Day 23 - ending at Bernice, OK - Diversion into Kansas

September 5, 2016

Day 23 - ending at Bernice, OK

Posted via email Tue Sep 6 05:56:02 2016 PDT

It was almost hot last night, except for cool puffs of breeze that would blow through the tent. Alarm went off at 5:20am, and I worked on the report. Packed up, stopping to eat two toaster pastries at 8:00am. I was heading out at 9:01am, stopping just long enough at campsite #6 to thank the family there for last night's meal and fellowship.

Today's destination is Bernice State Park on Grand Lake. I couldn't remember for sure, but I thought my route might be on no-shoulder highways. I'd be OK for the start, anyway, on country roads east and north to US-60, bypassing the town of Nowata.

At the end of the road from the park, I was ready to turn east. Uh oh, a "Road Closed Ahead" sign. So I turned back west, the way I came in yesterday afternoon. The first turn north brought me into Nowata. Since I was in town, I stopped at Eagle Fuels gas station/convenience store for ice, chocolate milk, and mini-donuts. North a little farther bought me to US-60, at 9:48am.

For a ways at first, this highway east out of town has no shoulder, then it does. This was great! A pleasant ride, with a south wind to keep me cool. Lots of birds to be seen near the Verdigris River, which I crossed at 10:22am. Then there were a few hills - the Coker Hills, according to my map.

Stopped at 11:00am for a break in the shade by a water tower. The road flattened out when I got back to it, and it seemed the strong south wind might be a little from the southwest, for I was moving along at a good pace.

I coasted down to the bridge over Lightning Creek just as noon approached. I stopped to note mileage (17.8 miles), and also get ready for the no-shoulder hill I was seeing on the other side of the bridge. I checked the map, and saw that after about two miles, I could get off the highway, and onto country roads. That became the plan.

My gravel road route worked out very well. North first a short ways on S4300 Road (at 12:34pm). I stopped to eat a bag of peanuts here. I was already enjoying being away from the highway noise. The strong wind was making my open water bottle whistle. Continuing on, I turned east on E230 Road (at 12:53pm), south on S4350 Road (at 1:38pm), and east on E240 Road (at 1:50pm). Part of E240 road is paved, and I enjoyed that unexpected improvement at 2:00pm. Curved south and east as the pavement did, until I was at the turn south to the town of Vinita.

I arrived in town at 3:00pm, and came to Vinita Grubb Hut at 3:08pm. The place didn't look like a hut; it looked fancy. Breakfast is served all day, and I took advantage of that, though I had Dr Pepper, instead of coffee. Three Dr Peppers, actually. A very good mid-afternoon meal. As I was paying, I asked about the building. It had been a hotel, and the present dining room had been the grand ballroom. The place still has the original floor and windows, and, from their appearance, light fixtures. Also, Will Rogers had been here. Quite interesting!

I saved my Dr Pepper ice for my Klean Kanteen, and continued on at 3:56pm. East a ways more on US-60. A few hills getting out of town, then nice and flat. And this section has a shoulder.

At 5:43pm, I came to my turn south on OK-85. No shoulder here. I was hugging the white line on the curve to the right when I got too close to the edge. The rear tire fell off the pavement, taking a bad hit on its sidewall. It went flat. I walked back to the triangular area in the middle of the intersection, and went to work. A truck stopped and parked nearby, as if to watch me work. I couldn't figure that out, until half an hour later, when another vehicle pulled up and a young girl got out of the truck exclaiming, "Mommy!"

I'm sure the guy in the truck was impressed with my work efficiency, up until I had to take the tire back apart. There were four cuts in the original tube, so I had decided to replace it with the "wire hole tube" from a few days back. Well, that puncture hadn't "self-sealed", and was losing air fast. This time I found the hole, using the "lick method". Patched it and got everything back together. One hour, seven minutes. Now I needed a break!

Looking at my map, I should have gone straight on the gravel road to avoid no-shoulder OK-85, at least for a while. I almost did now, but traffic had decreased considerably over the last hour, so I took off at 7:06pm, heading south. The highway curved east, and I turned on my flashing lights. It was hard for me to see behind, because the sun was in my mirror. But I made it OK to a curvy downhill to Grand Lake O' the Cherokees.

Arrived at the entrance to Bernice State Park at 7:48pm, and was in the tenting area at 8:00pm, after grabbing a can of Dr Pepper from the machine here. A good, south breeze coming off the lake. Without that, it'd be hot.

At 10:30pm, I went to bed, after getting picture selection done, anyway. Report in the morning.

Jeff

Spent: $3.06 (breakfast items, ice) + $9.72 plus $3 (lunch) + $15 (campsite with $1 donation) + $1 (Dr Pepper) = $31.78.

Day 23 - Nowata, OK to Bernice, OK

Heart

Comment

Link

+ plus signs indicate pictures added after returning home from the trip +