The Mother Road

Thursday, October 21;  Bernallilo, New Mexico to Elk City, Oklahoma

" If you ever plan to motor west

            Travel my way, take the highway that's the best.

Get your kicks on Route 66........"

Whew! What a storm last night - high winds, lightning, torrential rain and hail. And wouldn't you know it, we were tent camping! Well, I was. Ruth slept in the van with The Beagles. We pulled into camp after office hours, so we couldn't even upgrade to a cabin. Thankfully, the rain didn't start until after the tent was up. I cooked dinner under the pavilion while the rain came down all around us. No one around. Place was like a ghost town, everyone holed up in their behemoth RV's. Nothing to do after dinner but hunker down and try to get some sleep as the storm intensified. Ruth was worried me and the tent wouldn't be there in the morning. Not to worry. I've got plenty of experience camping in storms, but thank god for earplugs.

Friday dawned rainless, but overcast. Ruth crawled out of the van and was happy to see I wasn't floating somewhere in the next county. The Beagles however, didn't even stick their noses out the door. Man's best friend. Hmmmm. Our trusty, old Coleman tent came through again - not a drop of water inside anywhere.

" It winds from Chicago to L.A.

             More than 2000 miles all the way.

Get your kicks on Route 66........"

Packed up the wet tent, walked The Beagles, ate breakfast, then we were on the road again. A long day today - New Mexico, Texas Panhandle, and into Oklahoma. Heading into Albuquerque, this was the first big city we'd gone through since Denver a week ago. Couldn't wait to be through it. As we cleared the big A, the skies also cleared, as if to say " You're out of the city, clear sailing ahead. Enjoy." We pick up I-40 East towards Tucumcari, NM. This part of I-40 covers the old alignment of Route 66 until a few miles outside of Tucumcari. Then the old Mother Road reappears. We exit onto it, and for the first time we are actually traveling on Route 66! We're really excited.

                                      "Now you're going through St. Louis, Joplin Missouri,  

                                                  and Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty,   

                                        and you'll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico.

                           Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino........"



Traveling is like sexy lingerie, fast cars, and TV kitchen gadgets. None of these are truly necessary, but they all make life a little more interesting, a little spicier than it might otherwise be, yes?  Old Route 66 could be lumped in that same category. No longer necessary to efficient cross country travel, the road has been replaced by nine interstate highways with no stoplights, no places of special interest, no appealing weirdnesses. Just mile after mile of asphalt in one direction or another. After the first few hours the ordinariness of it all is like watching the old test patterns on TV (remember those?).

But from all my research and now experience, Route 66 was never ordinary. From it's commissioning in 1926, the first highway to link Chicago with Los Angeles, US 66 was, to townspeople along the route and travelers alike, something special. This was the first transcontinental highway, but back then, it was little more than a transcontinental rut that usually filled with water and mud on the least occassion of rain. Paving would come much later. Soon it was being called the "most magical road in all the world." And by any standard, that's just what it became.



The Palomino Motel - Tucumcari, NM

Has seen more prosperous days





Entering Tucumcari, NM on Route 66



Tucumcari, NM



So here we are on the iconic Mother Road. The old road is much narrower than modern roads, and of course, at least on this section, the pavement leaves a lot to be desired, but is very driveable. We roll into Tucumcari, NM, a bustling town during Route 66's heyday from the 1930's through the mid 1950's, but now struggling to survive. We stop for lunch at a diner that has been serving food to travelers since the 1930's. What a thrill to be traveling in the footsteps (wheeltracks?) of travelers from 80 years ago. Very cool old neon signs everywhere - lot's of dilapidated buildings alongside the road as well. Renovation is slowly going on in Tucumcari as well as other small towns that got left behind with the advent of the Interstate System. A lot of them are riding the wave of nostalgia, as wealthy baby - boomers who remember those cross country trips with their families along Route 66 pump money into it's revitalization. Route 66 clubs and revitalization organizations abound. There is even a movement afoot to get the federal government to recommission the old road. Good to see all this happening. After lunch and a cruise through Tucumcari, it's back on I-40, into Texas and a storm that could drown a fish.

