Country Roads: Part 4 - The Bobo's Bungle

I had made sure to set my alarm to wake up in time to catch the tail end of the complimentary continental breakfast in the hotel. I wasn't expecting much, and it didn't disappoint. I grabbed an apple danish, a mini muffin and a bowl of fruit loops and headed back up to my room to shower and plan the next stage of the trip.

I chowed down, input my plans into Google maps and headed for the shower. When I dried off I realized I had forgotten all about the Fruit Loops and had to flush them for they had become too soggy to salvage. I gazed at the map and it's simplistic directions.

Get on I-70E
Arrive Kansas City (6xx miles)

I thought about how I didn't really want to drive 600 miles through Kansas and formulated some alternate plans, namely stopping for the night in either Topeka or Lawrence which were on the way. I was already planning on briefly stopping in Topeka to chow down at another Diners, Drive-Ins and Dive's joint - Bobo's Drive In.
I'll spare you the details of the drive, needless to say that it was far less eventful than the previous day. After leaving Colorado I reached Kansas... and that's all I have to say about that.

Fortunately, I had supplemented my iPods music catalog with a collection of audiobooks, and with nothing but flat lands and hundreds of miles between me and my destination, now seemed like the most opportune time to give them a whirl. I set the cruise control at a brisk 72mph and selected an Agatha Christie mystery to engage my mind and counteract awesome boringness that is Kansas.

I was at first caught off guard that my audiobook wasn't really an audiobook (where someone reads the book to you) but rather a BBC radio production of the book. SCORE! "We present John Moffet as Hercule Poirot, in Agatha Christie's 'Appointment with Death'".

I honestly couldn't tell you anything about my journey for the next hour or so because I was so caught up in the story. Fantastic production. When it ended I pulled over for some food. I believe it was another Burger King (gotta love those gift cards). After a quick meal, I got gas and popped in another mystery, "Murder in the Clouds".

Those stories, and later some music got me through most of Kansas.

I arrived in Topeka shortly after 10pm and set the GPS for Bobo's Drive-In. I got there too late. They close at 8pm.

8pm! In the summer! In Topeka, Kansas - where, I could plainly see, there wasn't anything else going on.

I was dejected. But I made the best of it, jumped out of the car and recorded my trip on my Flip so that it would forever be part of the video record that I was there, even if I wasn't able to eat there.

As I headed back towards the highway I was a bit hungry so I had the GPS tell me where I could find some other fast food options. Suddenly, I saw one that we don't have on the East Coast, and, to make things better, Marc Summers (yes, former host of Double Dare), had mentioned on the Food Network Show, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" - Steak N' Shake.
I pulled up hoping they'd still be open. My fears were quickly put to ease as the sign read they close at 3am and have malts and shake happy hours from 2-4 (am and pm, eat that Sonic). I went inside to find a quasi-fast food joint, retrofitted to a '50s diner/soda shop motif. The waitress was young and nice and I asked her to excuse my wide-eyedness having never been there before as I looked over the menu.

4 meals for under $4 you say. And one of them is a triple steak burger with fries? Unheard of. Yes I'll have that. And to drink... hmm, double fudge shake sounds good. Yeah, let's go with that.
It was a delicious meal.

Afterwards, I hopped back into the car and headed towards Lawrence, home of the University of Kansas Jayhawks. Also known as, most hated college basketball team #2. (Seriously, it's the one title I'll gladly give Duke every year).

After crossing my first toll road of the trip ($1 to go about 4 exits), I made my way to the EconoLodge I had looked up earlier on Expedia - see, I'm learning. Well to my surprise the guy at the desk actually charged me $5 less than the Expedia rate I was planing on. Not one to argue I took my room card, and pulled the car around.

The room was your standard cheap for the night motel, but comfortable non-the-less. It lacked some of the outrageous amenities of the motel in Denver, but that was to be expected. I had my free wi-fi, plenty of outlets to charge my things and a comfortable bed. What was more, was that I was 4/5ths of the way through another Agatha Christie mystery, "Murder in Mesopotamia" and couldn't wait to get back on the road the next day to hear the conclusion.

I also decided that I would obtain more of these BBC productions once I returned home, and gather mother and sister around the iPod to listen to the stories as we ate dinner some evening. In old-timey Americana fashion. I thought the idea fit me well, merging the modern with the classic, as is so often my way.

And so with that thought I laid my head down to rest on yet another bed, in yet another state.