I am off to a flying start in my latest excursion to Kansas City.

I took a page out of the NASCAR playbook yesterday on the drive over, running my gas tank almost to completely empty. I had less than half a tank when I left Russell, so I knew I would have to stop for gas somewhere. I passed Salina and Abilene, figuring I still had Junction City.

When I looked at my gauge at Chapman, which is between Abilene and Junction City, it showed I had about 100 kilometers (60 miles) of gas left. If the calculations were accurate, I would be able to make it to the gas station at Maple Hill, approximately 15 miles west of the I-470 exit in Topeka, where I get off I-70 to head to the Kansas Turnpike.

I was sweating it out for the last 30 miles. I knew I was very low. I just hoped I could get to that gas station with a drop or two to spare so I didn’t have the embarrassment of having to contact AAA or hit the OnStar button on my rear view mirror and tell them I foolishly thought I could make it to a gas station and drive 45 miles with the “Low Fuel” warning on my dashboard.

I made it. Barely. Another 4-5 miles, and I would have been out.

I arrived in Kansas City at 12:15 and went straight to Buffalo Wild Wings, knowing it would get crowded by 1:30, the scheduled tipoff for the Kansas State-Kansas basketball game in the Big 12 Conference tournament, which is being played in downtown Kansas City at the Sprint Center.

There was seating available throughout the game, which KU won easily 85-63. Actually, it was more crowded for the final game yesterday, Iowa State-Oklahoma. A lot of Cyclone fans in the building. But they’ll be heading north on I-35 following a 79-76 Sooner victory.

I had a lot of fun playing trivia for nine hours yesterday. Robb and Dawn came by in the late afternoon. I thought they might not show up, but they did. They’re supposed to be coming tomorrow. I also saw Tori Weber’s parents, which was also very nice.

More of the same today. Trivia and basketball. My good life.