As we approached Amarillo, the skies opened up with torrential rain, a real frog strangler. Traffic through Amarillo was a bear as well. It rained about halfway through the Texas Panhandle, then let up - drying up completely as we approached the Oklahoma state line, and our final Route 66 stop in Glenrio, Texas.

" Won't you get hip to this kindly tip

                                 When you make that California trip......

   Get your kicks on Route 66."

  



1930's auto service center
Glenrio, TX - Route 66



What remains of the old motel where The Grapes of Wrath
was filmed - Glenrio, TX - Route 66



We couldn't exit onto the old alignment quite yet, as this section of Route 66 is unpaved, and all the guide books warn you to stay off it during or immediately after a rain unless you are driving a four wheel drive vehicle. So we stayed on I-40 into Oklahoma, then turned around and caught a paved section of 66 into Glenrio.

Nothing exceptional about Glenrio. Just another Route 66 ghost town left to wither away in the hot Texas sun. An old motel and a couple of buildings beyond repair are all that's left of this once lively Route 66 stop. About 20 people still call Glenrio home, so it still retains a viable post office address. Glenrio's claim to fame is that a portion of the film, The Grapes of Wrath, was filmed here. Leaving Glenrio, we cross into Oklahoma ("where the wind comes whistling down the plains........" C'mon theater people!!) and arrive at our campground in Elk City. And guess what? Another gully washer is brewing - but we've got a cabin tonight!

Song lyrics from:

(Get your kicks on) Route 66

Nat King Cole & The King Cole Trio

A sad fare-thee-well; Tacky Tourist; Bad, bad, bad, bad vibrations; A very sacred place.



Ute Pectroglyphs - Moab



Wednesday, October 20



Well, the day has come, as I knew it would, as it always does, to say goodbye to my love. The return leg of our trip must begin, and I must leave Moab behind once again. We both felt the sadness of leaving this place, Ruth & I; Moab has found a permanent place in our hearts. We spent five wonderful days here, but we are so comfortable with this town it felt like we'd been living here for five years.



So where does Moab fit into our future? Or does it? Short term: we have already commited to returning here in the spring of 2012 for the Canyonlands Half-Marathon. I want to complete both races this town has to offer in this idyllic setting, and as mentioned earlier, Ruth has "unfinished business." Also at that time, we plan to do a motorcycle tour of the ancient Anasazi Pueblo ruins sites between Moab and Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. And of course, revisit Arches & Canyonlands National Parks. We're very excited.



Long term? Well, it has always been a goal of ours to experience living out west for a year, if not longer, in a small western town devoid of all the "luggage" living in urban and suburban environs requires one to carry around. Moab is such a place. We'll see. As one local put it to us: "We're 30 years behind the times here." In today's crazy, fast spin cycle, seemingly out of control world, that may not always be a problem.



And so off the four of us go. Fare thee well, Moab. We'll see you again soon. Pointing the Prairie Schooner on a southward heading, down UT Hwy 191 we fly. Our destination for tonight is Bernallilo, New Mexico, just north of Albequerque. But first, we must play tourist at the Four Corners Monument and the Aztec Pueblo Ruins.



Roo doing the "Four Corners Dance"



Four Corners Monument had to be the most tacky tourist stop on our trip, not to mention a ripoff paying $6.00 to snap your picture while standing in four states for two minutes (the corners of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet here).The place was rundown, although some renovation was going on. The monument is on Navajo Tribal Land, and for some unknown reason I felt very uneasy when I got out of the van. Even the dogs were acting strangely. I didn't mention it to Ruth, but as she came along side me, she said "Let's hurry up and take a picture and leave." I said "what's wrong?" "I don't know" she replied. "We just have to get away from here fast." So we did. Picture taken, we boot scooted to the van and made tracks pardner. Neither of us said anything for a while, but when we left the Navajo Reservation, Ruth said "I'm ok now." Very strange.

 

Four Corners Monument



The Aztec Pueblo ruins in Aztec, N.M. were a different story. These ruins date from the 1000's to 1200's A.D. They are an ongoing archaeological site managed by the National Park service. Being able to walk through and touch these ancient pueblo dwellings as the original inhabitants did was truly amazing. We sat in a beautiful wooded picnic area adjacent to the ruins and had a quiet, peaceful lunch. A feeling of peace, serenity and sacredness emanated from this place. It was hard to leave.

