2013 Wichita Road Meet, July 20

[route56]

Run into a little snag on my end.... my alternator decided to go out on me.

I was planning on carpooling with Gene Van (and come in via Manhattan and Salina so Gene can clinch I-135 and I-235), but it looks like we'll be taking his Jeep once again.

[hbelkins]

How do we recognize one another? Generally, people gather out in the parking lot prior to going into the restaurant and usually go in as a group.

I'll be driving a blue Saturn Vue that can be identified by the Kentucky license plate, as well as the UK, Dale Earnhardt and anti-Obama stickers on the back window. Unfortunately a car wash ate my Cape May-Lewes Ferry sticker back in the winter.

I have met David, Gene and Richie before. And last I heard, Cody was coming from Alabama and I saw him two weeks ago.

I don't say "yes" to Facebook invitations, which is why I left mine as "maybe" so I could get meet updates but confirmed my attendance here.

I managed to snag goodies that will accommodate 15 folks -- pens, litter bags, cheap plastic keychains and little vehicle document holders -- and I also have enough 2013 Kentucky maps to give everybody one and some people two if they want.

I'm in Paducah tonight, having gotten most of my Kentucky journey out of the way today. Tomorrow it's a drive across southern Missouri to pick up a few counties, then across southern Kansas with some forays into Oklahoma before I turn north for Wichita.

[kphoger]

OK, well, finding a group of a dozen people in a small restaurant shouldn't be too hard no matter what.  I think Brad is planning to get to the restaurant around noon or so.

If you have a few extra minutes to spare, I recommend taking the scenic way into Missouri, using Tick Ridge Road–like this or some variation thereof.

[J N Winkler]

How do we recognize one another? Generally, people gather out in the parking lot prior to going into the restaurant and usually go in as a group.

Auntie Mae's is a sit-down restaurant, so it does make sense to go in as a group in order to be seated as a group, but when we state the number of people in our party, we should ensure there are spare seats for any stragglers who get held up by traffic, have difficulty finding the restaurant, cannot come at 11 sharp, etc.  It also wouldn't surprise me to find people waiting inside next to the hostess desk since it will be quite warm even at 11 AM.

I will be coming in a white 1994 Saturn SL2, and I am planning to be there at 11 AM promptly.

Auntie Mae's opened in 2012 and so is not in any StreetView imagery for Central near Tyler, which dates from 2011.  Based on a comparison of Yelp photos with StreetView imagery, I think Auntie Mae's is in the building to the left of the muffler shop that is shown as having space to let.  This building and the attached muffler shop are a self-contained island in the far west corner of the Westlink strip shopping center.  If you come from the east on Central and find yourself crossing the bridge over the minor drainage that parallels Westlink Avenue, you have overshot.

[kphoger]

Do I need to make printed point-by-point directions?  My time this weekend is at a premium, so I'll need a finalized list of sites if so.

[WichitaRoads]

How do we recognize one another? Generally, people gather out in the parking lot prior to going into the restaurant and usually go in as a group.

Auntie Mae's is a sit-down restaurant, so it does make sense to go in as a group in order to be seated as a group, but when we state the number of people in our party, we should ensure there are spare seats for any stragglers who get held up by traffic, have difficulty finding the restaurant, cannot come at 11 sharp, etc.  It also wouldn't surprise me to find people waiting inside next to the hostess desk since it will be quite warm even at 11 AM.

I will be coming in a white 1994 Saturn SL2, and I am planning to be there at 11 AM promptly.

Auntie Mae's opened in 2012 and so is not in any StreetView imagery for Central near Tyler, which dates from 2011.  Based on a comparison of Yelp photos with StreetView imagery, I think Auntie Mae's is in the building to the left of the muffler shop that is shown as having space to let.  This building and the attached muffler shop are a self-contained island in the far west corner of the Westlink strip shopping center.  If you come from the east on Central and find yourself crossing the bridge over the minor drainage that parallels Westlink Avenue, you have overshot.

JN,Your description of the place is dead-on.

I'll be there around 11 myself, probably finishing a virtual help desk shift with my laptop in my car. I'll be in the grey Fusion.

