After a late night on the patio with Fudd and his beautiful wife Heather, I crawled out of bed (son 15 year old Matt displaced to the couch) and rode to Topeka, KS; home of the Coast Guard Pay Center. I plan to sign my retirement DD214, but alas, the form was sealed by the ship’s Yeoman back in POLAR STAR. I’ve chased this elusive document around the country with no success. The Coast Guard is filled with highly trained professionals, but the administrative rate seems to have skipped a generation. A 150 mile pointless trip.
On the way back from Topeka I found Issachar Cigar Lounge to cool off and unwind. It was a delightful place where I found wonderful conversation in an air conditioned lounge. Mike the owner, great guy; Mike the General Manager, great guy, and all the other great guys made it a worthwhile pitstop as I had time to kill while Fudd was at work. In the process of making conversation I learned that Kansas is wonderful place to live with sub-zero, snowy, icy winters, blistering hot, humid summers, and all housing complete with basement-bomb shelters for the frequent wiping-out-of-civilization tornadoes.
Once back on the bike, I slugged through city traffic to Fudd’s Olathe home. The day ended with dinner at Chicago One with Fudd and his displaced son Matt.
trafalgar adventures 