Day 21 - Baxter Springs, Kansas to Vinita, Oklahoma

Day 21 of our tour
October 24, 2016
49.5 miles today
1040 feet of climbing
(957.5 miles, cumulative)
(35,898 feet of climbing, cumulative)

Today marked three full weeks on this tour. Of those 21 days, we have ridden 18 of them, and the other three were rest days.

We started just north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and tonight we're staying in Vinita, Oklahoma. Here is a map of the trip thus far:

Today's ride was along the smooth shoulder of a two lane road that essentially follows the Route 66 original path. It was basically flat and relatively fast. Within the first mile or two we left Kansas and entered Oklahoma:

We were not surprised to see a sign welcoming us to Oklahoma, but it did surprise us to see a sign announcing Ottawa County. Then we came upon this plaque explaining the the Ottawa were Indians who located here along with other tribes including the Miami (here that's pronounced my-ah-may, not my-am-mee):

Here are a few of the sites we saw today:

We wondered if this is a tornado-resistant water tower:

Jean was quite excited when we came upon this pecan store:

We bought a bag of pecans, had some samples, and also bought a divinity log:

They had one of those oversized tourist-attracting chairs outside. We obliged:

Just after we took that photo, our clickstand sunk into the soft earth and allowed the bike to topple over. The bike was fine, but one of the five tubes making up the clickstand bent. I later removed that tube, and the four remaining ones still make a pole long enough to support the bike when we position it at a different spot:

Here are a few final photos of interesting spots. The former gas station immediately below was a longish stop as Jean and I enjoyed talking to the owner and his mother, who was helping out today. They said that Route 66 is extremely popular with tourists from Europe, and they enjoy very much meeting happy people from all over the world who stop. 

The long flat road, slightly downhill to a distant horizon. It made for very smooth riding:

Tornado shelter, older variety:

Earlier bridge, left in place when the new one was built:

In closing tonight's post I'll mention that for Days 15 through 19 some photos were added after I put up the original posts. 

Thanks for reading along. We're headed south and west in Oklahoma again tomorrow.