ICTRds aka Shawn (y'all might as well by now!)

[apeman33]

When you see a gray '05 Neon putter in, that'll be me. If Richie's already there, he'll know. And I think I remember meeting H.B. at the Lawrence meeting I went to, so I should be able to pick out the group.

Because my sleep schedule gets so messed up by my job, I'm just going to get into the car tonight after work (hopefully about 11:30; midnight at worst) and drive to at least El Dorado and spend the night. Because it takes me a while to get unwound after work, I usually don't get to sleep before 2 or 3 and I'm concerned about being drowsy if I leave early tomorrow morning. So by the time I get to El Dorado, I should be ready to hit the hay.

[route56]

Looks like we've got some car troubles.

H.B. lost his serpentine belt and has a rental. My car lost an alternator, so Gene and I will be carpooling in his vehicle.

Just in case, I'm bringing jumper cables.

[kphoger]

I always have jumper cables in the car too, in case you need them.  Well, OK, you specifically aren't the reason I carry them in the car, but rather......nevermind.

After tonight, I'll have no time to print directions, so tell me now if we need more than what's already been provided.  Bear in mind that I won't be at Auntie Mae's.

[corco]

I'm in Miami OK tonight, going to wake up, head over to the tri-point, finish my clinch of US 400, and then take K-254 into town. I've got a silver rental Corolla with Montana plates- I'm targeted to arrive there at 10:59 AM, but I'd guess I'll be there a few minutes earlier (probably 10:56 or so given how my itinerary has worked out thus far on the trip)- if I'm too early I'll stop and buy gas, so I should be there more or less right at 11

[apeman33]

I'm starting to think with H.B. and Richie's issues, I should have rented. But if my bucket of bolts could get to Garden City and back two weeks ago, it can get to Wichita and back.

And if the Royals can keep this lead and make these last two innings quick work, I can leave for Wichita early (and now that I've said that, Detroit will tie it and the game will go 14 innings).

[kphoger]

OK, here's my friend Brad.  Keep your eyes out for him (probably without his son).

[hbelkins]

I've had three bad road trip experiences this year. The "stop and pee every 45 minutes or so" day and the "I think I may pass out before we make it back to the cars" day at the Portsmouth, NH meet, and today, which is the first time I've ever had car trouble a long way from home on a trip before.

Coming up a hill on US 160 westbound not too far from US 65, the AC started acting like Joe Biden -- that is, blowing hot air. I thought, "well, either the compressor has gone out or I have a refrigerant leak." Figured I could deal with that, since my family never owned a car with air conditioning until right after I graduated from high school, my dad liked black cars and we usually went south on family vacations.

But when the battery light came on a few miles on down the road, I knew something more major was amiss. I continued on to the commuter parking lot in the northwest quadrant of the US 65/US 160 interchange and popped the hood. There were all these nice shiny pulleys turning with no belt around them, and a closer inspection saw a frayed piece of a belt down below. There had been no noise or anything when the belt went.

So I pushed the little blue OnStar button and waited. And waited. Ended up having to wait about 90 minutes in 95-degree heat for the tow truck, which hauled me in to Republic Chevrolet in Springfield. They rushed me in and I was glad to hear that it was only a belt break and not any problems with one of the pulleys freezing up. That was the good news.

The bad news was that they did not have a belt in stock and the only other parts house in town that might remotely have something that would fit was O'Reilly's, and there was no guarantee it would work. "There's a slim chance it won't, but it probably will." Famous last works. The O'Reilly belt didn't fit and there were not other belts of similar dimension, for agricultural applications or anything else, anywhere nearby that would work. The belt will come in on the GM truck at 11 a.m. (that's noon, my time) Monday. It'll only take about 45 minutes to put it on, but then I have the drive home on top of the extra missed day of work. And I absolutely have to be home Monday night/Tuesday morning to see my wife off on a trip she's taking.

So I have a rental car while mine's in the shop. After doing some checking and cyphering, I opted to cancel my reservation in Wichita for tonight and instead get a room in Joplin. I figure that's an easy enough drive in the morning, although I'm worn out from my day today. After the meet I"m not sure what I'll do, but I have an extra day to kill now so I should be able to pick up some of the roads and counties on my original routing before I get back to Springfield Sunday night and wait for the dealer to get me back on the road.

