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Some Roads (In response to doreen's poem Pawn to K10)
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Some Roads (In response to doreen's poem Pawn to K10) |
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Ryan Member
since 1999-06-10
Posts 297Kansas |
There's a highway that goes from KC to Lawrence called K10. I've ridden it many times, but never actually driven it. They say that cops always sit along that 20 mile stretch (b/c that's how far it is from KC to Lawrence) to catch speeders, but when they're speeding as fast as they tend to speed, cops can't even see them. I do like to go the speed limit though, just to watch it all pass by. There is wheat, and there is corn, and it will nurture the people. This road will always be paved in black, and nuture those who call it their home. Everybody says that K10 ends in Lawrence, but actually, it doesn't. I don't know how much farther it goes, but I think it makes it to Lecompton. That used to be the capital of Territorial Kansas. It's west of Lawrence and somewhere along I-70. I-70 is a beautiful trip west of Topeka. They always say that Kansas is flat, flatter, and flattest, but they've never seen the hills that roll along land. Try walking or running up one of those. Gentle sloping hills with 3 foot grass are beautiful in the wind. The patterns are hypnotic in their gracefullness. Once you leave the prairies, it does get flat, but I haven't travelled that far west in too long, so I can't tell you what it's like out there. If you're ever out on I-70 and see an exit for K177, take it and head north. Several miles up the road there's a scenic overlook on the west side. Stop there and look around for a while. Then go back south on K177 for about a mile. On the west side, there's a spot where you can see the plains unspreading for miles in between to sloping hills. Once you see the beauty of the plains, there's no turning back. But if you must, take I-70 back east again, and maybe visit a few other highways along the way like US75, or especially K57. Also, travelling north on I-35 just near the Miami-Johnson county line there is an old truck graveyard that is one of the saddest things I've ever seen. Back a little bit further south (so we're backtracking), at the junction of US75 and I35, there is a place called BETO Junction. Eat at the restaurant there. It was wonderful. It is the midwest. And I guess, if you head back north again, you'll eventually end up somewhere in KC, and if you plan it right, you can end up right back at where K10 begins and peels off toward Lawrence. < !signature--> I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion. —Jack Kerouac [This message has been edited by Ryan (edited 09-14-2000).] |
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Masked Intruder
Moderator
Senior Member
since 1999-05-23
Posts 1231Near golden sunsets |
Hey, Ryan. Guess what. I just drove up Highway 13 at four o'clock in the morning all the way from Springfield. Isn't that great? I thought I'd share that with you first and let you know that I'm home and don't intend to go to sleep tonight. Kyle is passed out on his bed. And we're due to wake up right about now. But before I go... Doing 115 mph down K10 between Lenexa and Lawrence between the time of dusk and dark is a miraculous seventeen and a half minute trip. The lives of hundreds of little insects end on your very windshield, just inches from your face. Lights speed by before they can really be focused on, creating the illusion that you are going even faster than you shouldn't be. A few horns are blazed now and then at the danger of such a driver, but they are lost before they can reach your ears, left to drift on the winds of your backwash. A refreshing slap of wind greets you even in ninety degree weather, caressing your face through open windows. Invigoration seeps through every pore of your body as even a slight turn sends G's jumping through the car. And, golly gee, adrenaline is a cure for any disease. Blips on the radar, and gone too fast. That's at only 115 mph. Just imagine 140. Even with a lot of imagination, does it make the story less true? |
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Masked Intruder
Moderator
Senior Member
since 1999-05-23
Posts 1231Near golden sunsets |
Oh yes, forgot to mention that your distance was wrong. Between KC and Lawrence is just a little farther than 20 miles down K10. Considering it is exactly 30.1 miles from I435 to my dorm parking lot next to the tree where I always park. |
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Ryan Member
since 1999-06-10
Posts 297Kansas |
Lol, what a trip. Would've been fun (except I know I would've ended up cramped in back). Don't work too hard now, and if you don't plan on sleeping tonight, perhaps we can visit some more roads. Ryan I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion. —Jack Kerouac |
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