Miata Mailing List: July 1997, Message #107
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From: 	Bill Bowser <webowser@fuse.net>

Subject: Calif. or Bust - Chap. 1

Date: 	Wed, 2 Jul 1997 22:44:11 -0500



Hi Gang,



As promised, here's the First Installment:  Note - all times are EDT



Mon. June 23, 1997



I started my westward trek to Miata at the Ranch with the top down and

3/4 tank of gas this morning at 6:03 a.m. as I reset my trip odometer

and left my home in Cincinnati and headed west on I-74.   I reached

Indiana at 6:19 and hit the I-465 W interchange at 7:41 after a 14

minute breakfast stop.  I joined I-70 W at 7:54  and reached Illinois at

9:03 after a 9 min. pit stop.



The first gas stop was at 9:34 (221 mi. from home).  I decided to follow

I-70 into St. Louis in order to get another look at the Gateway Arch,

despite the fact that turning off on I-270 would have saved me a few

miles.  The arch came into view at  11:25 (341 mi.) and I crossed the

Mississippi River into Missouri at 11:31 (347 mi.).



By  noon I was beginning to cook so at 12:15 I stopped to put up the top

and turn on the A/C.  The second gas stop came at 517 mi. and 1:57 p.m.

I crossed into Kansas at 3:15 (603 mi.) and passed the Capital building

in Topeka at 4:07 (664 mi.)  I ran through some nasty thunderstorms east

of Salina at about 5:31 (770 mi.)



The third gas stop came at 809 mi. and 6:05.  I encountered more

thunderstorms around Russell (home of Bob Dole) and after a brief pit

stop I stopped in Quinter, KS at 7:50.  I had covered 923 miles,

according to my odometer (which reads about 1.5% high), and I still felt

fine.  The Miata purred along perfectly, the oil pressure stayed right

on 60 psi, the temperature gauge stayed just left of center, and we

managed to find gas stations before desperation set in.



Observations:



The corn in Indiana and Illinois has suffered from the cool wet spring;

the corn in Kansas looks healthier.



The country from Cincinnati through eastern Kansas is all quite similar,

but when you get to western Kansas  the horizon often gets quite far

away.  The amount of territory  that one can see from a rather modest

rise is quite spectacular.  Especially on a day when the clouds are

picturesque and thunderstorms can be seen from 20 - 30 miles away (like

today).



As I sped along the Interstate at between 75 & 80 mph I often thought of

the early settlers who traveled this way at perhaps 2 mph.  What an

ordeal that must have been; every river and stream, which I passed over

without even noticing, would have been a substantial obstacle to the

iron tired, wooden wheeled wagons.



I haven’t been out this way since the early 1980s, and I’d almost

forgotten how magnificent the scenery is.  I’m really looking forward to

my first view of the Rockies as I approach Denver.



The only down side of this trip is that my wife, Ruth, is not with me to

enjoy it, but she will fly out and join me in Santa Barbara on Thursday.



Bill Bowser

Black & Red '93 LE

Tonight in Quinter KS