So I'll be pulling up tomorrow in a white 2013 Chevy Cruze with Mizzou plates. I may end up being a bit late because oversleeping in the morning is a distinct possibility.

I'm lucky that it was a repairable problem and not a wreck or something catastrophic, and I guess I'm also lucky that this is the first incident I've had in all the traveling I've done.

[kphoger]

the commuter parking lot in the northwest quadrant of the US 65/US 160 interchange

Not to detract from your story of woe (and I do sincerely feel bad for you, and hope you have some peace tonight and tomorrow), but I didn't realize until now that there was a commuter parking lot at the 65/160 interchange.  Just three days ago, my family and I spent about a half hour in the commuter parking lot at the next interchange to the south (F Highway and the High Road, NE quadrant); that was in the rain, waiting to say goodbye to my sister-in-law who always has a habit of not making any effort to see us until we're literally leaving town.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, and hope the remainder of your driving is free of "events".

[apeman33]

The good news, if any, H.B., is that once you get past the 69/171/400 junction, the only thing that should slow you down is the roundabout at Fredonia (unless you choose or need to stop for a minute or two). There are several passing lanes between Parsons and Leon.

I got to El Dorado with no problem but I'm not as tired as I thought I'd be. Then again, that's kinda why I got on the road right after work. My alarm is set for 9:30.

[kphoger]

My friend Brad will be hooking up at the 235/13th flyover project, as will I.  So don't be looking for us at Auntie Mae's.  JNW, I'll text you when I'm about to leave work.

[J N Winkler]

My friend Brad will be hooking up at the 235/13th flyover project, as will I.  So don't be looking for us at Auntie Mae's.  JNW, I'll text you when I'm about to leave work.

Thanks for letting us know--I'll expect your text.  I'm just about to step out the door . . .

[corco]

It was great to see some of you again and meet some of you for the first time- had a great time and look forward to making more meets in the future. As I said at the meet, anything west of I-29 I'm in, anything west of I-49 there's a good chance and I'll try, and I'd like to try to make one eastern meet a year, but we'll see.

Thanks Winkler, Hoger, and Richie for putting this together! I was worried the tour might be too short but it ended up being perfect. I was able to dip down into Oklahoma afterwards to pick up some counties- in Pratt now, going to 281 and 96 it tomorrow en route to Laramie.

[kphoger]

Likewise, it was great to put faces and voices with screen names.  We sure are a dorky bunch of guys, though, aren't we?  Ha!  Embrace your inner nerd!   

I find it interesting how we, as a society, have gone from "community" meaning "people who live in close proximity"–to including "people who share something in common, no matter where they live"–to including "people who know casually know each other only on the internet"–and then we, as the latter, gather again from all corners of the country to be in close proximity.

Glad I finally got to meet you, Eric.
It was fun hanging out with you tonight, Cody.
You look nothing like what I expected, Jonathan.
Again, HB, I'm sorry your trip ran into such snags along the way.

I hope Wichita treated you all well, and that you were able to snap some pictures through the rain this evening.

Peace!
-Kyle

[hbelkins]

Today was a much better day than yesterday, which went downhill even after I got settled into my motel room in Joplin because I was awakened three times with severe leg cramps.

Got up this morning and made a power run across US 400 without incident, stopping at the rest area for a comfort break.

The food was great (excellent choice of venue) and it was really good to meet a bunch of you that I had never met before, and to see some others for the first time in a couple of years. The tour was fun as well, except for the goat head burrs (I do have a picture of my shoe and sock covered in them to post in the Alanland thread when I dump my photos from my camera), but the heat and my lack of rest was starting to catch up with me by the last stop.

After we left the parking lot, I headed northeast via the turnpike. About Emporia, it started raining but the big red blobs that seemed to eat everything in sight between Emporia and Topeka on my phone's screen when checked Weather Channel radar seemed to dissipate and the rain wasn't much more than a nuisance.

