"Danny, We're Not In Kansas Anymore"

Well-worn elevator on the Kansas 50

Pueblo, CO

The plan, as explained to me by Old Danny Boy as he parked me for the night, was to sleep-in until “AT LEAST 5:00.”

So, along about 4:15 here he comes, all perky and cheerful, asking me if I’m "ready to rise and shine and greet the day?” There are reasons he rides alone. This is one of them (the list is long).

There was absolutely NO reason for an early start. We gained an hour crossing from Central to Mountain Time, and we had a relatively short, 400-mile ride. Evidently that information was lost on Mr. Morning Person. Soon enough we were on the highway, riding merrily along, in the dark.

Why he does this, no one knows.

Not surprisingly, traffic was sparse, as was the scenery. I’m not sure what we would have seen were we able to see anything. The road was a straight-as-an-arrow two-laner with good paint, which is most helpful when it comes to staying between the lines. Still, it was good to see those first rays of daylight in that forever Kansas prairie sky.

We rolled through the infamous old west towns of Dodge City and Cimarron. We noticed more cowboys on ATVs than on horseback. Still, there was no mistaking them for city slickers.

And then we arrived in Garden City, KS, a city we remember from our ride north on US 83. On July 10, we rode this very road. It was the day we departed Dog Food Motel in Abilene, TX. This morning we stopped to commemorate the event (no, not the dog food; the crossing of the paths). You can see by the light and shadows that it’s still early in the morning. Check out ODB in my rearview. (right)

While this point seemed to us like the center of the lower 48, the actual “Midway USA” was 88 miles back the way we came, in Kinsley, KS. We looked for but could not find this sign. Turns out it was a relic of Hwy 50’s early days and is now long gone.

Just before we crossed into Colorado, we arrived in Coolidge (pop. 95). ODB made a U-turn and stopped to look around. Here’s what Ol’ Dan discovered on this dazzling 30^th day of July. 
 (Google Map Update)

 

The Phone Company