 

Roo sculking about an Aztec ruin



Back on the road, we head southeast down NM Hwy 550, a scenic drive that takes you right through the New Mexico desert, beautiful in it's own right. As dusk approaches, we see the expansive brightness of Albuquerque and it's suburbs. Back in the big city. But hey, tomorrow we get our kicks on Route 66...........



Arches National Park - Moab

Tuesday, October 19

We awoke to a beautiful sunny day, the high expected to be around 75 degrees. We packed up the van for a full day of some serious hiking. The Beagles stayed in today, as Arches does not allow pets in the park.

Off we went - really excited in anticipation of what the day would bring. We'd heard and read so much about Arches N. P. that we just couldn't wait to                                                                              

experience it for ourselves.

 

Windows Arch
North & South Windows

 

Balancing Rock





The Three Sisters

 



Arches N.P. is only one mile from Moab. The park boundaries actually butt up against the northern city limits. The city father's had the foresight, after the new UT Hwy 191 was built, to make the old alignment into a cycling, running and walking path. It starts right at the city limits and its sole purpose is to take cyclists, runners and hikers (no motorized vehicles allowed) to Arches and Canyonlands N.P.'s. Imagine that! I ran on it on our final day in Moab. Awesome!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           We pay our entrance fee

and immediately begin ascending a huge cliff face. Geological beauty everywhere! If Canyonlands made us breathless, Arches made our hearts stop!! We probably drove a mile or two before the first arches came into view. What a sight! Magnificent stone arches standing in the middle of the desert amongst red rock cliff walls. Small arches, medium arches, and huge arches are everywhere. We could only imagine what the early pioneers crossing this way on their way to California must have thought seeing these strange rock formations.



Delicate Arch





Landscape Arch

 

Arches is a very large park. You can hike to all the arches, but you must drive to get to the various trailheads. Some hikes are very short, some are long and strenuous into the backcountry. Backcountry permits are required to hike to some of the arches.

We hiked and hiked to as many arches as we could. Windows Arch, Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch are the Big Three of the




An arch shaped cactus found by Ruth on the side of the trail
How cool is that? We named it Cactus Arch.

 

many that we visited. Delicate Arch is the most photographed arch in the park, appearing in many commercial advertising photos.

Later in the day, as we hiked to Landscape Arch, we took a spur trail to a smaller arch. Upon reaching Pine Arch at the end of the spur, with a beautiful vista beyond, Ruth and I stood next to each other, under this arch, with tears in our eyes. The overwhelming beauty and enormity of this place, this park, was just too much. It really tugged at our hearts.

Drying our tears and reveling in the joy this park evoked on our emotions, we backtracked and proceeded on to Landscape Arch. We took photos of where, in 1991, a 60 ft. slab of rock broke off from the arch and fell to the ground while hikers were underneath! They did manage to get away before tons of rock hit the ground where they stood. This shows the fragility of these arches, how nature is both creating and destroying them over eons of time.

Unfortunately, it was time to head back to Moab. Getting dark, we were out of food, out of water and out of energy. Time to feed The Beagles, clean up, and head out to the Moab Brewery for some 3.2 beer (it is Utah you know), and great food. Will we be back to Arches? Absolutely!! So much we didn't have time to see in this sacred place.

"Damn! This is stinkin' hard!"




This says it all

 





Canyonlands National Park - Moab

The "Prairie Schooner"
Entrance road to Canyonlands N.P.

Monday, October 18
My legs felt pretty good after yesterdays half-marathon. A bit sore - not unexpected - but I had lots of energy after a good nights sleep. Maybe it was because of the excitement I was feeling about what was on tap for us today - Canyonlands National Park.

Canyonlands National Park is divided into three districts: Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze. Island in the Sky is the closest to Moab (33 miles), so we opted for that. The red rock desert and canyons surrounding Moab are incredibly beautiful. But nothing, nothing, prepared us for what we were about to experience in Canyonlands.

