Dog days of Summer

I rode 280 miles today. I would highly recommend visiting Fort Smith OK, but I can't. It was hot and humid. I couldn't find anywhere to get some interesting food or get a drink. And their premium gas is only 91 octane. Enough said. I thought I would change up my diet a bit today. I started out with eggs and bacon and three cups of coffee since they didn't have any OJ. Big mistake. After breakfast I thought about running along side my bike for about 5 miles to burn off all that caffeine. I started out by taking 64W as it paralleled 40W. Saw lots of cattle and horses and dead skunks. At about the 100 mile mark today a dog ran out in front of me as I was going 65. I hit the brakes hard (you really don't want to hit anything on a two wheeled vehicle going any speed much less ruining a dog's day)' the dog screamed I think and turned back hard. We missed each other by 20 feet or so but it certainly scared the heck out of me. The heat index got turned up today. It was 104 on a bank sign in Prague OK. I have noticed that a lot of towns in Oklahoma have the Bulldogs as their mascot. I passed by the Cherokee Indian exit today and they were advertising home made pies. I was sorely tempted to stop but I was more interested in the Kickapoo Casino exit. I figured I was on a lucky streak after missing that dog. I rode 266W and 62W and finally rolled into Oklahoma City at rush hour. I have to say it wasn't much worse then a normal mid day ride in the DC area, except we have lots of humidity with our heat. It may have been near a hundred degrees but it was a dry heat. Believe that and I have a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell you. Imagine sitting in front of a furnace vent that is blowing 100 degree air in your face while you have a bright lamp on over your head as you are sitting on a space heater. I got thru OK City and rode the remaining miles on 40W to Weatherford OK, the home of Southwestern Oklahoma State University. On the way there I passed by El Reno OK. Several weeks ago a tornado ripped thru the area. There were trees strewn all over the place and twisted and broken into pieces. The countryside is basically flat. It makes you wonder what the heck you would do if one of those twisters were coming at you. Let me tell you the t-shirt likes Oklahoma. It wisked away that panic sweat I produced when the dog and I almost tangled. In fact the dry heat made the t-shirt almost look like it had been freshly pressed. Anti microbial underwear held up well and are keeping pace too. Finally to close out my observations for the day. I stopped by a Braun food store and got a chocolate malt for $1.89 and single scoops of ice cream cones were $1.30. What a way to end the day. Tomorrow I think I'll head west.