II.

Highway 36 was pretty fucking awesome. It was full of potholes in some areas, perfectly paved in others. There didn’t seem to be anyone around. There was more wildlife than people. Big game birds, rabbits, even some kind of Large non-house cat all made a showing. The fields surrounding the highway were not as inviting as they’d lead on though. The rural parts of Colorado are harsh and windy. Dusty. I would stop to see if any of the old farm houses held any secrets. The old tractors littering the countryside seemed charming in this unfamiliar part of my state. I still felt at home though, something about brown grass and magpies.

The sky was so blue that day, and any evidence of rain was gone, so I’d say the weather turned out perfect.I didn’t even notice the significant tailwind I had until I had stopped to smoke. The towns were rather baron, One that was empty and another was just a guy’s name, Joe’s, Colorado. In this town every storefront had His name on it. I never needed to meet the guy, his town spoke for itself. The wayside on the west side of the strip provided much needed shade. I rolled in as if I had owned the place, proud of myself for driving to the middle of nowhere.

I took a lot of breaks. Cigarettes mostly, but also water and trailmix. It’s also the best time to look at my road atlas. That first trip I wrote down every direction in a book, highlighted my route on the map, all the turns and timing. all scheduled out. I had my best guesses on where to sleep, and backup routes for some parts around major cities. I really did take it seriously. At this point I was making incredible time. I was planning on riding at least eight hours that day, and making it at least 250 miles. It would put me right inside the Kansas boarder, which was only a few hours away.

I couldn’t believe the performance of my bike, it seemed to be throwing my most generous projections of speed in the trash. I thought it would go 35 like it always did. However, in Colorado springs the elevation is higher, which means the engine chokes and the civil engineers build roads to deliberately hinder motor scooter performance. The bike suffers in its home town. Out there, It was going well above that. 42 miles per hour seemed to be cruising altitude for this road, and I liked it. I never thought I would be so excited to make it to Kansas.

I had taken for granted the significant tailwind I had. The hazards of my trip would slowly show themselves. I was moving along well enough, But my route was purposefully chosen to be in an area with a scarce population. It was beginning to seem like there were no gas stations. Between Limon and the Kansas boarder there is nowhere to get the recommended octane for my bike. I used the Gas can I had with me in Idalia and hoped that It would be enough.

As I got closer to the boarder there was something I had to rid myself of. As a Colorado Local we grow a particular plant that our fine neighbors in Kansas see as an, “unwanted wildflower.” I would have to stop. I watched the horizon adamantly to find a point of interest to smoke my last bowl and ditch my paraphernalia. There was what seemed like an empty house with about a half-mile gravel driveway, it wasn’t really inviting but worth an investigation.

I smoked a few bowls, most of what I had left. Then I stashed the weed and the pipe in a stump near the tree line. Laying in the grass, I listened to a Sleater-kinney album i didn’t care for. There was a tree at the driveway, destroyed by a storm, the branches then cut. The stumpy tree was a pretty harsh reminder that the wind was in my favor today. The Weather, was something to think about. Sometimes I need to be looking for a place to take shelter, midwest thunderstorms could probably blow a scooter off the road.

The Empty house was unneeded at the moment, I dare not enter and I only walked the grounds. There was an old combine, maybe even in use. Some rusted cars, an old stone chimney. Built probably on the flattest acre in Colorado. I ate a cliff bar as I watched some clouds roll bye until the weed wore off. I went through a lot of water. So close to the Kansas Boarder, I had still had so much motivation. It was easy to leave this place behind, Though, I thought to myself that It would be great to sleep at a place like this, hide my tent on the far side of the building, spend the night. It was too early to stop.

At the Kansas boarder, nearly exactly, I encountered Two men walking across the country. While i found that meeting them humbling, I tried to chat with them, I will admit that I am weird, and don’t get along with everyone. They said they were walking across the country trying to make money for veterans. I told them I was going to go work at a summer camp. I was trying to figure out if there was going to be more of them. I think I checked later and they made it, gave a bunch of money away i’d assume. They were probably better people than I. To walk that far for someone else. I offered them cigarettes and told them I was a crossdresser, it came up, because i didn’t really want to see them on facebook so I gave them a good honest reason. I asked if they needed anything, money or anything. they wanted donations, and i was like “nah man i mean you get yourself a sprite or something.” I think I’m a hedonist of some kind. We parted.

I was panicking, until I found a Loves gas station that had premium gas. There are stretches of highways without premium gas all around America, let me tell you. Honestly, I still don’t know what putting the wrong gas in the engine would do. I go for the Highest octane and tell myself its better when its at least 93. I wanted to keep the engine in really good shape, Do as little damage to it as possible. Just to make it easier on myself, I knew nothing about engines, It would be so much work to fix it, so many tools i didnt bring. It’s in my best interest To get High octane gasoline, if only for the silly reasons I made up.

I had done research, i knew where i was going. There was a campground near some town that started with an, “O” and I was going to get there early, no appointment, and get a spot to sleep. I stopped at a gas station one more time, just to fill up, I bought a Monster energy drink. I get the Uncarbonated kind. These are not good for you, They will keep you awake, even if you fall asleep.

I found this campsite I had digitally scouted, It was immaculate. A freshly mowed grassy patch, spread out like the grass courtyard for the place you didn’t get hired at. I set up my tent underneath the most trustworthy tree in the area. Perhaps it was an oak, but it was a large tree, strong in the wind. Or at least it seemed that way. The tent was a 90’s Eureka and the sleeping bag was rated to 16 degrees or some shit. I was fully prepared to sleep on the ground in Kansas.

Setting up my tent took like 8 minutes. Like I had a cigarette and a half, then i was done with everything. Tent, sleeping bag, cookware out and ready. and then before I knew it, I was already packing it up. I got up, and walked around. While this was the first moment i felt paranoia for my bike, I walked really far into a marshland. The mud looked like it would have something crawling on the bottom, or maybe on top. I was there only to see, I hoped frog, but I wasn’t so Lucky. I made it back to camp, and sat down. I relaxed my muscles in the chilly air, and still listened to my ipod. I read a pirated book out of a jailbroken Nook. Then, I slept.

The Sun was still up, it was not hard to go to sleep. I was beat, exhausted, I wanted to keep going, but this was my plan for the first day. To sleep here, I just got here a little earlier than I thought. It was a pinch more strenuous than I anticipated to ride a motor scooter all day. I was on the road maybe 13 hours, a full working day on a moped. It just seemed like the Right time to stop. I went to sleep oddly proud that I had made such good time according to my agenda, but rather bored.