The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

I liked Oklahoma very much. I saw the local people at their best in a crisis and it was impressive. Over breakfast at my hotel in Guthrie this morning, I heard two locals, a hotel guest and a lady who worked there, discussing how the tornado will be old news in a few weeks and worrying about whether the help to their distressed neighbours will continue.

The lady said the tornadoes (a regular occurence in Oklahoma, but rarely so damaging) had always skirted around her but her parents had been hit by one. It had taken them two years to straighten themselves out and they had “learned a lot about insurance.” I gathered what they learned had not been very much to the credit of their insurer. The ex-lawyer in me smiled as they told each other how important it was to read and understand the terms of your policy.

I watched the morning news programme, very local in its scope as is usual here where every major town has its own TV station. The morning rush hour was a bit of a disaster, with so many ramps closed on I-35 because of the tornado damage. I had planned to go back into Oklahoma City to visit a museum, but decided that it would be selfish to contribute to their congestion problems for mere pleasure. So I set off straight to Dodge City, KS, once known as “the wickedest city in America” at a time when the title was more hotly contested than today.

Today’s drive was up there with the best of them. Changing my next destination to Dodge City took me off the interstates and onto excellent, but more quiet routes. The truckers and I had only to contend with a few local farmers in their pickups. Progress was brisk but I was in no great rush. I had the roof down and was happy to take in the local scenery. I knew there would be no Welcome Center on so quiet a route so I stopped (interfering with precisely no traffic at that point) to photograph the “Welcome to Kansas” sign. There was nothing to be heard but the low thrum of Speranza’s idling V8 and the songs of local birds.

I blasted past a truck at one point, before pulling in to look at an historical marker a mile or so down the road. He saw me there and pulled in to find out precisely what had just passed him. He was a nice guy, ex-military with service in Germany, and originally from New York State. We chatted in the Kansas sunshine and I took a picture with Speranza to email to him and warned him it might feature here. He took the details of my blog and said he would check it out and follow my progress. Hello Ray, welcome. It was good to meet you. Drive safely, my friend.

Speranza is issuing warnings about her “engine management system”. I have seen this before and am not too worried. Very little carbon build up on her catalytic converters can cause it. She’s performing very well and there are no other indications of difficulty. I am exchanging emails about it (drat that time difference) with the guys who service her in London and unless I hear from them to the contrary, I am proposing to press on until I actually pass a Ferrari dealer, rather then diverting to Denver, CO – where the nearest one is right now. 

I arrived in Dodge City late afternoon and checked into my hotel too late to take in the sights. I will do that in the morning before heading off to whatever proves to be my next destination. This trip is proving better (touch wood) even than I imagined.