Getting into Dodge

Dodge City, KS – Before we headed out this morning, we checked with Jessie in the RV park office to see if there were any weather concerns.  There was a pretty stiff wind, and we wanted to be sure it wouldn’t escalate into anything dangerous.  Jessie said there was a wind advisory, but that our route was into calmer territory, so we could proceed without worrying.

As we eyed the brown blur on the horizon and saw pieces of dried cornstalks flying across the highway along with the tumbleweed, we reminded ourselves of her words.  We even pulled over when we heard something bump against the RV. Opening the door without having it ripped off its hinges was a hard-won battle, but once outside, we didn’t see any damage, so we wrestled with the door to get back inside and carried on our way.

Just south of Oakley on Highway 83, we passed the magnificent sculpture of Buffalo Bill Cody, with a rifle to his shoulder, chasing a bison.  It was around these parts that he won the buffalo-hunting contest that entitled him to his nickname way back when.

Although “flat” is the main adjective in describing the Kansas terrain, we did encounter a few places where the ground dipped into a riverbed or rose to a rounded hill or two.  We even saw a couple of low sculpted rock formations, and saw signs for the turnoff to see the rock monument nearby.  Having seen a massive number of same in Utah, we continued on our way.

We left the 83 and turned east on Highway 50 at Garden City. Just a few miles west of the city is Holcomb, the small town where the Clutter family was murdered by two ex-cons in 1959.  Their story was the subject of Truman Capote’s best-selling book, “In Cold Blood”.

Huge grain elevators, farm equipment stores, pickup trucks and vast expanses of combed earth ready for spring planting gave clear evidence of the agricultural importance of this state.  As we approached Cimarron, we began to see feed lots with literally thousands of cattle in huge pens, fattening up for their transformation into steaks and hamburgers.

A silhouette of a cowboy posse is set on a hill at the western edge of town with “Dodge City” in big letters at its base. The town was originally the site of Fort Dodge, built to protect wagon trains on the Santa Fe Trail and to furnish supplies for soldiers fighting the Indian wars on the plains. Colonel Richard Dodge was the first commander of the fort, and he’s now immortalized in this iconic town.

Gunsmoke Trav-L-Park is the name of our RV campground and on the porch of the office build-ing are dis-plays of hay bales, milk cans, old saddles and wagon wheels. The usual map of the RV sites includes a notation of “Chester’s Grave”, so I went out to have a look after supper. There next to the porch was a weathered stone with “Chester 1879” and, protruding from the ground was a leg and a cowboy boot!

Our first order of the day after setting up was to find some groceries, so we got a glimpse of the outskirts on the way to WalMart. We’ll be seeing more tomorrow!

Zoo for sale

Oakley, KS – Our one-night stay has turned into two.  Time for some R&R in a peaceful spot, where the grasses blow, the robins chirp, the rabbits cavort and the Zanins take it easy.

We slept late this morning, in part because of the time zone change. It would have been a normal rising time if we hadn’t lost that hour on entering the Central Time Zone. The forecast for today was 82, but I don’t think it got much higher than 72.  Still, that’s a pleasant change from the high-altitude chill we’ve had for several days.

Our laid-back morning meant we were available for a Skype conversation with Val’s brother John and our sister-in-law Fawn, in Florida. It was great to catch up on their news. I still marvel that we can chat like that, with one side of the conversation a thousand miles from the other.

Later on, I took a stroll across the highway to the truck stop on the other side, and discov-ered that right next door to it was the Prairie Dog Town animal menagerie we’d seen advertised on the highway yesterday. On bright red wooden signs were large yellow letters declaring “Five-legged live animals! Buffalo! World’s Largest Prairie Dog! Only 20 (10, 5) Miles Ahead!” The only thing was, the menagerie was closed, and in front was a large sign saying “Zoo For Sale”.