Took I-470 west to I-70 east to drive the section of I-70 through Topeka that has eluded me since 1991. Driving the portion of I-70 between the two ends of I-70, coupled with my having driven I-70 through Kansas City after the Lawrence meet a couple of years ago, gave me a clinch of I-70 in Kansas. I have the entire route except that portion west of Grand Junction. Colo.

Got to my room in Lawrence and crashed for a bit, then went out and drove through Freddie's to try their burgers. Not too bad.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to backtrack and drive what I missed since I have to be back in Springfield in order to pick up my vehicle Monday. That means US 59 south to I-35 south to Emporia, then the turnpike again to Wichita, where I'm going to clinch I-235 and then go southwest into Oklahoma, following that up with a run across US 166 and back to Springfield. I've booked a room at the Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven, which should be interesting. Then after (hopefully) I get my vehicle back, I've opted for a power run across US 60 to Kentucky and then up the parkways between Paducah and Lexington. It looks to be about 45 minutes longer than I-44 and I-64 through St. Louis and Louisville, but I figure I'll lose that time in STL rush-hour traffic and construction in various spots. Plus I'll already be on the south side of Springfield when I get my car and US 60 will be lightly-traveled, with a speed limit of mostly 65 mph and four lanes most all the way.

Wish me luck that my car gets done at a reasonable hour Monday. The part will arrive about 11 a.m. CDT and it should only take about 45 minutes to put the belt on. I absolutely HAVE to be home Monday night because my wife is leaving for Iowa Tuesday morning.

[route56]

Since I was the one that had the tripod and camera remote:


47168 by richiekennedy56, on Flickr

[J N Winkler]

Thanks Winkler, Hoger, and Richie for putting this together!

You're welcome!

My thanks to all of you for coming--I really enjoyed the afternoon.  I'd also like to thank Richie for kicking off the planning for this meet, David Backlin (US 71) and H.B. Elkins for bringing maps and other goodies to share, and Kyle for suggesting that we park in the shade under the southbound lanes of I-135 on our last stop.  I was expecting it to be a hot day, as I think we all were, but even so I was surprised by the combined effect of heat and humidity--101° (compared to a predicted 95°) when we got back to Auntie Mae's, and very humid because of the impending storm.  The vending machine at the apartment complex near the John Mack Bridge was indeed a fortunate discovery.

H.B.'s experience aside, I think we did not too badly in terms of the nuisance plants in the I-235/13th Street project area.  I was concerned about the burrs that feather out from a point.  There were relatively few of these left when we visited today, probably because the plant that produces them has gone out of season, but when I was scoping the area back in June, dozens of them got into my shoes and pricked my feet through my socks.  This time, when I got home and took off my shoes, I picked out just two of these burrs and another one shaped like a morningstar which had hopped onto a shoelace for the grand tour of Wichita.  (I have been Googling off and on in an attempt to identify the plants that produce these burrs, without success.)

I send my best wishes for safe journeys home to those who travelled far to join us.

[WichitaRoads]

JN, Richie, Kyle: Awesome, awesome, awesome! Thanks for a great meet! HB, I hope it all works out with the car in S-field.

It was indeed a great time! It was good to meet all of you, and to put faces to names. I wish I could have stayed for the rest of the meet, but as you all know, obligations are obligations. As for the heat, it was intense... my bald head looks like a red light right now, but I still think it was worth it all. I'm glad the restaurant was a hit.

What a great pic! What a group we are. I echo Kyle's comment on what a new definition of community can be... we truly are like-minds... well, some greater than others!

And David, I saw those rabbit ears!

Until next time!
ICTRoads/Shawn

[kphoger]

Plus I'll already be on the south side of Springfield when I get my car and US 60 will be lightly-traveled, with a speed limit of mostly 65 mph and four lanes most all the way.

Well, although I did once drive US-60 all the way from Springfield to Charleston with needle almost always above 80 mph (87 most of the way, in fact, and that was before it was all four lanes)–I can't say I would recommend that sort of behavior.

Any chance you could get a pic of APL signage at the 60/65 interchange and post it on one of the threads dealing with APL signs?

