to stay upright and on the same line on the road.  Needless to say, by the time we pulled into the motel in Smith Center, we were thrilled to sit inside in the air conditioning with cold drinks in our hands. 

Ellen's helmet sticker - I think I need a helmet sticker too!

A few things about Smith Center, which I had never heard of before this trip...it is just a few miles from the geographic center point of the lower 48 states, and the words to the song Home on the Range were written by Dr. Brewster M.  Higley in 1872 in a cabin nearby,

with the music written in 1947 by Dan Kelley, 

when it was adapted as the Kansas state song. 

Up and on the road before dawn

Breakfast stop

The next morning was to be our last leg, 367 miles to Loveland.  It wasn't forecast to be quite as hot, and the winds were supposed to have dies down, but we still decided to leave as early as possible to beat the heat.  We were on the road by 5:30am and the conditions were great - cool and calm, a far cry from the day before.  We rode 96 miles straight through from Smith Center to Oberlin, KS, where we stopped for breakfast at the Frontier Cafe, and then is was on to St. Francis, KS, another 70 miles, before we stopped for gas.  From there we zigged north into Nebraska, where we gained an hour going into the mountain time zone, to pick up route 34, which runs straight into Loveland.  Once into Colorado, Ellen raised her arms in triumph at making it back home, and we stopped in Yuma to meet up with one of Dad's Goldwing buddies, Monty, who showed up with a cooler full of water, soda, candy bars, and fruit on the cargo rack behind his bike!  Monty rode with us through Akron, Brush, Fort Morgan, and Greeley before peeling off for his home in Milliken, and we rode the last few miles on our own to Dad and Ellen's house.  After a quick lunch, Dad and I went to spring his dog, Buddy, from the kennel, and then it was just a peaceful, rest-filled day after that.  Little did I know that it was the only rest period I would have before the chaos of a four year-old nephew and a ten month-old niece ensued the next day!