Day 19 - ending at Ponca City, OK - Diversion into Kansas

September 1, 2016

Day 19 - ending at Ponca City, OK

I checked the weather radar when I woke up, at 3:30am. It's raining. But this looks like the last batch heading slowly south. Report writing in the comfort of my dry motel room, with another coffee from the Keurig maker. The rain had ended by the time the report was finished. And by 9:32am, I was packed and out the door.

Two blocks south brought me to Margie's Place, the place to eat breakfast in town. Breakfast is ordered in parts here (number of eggs, what type of meat, etc.), and the waitress cautioned me that the pancakes are big, so I backed that off to one. Being over sixty, I received free coffee. With my Klean Kanteen filled with ice, I was on my way at 10:11am.

After checking my GPS routing for the day (going to Ponca City), I headed east on OK-11. In town, there were a lot of puddles, and ditches filled with water, so I figured the rain amount overnight must have been significant. Out in the country, streams were flowing fast.

Another easy morning with flat roads. I arrived at Deer Creek (the town) at noon, and recorded miles so far: 12.3 miles. At 12:08pm, I arrived at Deer Creek (the creek). The guard rail there provided a place to sit while I ate a bag of peanuts. Back at it at 12:25pm.

Entered Kay County at 12:45pm. The road went to no-shoulder. That had me pulling off the road and stopping if cars going in opposite directions were going to meet where I was. That works, but is a pain. At 12:54pm, I crossed by the paved road to the town of Nardin, half a mile to the south. I decided to change course here, and get off the highway. New plan: south to Hubbard Road, then east. I'd planned to enter Ponca City on Hubbard Road anyway, but by getting on it later - after going through Blackwell.

What looked good on my map was actually a dirt road south of Nardin. That's OK, the highway noise had just about faded away, and I was ready for some country scenery. The road was a little soft, but I'm not going to complain. I arrived at Hubbard Road at 1:39pm. Nine miles to GPS waypoint "O09", where I knew Hubbard Road is paved. There I would be back on-route.

A little after 2:00pm sunshine appeared, as the overcast clouds headed south. A moderate northeast breeze, but at my dirt-road speed, it wasn't affecting me much, except it felt good. I passed by a road south that has a drive-through-the-water crossing over Deer Creek. Not a good way to go today (and not the way I was going)!

There were groups of small yellow butterflies sitting on the road here and there. When I'd get close to passing them, the whole group would take off and flutter around me. Fun!

Hubbard Road's intersection with I-35 was ahead, and I made it there at 3:12pm. Hubbard Road was nicely paved here, as would be expected for an interchange, but surprisingly to me, the pavement continued on east of the interstate. So, it had actually been just five miles of dirt/mud for me on Hubbard Road, instead of the nine I had expected.

At 3:50pm, I was at the four-way stop sign intersection with US-177. After that, traffic picked up along this shoulderless road. This busy time-of-day had me pulling off the road a lot. Some pretty farms along the way, and a farmer starting his corn harvest.

There were a few hills as I got closer to Ponca City, but nothing too bad. Looking at my map, my flat-road days may be over. However, Waverly Road on the west side of Ponca City couldn't be any flatter, and I turned south onto it at 5:22pm. Now the wind was helping me. Rode past the airport on my left, and arrived at Ponca City RV Park at 5:42pm.

There are no showers here, but $15 did get me a huge tree-filled field for setting up my tent. There is laundry, and I can't decide whether to take advantage of that or not. I still have a few clean clothes.

After getting set up, I ate supper. Such a pleasant evening here tonight. Time to get started on the report. I did that for a while, sitting next to the camp's teepee. Finally too tired to continue. Bedtime (at 9:40pm). Good night.

Jeff

Spent: $7.92 plus $2 (breakfast) + $15 (campsite) = $24.92.

Day 19 - Medford, OK to Ponca City

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