Enjoy the drive.  If you haven't taken 60 across Missouri, it has quite varied scenery, and is enjoyable for that reason.  Even the flatness of the eastern end is enjoyable in its own way.

[hbelkins]

Any chance you could get a pic of APL signage at the 60/65 interchange and post it on one of the threads dealing with APL signs?

Enjoy the drive.  If you haven't taken 60 across Missouri, it has quite varied scenery, and is enjoyable for that reason.  Even the flatness of the eastern end is enjoyable in its own way.

I will try to get a photo tomorrow. I drove US 60 from the Illinois state line all the way to US 71 back in 2001, and later finished it out for a clinch in Missouri about 5 or 6 years ago. I drove it westbound all the way to US 63 on the way out. The four-laning has really made it a nice, easy drive now.



Made it to Springfield today. Got up and drove US 59 south from Lawrence, then I-35 back to Wichita. Got a clinch of I-235 and then headed west on K-42 to do the route I planned to take to Wichita on Friday, in reverse.

West of US 160, online maps and my GPS identify K-2 as K-14. I had planned my route to use K-14 but figured out pretty quickly that the route is signed as K-2. Was it ever K-14?

Some fugly US 281 signs just north of the OK state line, and the pavement quality deteriorates badly crossing into Oklahoma.

It was an easy drive east along US 64, OK 11 and US 81 back to South Haven, Kansas, and then I got a quick clinch of US 177 in Kansas and then headed east on US 166.

Got a break from a really nice sheriff's deputy. I was following a SUV that was doing 65 in a 65 zone and I wanted to go a little faster. So I pulled out to pass and saw the "sheriff" markings on the side of the vehicle. I knew I was screwed and sure enough, the lights were on before I even cut back in front of him. He asked me for my license, I handed him the rental agreement and the insurance card out of the glove box, and he told me that if everything checked out, he'd just give me a warning. He was very good-natured about the whole thing. I didn't notice any markings on the back of the vehicle and didn't notice any kind of official license plate like a Kentucky vehicle would have. When he came back to the car, he laughed and said I wasn't an axe murderer or anything and gave me my documents back. He then said he had called Enterprise and chewed them out because the insurance car had expired. He told them that he could arrest their customer (me) if he wanted to but he wasn't going to do that. He then asked me what part of Kentucky I was from. I told him the eastern part and asked if he was familiar with Kentucky. Turns out he had once lived in Winchester, which is an hour from me and where I also lived for six years. So I was on my way with the first really lucky break of the weekend.

I don't know if he was running radar or not. I brought my V-1 with me so it wouldn't get pilfered, but left the mount and the power cord in my vehicle in Springfield.

Missed out on a "one-sitting" clinch of US 166 because the road is closed between US 59 and US 69. Thankfully I had driven that section a few years ago so I have a clinch of US 166 even though I didn't get it all at one time. Had to detour north on US 59 to US 160, but I opted to go straight on 160 instead of following the marked detour for 166. I decided not to try to follow 160 into Missouri to get a couple of counties, but instead punched my motel into my GPS and let it guide me. It took me straight across US 400/Alt. US 69 onto old K-96, which becomes Mo. YY at the state line and a few miles later, intersects Mo. Z. Yes, I got a pic of the YY-Z assembly and hummed Rush instrumentals the rest of the way to Springfield.

On the fly, I figured out a routing that would get me into Stone County, the county I was heading for but missed when my belt broke on Friday.

I'm at the Best Western Route 66 Rail Haven motel tonight, which is a piece of US 66 history and is located on one of the historic alignments. There's a photo in the lobby that shows cutouts for US 60 with a "City Route" banner and US 66. Elvis stayed here in the 50s.



Those of you who pray, please pray that the serpentine belt is on the GM parts truck tomorrow and they get it installed and get me on my way at a reasonable hour. I have a feeling the US 60 route back to Kentucky will be a lot less stressful than I-44 and going through St. Louis at rush hour. If all's well, I'll hit Paducah about 6 p.m. EDT, Elizabethtown around 8:30, and Lexington around 10. The drive home from there will be a breeze unless I hit a deer.