I meandered out to the back lot of the truck stop to see what I could see, and there were some pens with a few bison grazing.  However, between me and them was a field at the edge of which was posted a sign saying “Rattle Snake Habitat” and another saying “Private Property”.  So I snapped my photos with the long lens and ventured no further. I thought I saw a large turkey in another pen, but it was kind of far off.  I do hope those creatures are still being well cared-for despite the drop in audience attendance.

Other than that, it’s been a very quiet day. So I’ll share my photos and sign off for now!

Tumbleweed territory

Oakley, KS – We’re in a new state and a new time zone tonight, in the heart of cowboy country. Strong winds whistled across the wide plains that we drove through today, scooping up balls of tumbleweed and sending them bouncing across the highway.

We had a couple of delays in getting out today. One was a cute little bunny rabbit that sat quietly in front of the RV twitching its little nose, even after Val started the engine!  He had to get out and encourage the little puff ball to move along before he could get moving.

We had been waiting for the RV park office to open, which during its winter hours is not until 10 am, so that we could get the propane tank filled before setting out.  When you have to run the furnace all night in these cool times, the contents of the LP gas tank get used up. Finally, at 10 o’clock, the office opened, and that’s when we learned that the guy who’s trained to pump LP gas didn’t come on till three in the afternoon!

The feed store in town had an LP filling station, we were told, so we drove in only to find out they only filled portable tanks, not the ones built in to the RV.  Besides, there was no space to pull up to the tank anyway. So, we headed out to the interstate with an eye out for a place where we could fill up before reaching our destination.

Val had to keep a strong hold on the steer-ing wheel on I-70 because of the gust-ing wind.  Every time we went through an underpass, the wind sucked us to the right and pushed us left again when we exited.  On those huge, wide-open plains, there’s just nothing around that can slow the wind down.

People planted windbreaks of evergreen trees around their farmhouses as a bit of a barrier, and along the few rivers along our route there were clumps of cottonwood trees, but other than that, the land was unbroken save for the yellowed stubble of last year’s corn crops. Some of the fields were sprouting green, especially the ones supported by irrigation equipment.

We spotted a few pump jacks, but the main output of the land appears to be crops. Huge silos and piles of cylindrical hay bales were a common sight.

We found a truck stop before our turnoff where we could fill up the propane tank, so we’ll be cosy all night tonight – although we’re told it won’t be as cold as it has been at higher elevations the last few nights. That means we won’t have to disconnect the water hose.

Here in Oakley, there is a museum of dinosaur bones and fossils which we thought we’d visit tomorrow, but it is closed on Sundays.  There’s also a monument to Buffalo Bill, which we’ll see on our way out of town.

Surviving the Dust Bowl and the I-70

Strasburg, CO – Both of us let out a gasp when we had our first look outside this morning. The ground around the RV and the car were white with snow!  The sun was already melting it by the time we were ready to head in to Denver again, although we did have to dig out the snow brush to clear the rest away.

Our first destination was the History Colorado Center, and based on the lineup of yellow school buses, we were prepared for the lively crowds of school children inside.  The floor of the main hall of this museum is a huge topographical map of the state, where a very pleasant docent named Dani welcomed us and told us what to expect on our visit.

The Center is a great place for kids to learn about their state. “Destination Colorado” replicates a small agricultural town in the 1920s where kids can shop at the general store, climb into a real Model T Ford, see what it’s like to milk a cow and learn about life on the farm.

On the upper floor “Colorado Stories” describes experiences of various residents, including hard rock miners, traders at an early fort, and wartime Japanese internees. It was impressive to see the candid accounts of prejudice against the Japanese, as well as the African Americans who were targeted by the Ku Klux Klan. There was also a simulated Rocky Mountain ski jump where visitors could step onto a pair of boards and watch the steep slope unfold on a screen in front of them.

We stepped inside a farmhouse kitchen where, with voices, video and sound effects, we relived the “Black Sunday” Dust Bowl storm of the 1930s when the sky went dark and winds howled for hours. There was also a hands-on display about the importance of water to the region, and a replica of a ski lodge. 

