Wrap up of the 2016 Power Tour

Sunday June 19th

We spent the night in Lansing KS, a suburb of Kansas City,  on Friday after the Power Tour festivities were over. 

We slept in a little before getting ready to hit the road and start home.  While we were loading the car we were approached by a older lady that was also staying in the hotel.  She needed help with some things in back of her suburban that had shifted around and were too heavy for her to move.  So, David helped her and heard all about the trip she is on and the trouble they have had.  Then we headed across the street to IHOP for breakfast.  We decided we needed a "real" breakfast after a week of quick hotel breakfast everyday. 

By the time we finished breakfast, got gas and got on the road it was around 10:30.  The GPS said that it would take 7 hours, driving time, to get home. 

We took the turnpike all the way through Kansas and made a few observations:

• Kansas doesn't spend a lot of money on speed limit signs
• The turnpike goes completely around all of the cities and towns.  We never actually saw Kansas City, Topeka or any of the small towns.
• There were not any Rest Areas like we have along highways in Texas
• The view is nothing but wide open country.  I can't even begin to imagine the bravery of our forefathers that settled this land, never knowing what or who was waiting and watching over the next hill.  It is truly amazing to think about what those people must have endured.   

By around 2 o'clock we were getting ready for lunch so we pulled off at Wellington KS.  The lady in the toll booth suggested "Penny's Diner" for a good lunch.  She was right, they made a really good burger and chicken fried steak sandwich.

We crossed over into Oklahoma around 3:15.  We watched rain in the distance all around us most of the day but only had a few sprinkles.  It felt like the roads in OK stretched as we drove, the miles were not going by very fast. 

We saw a few fellow Power Tour cars as we traveled through Kansas and Oklahoma.  It was really strange pulling in to get gas and not seeing the place full of other Power Tour cars.  I told David I wasn't sure what to do without having, printed instructions telling me every turn to take, names of the next towns and what signs to look for.  It's hard to get our of navigator mode after 7 days. 

On the way home, we came up with our list of the Best of 2016 Power Tour
     Best Hotel - Springhill Suites in Gonzalez LA
     Best Venue - Trader's Village in Grand Prairie TX
     Best Small Town Welcome - tie between Taylor TX and Blackwell OK
     Best Meal - BBQ sandwiches at 4H BBQ between Beaumont and Winnie TX
     Best Portion of the Route - Baytown to Austin TX
     Best People to Hangout with on the side of the road - all the people from Pro Touring Texas

 

We decided to make a short detour on Route 66 north of Oklahoma City and stop in at "Pop's" in Arcadia OK.  We had heard about the place for a long time and it seemed like a good time to stop in. 

This is a neon soda bottle in front of Pop's

By the time we were leaving Pop's it was around 5:30 and we were ready to be out of the car for a little while so we decided to spend the night in Oklahoma City, in the Bricktown area.  We had a hard time getting going on Sunday morning.  By the time we left the hotel and had breakfast it was already after 11.  We made it to my parents around 1:30 to pick up Fezzik (I sure missed that fuzzy face) and then finally got home around 2:30.