Notes From the Big Highway

ON THE 1,200-MILE FIRST-LEG OF MY DRIVE WEST to Denver/Boulder where I'm resting before going on, I'm always on the lookout for the best---I use the term loosely--gas prices. When I see a good deal, I grab it, sometimes long before the gauge says I need it. Gas prices this week ranged from $3.299-$3.799. I usually got the low end. Above, I snapped the photo when I spotted every kind of vehicle at an off-brand service station on I-70 in Kansas. Where there's a crowd, count on a decent deal on gas.
Driving for long stretches, especially into the western sun in the intensest heat/ light of summer, is challenging to say the least. Thursday as I crossed Kansas into Colorado it was a blistering 111 degrees. So it's mandatory to treat such a drive as an athletic event, getting out at rest stops and exercising early, drinking tons of water and a little strong coffee while foregoing all starchy, carbo-loaded, sugary foods until the end of the driving day. It can be a good idea to fast to keep from falling asleep at the wheel---and taking a short break/nap---when driving into the sun during the blistering heat of day.

Thursday, I exercised vigorously early at my favorite I-70 rest stop in the Flint Hills west of Topeka. There's a hidden trail that climbs about 200' that's great to pump up and down several times to get some elevation gain and the blood circulation. At the top is a windmill sculpture with a spectacular 360-degree view of Kansas in all directions---very green from spring rains. You can even see the curvature of the earth. But even early, it was fry-an-egg hot on the pavement.
The rest stop has a welcome center that's built into the hillside. It's where you want to be if there tornadoes swirling around the area. I've been there in that kind of weather. Thursday, though, was classic frying pan heat and not a cloud in sight.

In the first six hours of driving from Nashville to St. Louis and into Missouri, there are no less than five great rivers to cross: the Cumberland, Tennessee, Ohio ,Mighty Mississippi and my favorite---the Missouri which drains all the way out of Montan. This year they were all still swollen, high and muddy but the worst of the flooding has slowly subsided.
Please stay safe while driving this Fourth of July weekend.