The state capitol building was our next destination, and it was a short walk away so we left the car in the parking lot by the Center. A fierce wind whipped at our hair as we walked, though the sun was shining. We noted the wide range of clothing choices made by Denver residents – some were in parkas, while others had on shorts and t-shirts!

Our arrival at the magnificent capitol building, with its gold-plated dome, coincided with the start of a public tour, so we attached ourselves to the group and tried to hear the soft voice of our young guide, describing the two houses, the brass chandeliers and large paintings of prominent Colorado citizens.

By this time we were ready to head back to the RV park, a 40-minute drive from downtown. The trip ended up taking much longer because of a crash on the Interstate! Fortunately, when we gave up waiting, we were able to bushwhack across to an off-ramp and try to find an alternate route.  It was just plain luck that the direction we chose led to a junction with the I-70 which got us past the huge tie-up. Whew! The open road and big sky were a welcome sight after our tiresome wait.

Blue bears and free money

Thursday, March 27, 2014
[We had upload problems yesterday.]

Strasburg, CO – The drumming of raindrops on the RV roof in the night seemed to be a portent of the coming day, but it proved to be perfectly fine, weatherwise. We drove in to the city to find out what points of interest we might like to see, and to connect with the bus tour we’d arranged for in the afternoon.

The Denver Visitor Center is on one corner of the 16^th Street Mall, a stretch of several blocks dedicated to pedestrians. Along either side of the wide walking area is a corridor for the free shuttle buses that offer lifts from one end to the other, so although there are no cars, one does have to watch out for the buses – and because they are hybrid vehicles, they don’t make a lot of noise as they approach!

Armed with a city map and some ideas of places to see, we explored the mall and some of the special sites in the area.  One of these was the Federal Reserve Money Museum, with free admission and displays of paper currency designs, counterfeiting prevention, and the history of the Reserve.  At the entrance was a large bin filled with bags of…money! And a sign, encouraging visitors to help themselves! Each bag held about $165, quite useful if one had the time to stick all the thin slivers of paper back together again!

A little further down the street was the Colorado Convention Center. Probably its most important claim to fame, beyond the thousands of people who attend conventions in it and the topics they discuss, is the 40-foot blue bear that stands outside, paws on the huge windows, peeking inside to see what’s going on.  Its name is “I See What You Mean” and was created by a local artist who had once seen a black bear peeking inside a house in much the same way.  It reflected the artist’s curiosity about conventions that take place inside.  The Blue Bear has become a local icon.

After we had lunch, we connected with our Gray Line tour of Denver – and discovered we were the only customers today! So we had a private tour from driver Gerald, who was very knowledgeable about the sights, and tailored our visit to our particular interests.  We saw the golden dome of the state capitol, the home of Molly Brown, who didn’t sink in the Titanic disaster, the huge flock of cormorants that reside at the City Park (and just returned from their winter break), the two huge sports arenas for Denver’s home teams, and much more.

We learned that Denver has a large German community, which explained the many beer-and-bratwurst restaurants we saw, and that the high-tech field was a key employer. We visited Cranmer Park, with its flagstone platform displaying the names of the entire array of mountains to the west of it, and where a tilted sundial taller than a man provides the time of day all year round, in spring and summer on its upper face and the rest of the year on the back of it.

It was a comprehensive and fascinating visit, and now we feel much better acquainted with this attractive western city.

The pair went over the mountain

Strasburg, CO – We’re in a small community east of Den-ver, and the countryside here could not present a greater contrast with what we saw today if it tried. From our start west of the Rocky Mountains to this ultra-flat spot, we’ve risen to 11,350 feet in altitude and down again. We are still on the Colorado Plateau, so even though it’s flat, it’s up at 6,000 feet.

When we got up this morning and stepped outside, we could see our breath. The weather was good, though off in the distance there were quite a few clouds, some of which were wispy at the edges, signifying some sort of precipitation. With a route heading into the thick of the Rockies, we sincerely hoped we would not encounter snow on the road. We’d checked carefully before leaving, so we had some solid information to go on in any case.

