I met Dan a little after 7:00 am at a convienent store just off of I-540 at hwy 412. We popped over to McDonalds across the street for a bite of breakfast and then began our journey across Oklahoma. Since the journey was just starting there was an air of excitement even though the flat
lanscape of the midwest offered very little in the way of visual pleasure. It became a game to see who could arrive at the toll booth first and pay for the others toll on the turnpikes... I had filled my tankbag rear pocket with quarters in preparation for this part of the journey. After what seemed like an eternity we eventually left the populated areas of Oklahoma and began to see fewer and fewer towns, and less traffic. I began scanning my GPS for gas stations since I only have about 180 miles of range between fill ups... We stopped for gas mid day and Dan wanted to eat some lunch. My usual travel plans don’t include lunch since it puts me to sleep... Not a good thing when riding boring straight roads... Since this was our first time to ride together I conceeded. We stopped at a small Mexican restaurant and I nibbled on a salad, drank Ice tea, and became acclimated to the A/C that was set so cold that you could hang beef in the place . When we stepped outside it felt hot outside.. We took a few photos, and chatted with the usual old guys who come up and tell you about the motorcycles they used to ride (Gosh I sure hope I am still riding when I am old) and became soaked with sweat.
As soon as we got rolling again the mesh riding suit I was wearing began to allow air to pass through and evaporate my wet undershirt... woohoo airconditioning :) . 
Hours went by, I entertained myself watching the LCD screen on my video camera. Dan began to do leg stretches, moving his feet from the foot pegs to the front of the bike, then pointing his toes outward and inward... Hmmm I thought to myself... This video footage could be used for an aerobics class. It seemed like we should be arriving in New Mexico at any minute, but my GPS said it was still a long way off :( When we finally did get close to the border a huge thundercloud loomed in the distance. I am not sure why, but when you are out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but flat ground around you a huge storm can be spectacular... and intimidating too. We pulled off the road so I could put my video equipment in my tankbag to protect it from the rain... While there I noticed how much the terrain looked like part of Mongolia I saw in the video series “Long Way Round”. It is the video report of Ewan McGreggor, and Charlie Boorman riding BMW’s around the world.... anyhow I decided to do a panoramic view with the video camera before putting it away. Then a huge gust of wind came up and blew my bike over...
At first I ran over and kind of laughed. My dirtbike falls over frequently and it is no big deal. After we picked the bike up I saw no damage other than the front signal had come un snapped from its holder. We rode on to Clayton New Mexico where we had planned to spend the night.
