We left Greensburg after our morning rituals and headed towards Wichita to the constant strains of “I am a lineman for the County….”, the only words anyone knew from “Wichita Lineman”. First stop was Maize, famous for – you guessed it lots of Maize crops.
Enroute to Maize we went through Kingman where Mickey had McDonalds – the breakfast of champions. The local sheriff stopped at McDonalds, channelling his inner Chief Wiggum, then started calling for an ambulance when he saw Celine working on Mickey on the front lawn of McDonalds. After being reassured all was kosher, he had a good chat to us, posing for photo’s in his giant pick-up truck with “Dare” number plates. Rusty spotted a big building across the road with “China” in bold letters on the front, and was thrilled to finally discover where all his clothes and plastic stuff comes from.
No-one dared fall asleep in the support vehicle as quick as a wink, you would be photographed with strange objects or in interesting poses, with the images going viral on the internet before you woke up! Rusty, Greg and Celine all paid the penalty for sleeping even though it was their allocated rest period.
Mickey powered on with relentless cadence and drive in the hot sun. At Maize we received censure for not having our headlights on for one section of the course, but there was no time penalty to our knowledge. It was a reminder to all of us of the need to be spot on in all we do.
In the afternoon we headed for El Dorado and then onto Yates Centre. Mickey struggled in the afternoon and night time, taking more breaks and riding at a much slower pace than expected. The day ended at Yates Centre at 3am, with lower mileage than expected and Mickey quite fatigued. Stan bartered to secure a room for a few hours for $10 at the town motel, meaning Mickey could have an ice-bath or hot shower, and a reasonably good nights sleep in a comfy bed.
We noticed a small mark on the RV, and discovered that earlier in the day Roger had attempted to demonstrate his precision driving skills at speed by pinpointing a narrow gap between two wheelie bins. We’re not sure what happened, but the final result was Wheelie Bins 1 – Roger 0.
We are having a good time, seeing the US albeit slowly and often at night. We are also learning about others in our team, as well as learning a few things about ourselves. The MickRooCrew team are also really starting to work well as a team, supporting each other and working to ensure we give Mickey the best chance of success – which is the sole purpose of the trip.
The MickRooCrew
Keep up the great effort Mickey 'n' RooCrew. As for Roger the Wheelsman, you should all know this is not the first time!! And it was always "While on official duty, this wheelie bin jumped out in front of me!" Unfortunately the one-eye-edness is getting worse with age and I understand there is a wheelie bin class action happening in Sydney as we speak. But as a stayer, there's none better! Well done '13'.
ReplyDeleteStumpy