Before we got to the serious mountain environment, we passed some farmers’ fields, and in one I spotted two clumps of animals. One was clearly a herd of cows, grazing contentedly, and the other, I finally realized, was a herd of elk, just a short distance away from the cows, enjoying the same field! I guess neither group felt threatened by the other, and there certainly was plenty of grass!

Once again, as the highway wound its way through the steep mountain passes, new vistas of sharply-peaked, snow-topped mountains came into view, like a series of picture postcards.  The higher we climbed, the more snow we saw on the ground, at first in the shadows of the evergreens and in the sheltered valleys, and then on meadows and roadsides. The outdoor temperature dipped to 1.5 degrees Celsius (and then, at the end of our journey, it was up to 21.5!).

When we reached ski country, we passed towns with chalets and hotels catering to downhill sports enthusiasts. They almost had an alpine look to them, with the tall evergreens and white mountains behind them.

We had passed this way before in 2011, and we did recognize a few landmarks, but one I’m sure wasn’t there last time was the snowboard course at the ski resort town of Vail – a huge half-pipe snow formation high on the mountainside with dozens of tiny figures zigging and zagging down. The ski-lifts were running busily, and in the town we could see skiers in their snow garb waiting for the bus to take them to the top.

Flashing message boards appeared along our route warning of a highway closure due to road maintenance on a tunnel at Idaho Springs and to expect delays.  Sure enough, as we rounded a bend we could see a line of red tail-lights as a long stretch of vehicles slowed to a halt. After a few minutes we could tell it would be a while, so we turned off the engine. Finally, traffic began to move again.

About an hour later, we were crossing Denver and driving past farmers’ fields that stretched all the way to the flat horizon. Somehow, it feels like we are much closer to home now that the Rockies are behind us. It was lovely to see the big sky full of huge clouds, and all that land.

Cool peaks, hot springs

Glenwood Springs, CO – We’re nestled on a hillside RV park with views in either direction along Interstate 70 of snow-topped mountains and the sparkling Colorado River.  The air is fresh and the sky is clear, and we had a good drive today.

It was a short one too – we got to the park in time for lunch – but we are trying to gauge our travels so that we can get over the Rockies without doing so on a long driving day.  It will be enough to go up to 11,000 feet and down again through mountain passes without covering a long distance as well.

As we headed east today toward the Utah-Colorado state line, we passed the turnoff for Moab, where two more spectacular canyon state parks are located.  Our friends Scott and Mary Jane tempted us sorely with encouraging words about them, and eye-popping photos of their visits there, but we felt it was time to head on.  We have to leave something for the next visit!

The moonscape terrain in those last few miles of Utah made our departure a bit easier; we so enjoyed everything we saw and visited while in that unique part of the world. A contingent of pronghorn antelopes reported for duty on one of the last hilltops to bid us farewell.

Almost as soon as we entered Colorado, the geography changed to lush green pastures against a majestic mountain backdrop. We pulled over at the visitor center in Fruita to pick up maps and information, and asked the host there what the smoke was all about in the valley we were passing through.

He told us that this was the time of year when farmers are burning off dry grass and weeds before planting season begins, and that highway crews were doing the same.  It made for a rather hazy view of Fruita, but we did see plenty of orchards and vineyards as we drove through.

After setting up in the RV park and having lunch, we headed off in the car for some groceries.  Glenwood Springs is a pretty little town with a charming historic downtown and lots of hotels.  Its proximity to the popular ski resorts is one reason for this, but there are also hot springs here that draw visitors.

With our shopping done, we headed back and passed a resort with a huge swimming pool, just jammed with swimmers, plus a big waterslide. The temperature here wasn’t much more than 65 degrees, so it surprised me to see this until I realized this must be the hot spring they were talking about in the tourist literature!

Up on the mountain side we could see a cable-car ski lift in full operation, even though there didn’t appear to be more than a sprinkling of snow at the top.  However, I spotted a roller coaster up top, so we figured there was more than snow sports drawing visitors to that height. We’ll be hitting the heights soon enough, so we continued our drive back to our cosy home on wheels.