Island in the Sky is so named because it is a huge flat top mesa that is connected to the rest of the desert "mainland" by a narrow land bridge. The Colorado and Green rivers carved out the deep canyons that frame this mesa over eons.


Roo under an arch overlooking a canyon in background

 Paying our ten dollar entrance fee, we made our way to the visitor center to watch a short movie about the park. Fascinating. One point they emphasized was how little rain this area receives. Today was partly to mostly cloudy as we left the visitor center and made our way over the land bridge to Island in the Sky.

We were breathless. no other way to describe it. The park road has pullouts where you can park and hike to stunning vistas - a different one around every corner. Let these pictures wet your appetite, then make your vacation plans and GO!!

As we hiked down this one trail, the skies suddenly opened up - rained about 15 minutes - we got soaked and we loved it! It rarely rains in this desert, but it rained while we were here! What a gift!



On the edge of Island In The Sky



The Green & Colorado Rivers
Natures artists still at work

 

I'm not that relaxed........
5 ft. behind me is a drop of
hundreds of feet to the canyon floor below!!

 The deep canyons surrounding us continued to impress. Before we knew it, it was late afternoon and time to get back to town. As we left the park we asked a ranger when was the last time it rained here. His answer? Until today, no significant rainfall for 8 months!Wow!

Tomorrow, an emotional experience in a place that just blew us away.................

"The Other Half" - Sunday, October 17

Colorado River





Note: the photos included here were taken along the race course, but not during the actual race, hence, no people. Also, these pictures do not do justice to the natural beauty we experienced. The entire race course ran adjacent to the Colorado River.    

                                                                                                                                                                           Moab has two half marathons a year; one in the spring, the Canyonlands Half Marathon, and this one in the fall, dubbed The Other Half. Very creative. I love it.
We're up at 5:30 AM. Temperature hovers around 40 degrees. It's really, really dark, but the desert sky is just lit up with stars. Phenomenal. We jump in the van and head out to our shuttle pickup point downtown.

Is that just not beautiful?

Roo: I am so bummed. I was supposed to run this race with Bob, but my herniated disc injury kept me from doing any kind of run or walk training. I so wanted this race to be my running debut, out here in the western desert, on a trip that means so much to us. So, now I'll drop Bob off and go back to our duplex and be pissed. Just have to beagle up and get over it.

Bob: Yeah, Roo was not a happy camper. She was really looking forward to doing this race. It was the major catalyst two years ago to do this trip in the first place. But I reminded her that now it was just one experience in a myriad of wonderful experiences.

Roo: I know that, and I have had such a fantastic time so far, with more amazing experiences to come. So, since I wasn't there, I'll let Bob tell you about the race. (Note: no spectators were allowed along the course in order to preserve the fragile desert ecosystem from hordes of rabid running fans).
Bob: Ok. Well, in a word - fantastic!! This was my first half marathon in 10 years, and double the race distances I have been doing recently. Add to that the altitude (5500 ft.), dry climate, and two huge hills; I knew I was going to be challenged.
So, after Roo dropped me off, we were shuttled 33 miles to the race start in the middle of the desert. We arrived at the race start at 7:30 AM. It's 40 degrees and I am freezing. Thankfully, there were 10 barrell fires going, and we all huddled around them for warmth. Race start was 8:30 AM. Around 7:55, the sun rose above the red rock cliff walls surrounding us. Oh my god - what a beautiful sunrise. The colors were other worldly and absolutely beautiful. I have never, ever seen a sunrise as beautiful as this anywhere. Finally, 8:30 arrived, and the race was started by the rythmic pounding of Native American drums. Very cool. We were off!!
In a nutshell, this was my experience:
Mile 0 to 6.5: Flat, beautiful scenery, felt good and strong.
Mile 6.5: First big hill. No problem climbing. Recovery difficult due to altitude.
Mile 6.5 to 8: Rolling course, no problem. Had to slow a bit to facilitate recovery. Stunning scenery.
Mile 8: Killer hill #2. Final nail in the coffin. Climbing no problem. Recovery minimal, if at all. If the low oxygen density didn't take my breath away, the scenic beauty would have (and did anyway!).
Mile 8 to 12: Very rolling course. Slowed significantly. Legs tired, but ok. Just can't breathe!! By mile 10 I didn't care about the scenery anymore. 5k death march to go!!
Mile 12: Last hill - not bad. Native American drums pounding as we climb the last hill - spine tingling and goose bumps. Only thing missing was smoke signals and Indians whooping and hollering over the crest of the hill. Would have made a great John Ford western.
Mile 12 to 13.1: Down hill finish into the Sorrel Ranch Resort, our race finish. Food, beer, and great jazz music greeted us as we (I) stumbled across the finish line. Got my finishers medal (Moab Man), food, beer with complimentary race glass, stretched, then high tailed it to my waiting shuttle bus back to Moab. Put the parsley on the plate my dear, I'm done!!



