The operative word Thursday was "hot." Temperatues hovering around 100 were as high as we saw in the desert, but with much higher humidity. I bonked again a few miles before Orienta. Definitely heat exhaustion this time. We flagged down a passing pickup truck to take me the last mile to the convenience store, where we waited a few hours in the air conditioning for me to recover and for the temperature to drop before continuing on the 35 miles to Enid. We hit "happy hour" so the 32-ounce soft drinks only cost 55 cents.
While waiting, we got into a conversation with a local farmer.
His great grandfather homesteaded their farm in the 1890's
(although he was not a
"Sooner"
since he didn't jump the gun.) Turns out the farmer is on the
board of directors of the co-op that owns the grain elevators
across the road from the convenience store. He asked, "Have you
boys ever been to the top of an elevator?" Of course we jumped
at the chance, rode up the tiny 2-man lift and walked around the
top of one of the 12 silos taking pictures. The land is so flat
you can see a long way from that height. I asked him how many
loaves of Wonder bread could be made with all that wheat.
(Each silo holds about 120,000 bushels, nearly 1.5 million
bushels total.)