Day 20: is it hot or is it just me?

Miles: 353.

The problem with it being so hot, other than the spontaneous fires starting every where, the droughts and dying crops, and the eminent decline of the planet due to climate change, not to mention the guilt of taking road trips like this in a gas dependent vehicle, is you can't actually enjoy the journey. I don't mean the fear and guilt, though you can see now I have that too.

I mean the cats.

The trailer stays the same temperature as outside, up to 10 degrees hotter if it's sunny. The cats get pretty distressed above 90, and can't escape to a cooler place in the confines of Alice. With eastern Kansas dancing at 110 all day, it's been a tough day. I was able to stop for a couple 15 minutes intervals if I parked in the shade and left the windows rolled up. Yes, up. The AC cooled air would stay cool about that long. If I rolled them down, the car quickly heated to above 90. But mostly, I didn't want to risk it.

I had made a list of all the nifty places I wanted to stop today. Somehow, time got away from me. I skipped Brown v Board. I drive to "Oz", but was met with a town with no parking, and no good mural to photograph and no shade to risk going into the museum. That 20 mile excursion pushed me past my deadline to make it to the marble factory for the demonstrations, even to the point when I realized I wouldn't make out there before they closed.

Frustrated, I sped.

I'm now at the difficult part of every road trip. With only 453 miles left, there is a temptation to hurry. This is why I have no pictures of Missouri or Illinois. I always hurry. I had planned to arrive on Friday, meaning I have three more driving days. But as you can see with today's mileage, when it's hot, I can't stop til it cools of enough to cool the trailer.

And there's no way I would stop with only 100 miles left. Which means I can't drive more than, say, 275 miles tomorrow. How will I pass the time?

Day 19

Mileage: 312.

Somehow I've already gone nearly 3000 miles since Billings. Don't try to add up the mileage on the blog; I didn't always include the many-mile routes through parks. But I know my initial as-the-crow-flies  plan would have brought me to Indiana after 3000 miles, so it shows how sides trips can add up. My GPS claims 890 miles left, but we'll see what I end up with total, later.

The reason I mention mileage: sometimes the car mechanic will sell new 'high end' oil that can run longer. Since I was distracted by the huge mechanic bill, I didn't ask this time. So this morning, I was distracted by waiting to call to ask about it.

"Depends on how you drive," he said, vaguely. "Like, if it's city driving, yeah, every 3000, but if it's highway, you can go longer."

I said, "I've put 3000 miles on since I saw you two weeks ago."

"Oh?! Well, you'll be able to go father then."

I think I'll be checking the dip stick, instead of asking one.

I'm in Kansas, at a rest stop west of Ogallah. I made a photo in Ogallah Nebraska. Who'da thought there was more than one Ogallah? If you say it one more time, it really won't make sense. Ogallah.

I'm rushing a little through Kansas. There is a marble factory (an honest-to-goodness, made-in-america marble factory!) on the east side of the state. They close at 5, but the sporadic marble-making demonstrations ends at 3. I'm passing by the world's second largest ball of twine to see that demonstration. I crossed a time zone today, yet will still have to leave earlier than I have recently to make it. I am going to stop in the capital at the Brown v. Board of Education historic site. Have to balance the silly with the historic.

Oh, and Kansas is experiencing a heat wave of 105-110 this week. Got here just in time. So, yeah. I might not get to stop many places for fear of cooking the cats.

They did really well today, after 8 hours in the car. Even when I stoped at small town junk shops and rolled down the windows, the breeze seemed refreshing. I will make a better effort tomorrow to make them drink during stops. Preferably water, but even tea is better than nothing.