Colorado River



Red Rock Canyons



Roo: I met Bob at the shuttle drop off point downtown. He looked good, but tired. Now that he was done with the race, I could get it out of my head and move on. I'll be back!! Unfinished business!!

We went back to our duplex, showered, ate, napped, then off to Desert Doggies to pick up our desert doggies. Boy, were they ever happy to see us, and we them!. Early to bed tonight. Tomorrow is the first of two big National Park adventures...........

For more info on Moab, go to http://www.discovermoab.com/

For info on the half-marathons, go to http://www.moabhalfmarathon.org/

Red Rock Cliffs

The Colorado Plateau, Red Rock Desert, Where's Spike? and Moab

The Colorado Plateau





Saturday, October 16. Grand Junction, CO. to Moab, UT

The drive from Grand Junction to Moab is stunning. Heading south on UT Hwy 191, we begin our journey on the starkly beautiful, but unforgiving, Colorado Plateau, and what is commonly known as the "high desert" in these parts.
A quick geology lesson: Hundreds of millions of years ago, shallow seas deposited layers of sediment several miles thick. Over the eons the seas receded and those sedimentary layers were forced deep into the earth where intense heat and pressure fused them into rock. Tectonic plate movement caused the entire western US to begin rising some 5 to 10 million years ago, forming the Rocky and Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges.But the thick, rocky crust of the Colorado Plateau didn't bend and fold from those forces. Instead, it was uplifted largely intact and then eroded into the dramatic red rock landscape we see today.
The further south we drive, the more vivid the desert colors become, especially as we are driving close to sunset. Red's, yellows, oranges.......colors bouncing off the sand and rocks. The landscape began to take on indescribable shapes formed by rocks and canyons; what shapes they are is only limited by your imagination. Nothing like this exists anywhere else on the planet, yet this was only the beginning of a fantastic geological journey we were embarking on.
Saturday AM we awoke to the sun bouncing off the red rock canyon walls right outside our duplex window. Our shelter for our stay in Moab is the Kokopelli Inn http://www.kokopelliinn.com/ . A fantastic place with wonderful staff in downtown Moab, but off the main drag. And very pet friendly. Highly recommended.
After breakfast, we took The Beagles for a hike in Negro (pronounced nay-grow) Bills Canyon, a beautiful slot canyon that is one of the most popular hiking trails in Moab. Juniper trees, cactus, beautiful red rock and the Colorado River a stones throw away. The dogs loved all the new stink, and we were enamored by the beauty of it all. Did we mention how beautiful southern Utah is? I asked Ruth if we might run into Spike. Spike, as we all should know, is Snoopy's brother who lives in the desert. Ruth said no, Spike lives in the Arizona desert, Needles, AZ to be exact, and doubts he gets up to Utah much. Bummer.

Ruth, Duncan & Gretchen smilin' & hikin' in Moab

After a couple of hours of hiking, we were all hungry and the hounds were cooked (that just didn't come out right, did it). Back to our duplex, we had lunch, the pups had Beagle nap time, and Ruth & I headed downtown to the Moab Inn to pickup our race packets for "The Other Half'" half marathon on Sunday (more on that later). That job done, we went exploring downtown Moab.
Being back in Moab, for me, feels like rekindling an old love. A brief bit of history: Way back in the last century, 1996 to be exact, I did a week long mountain bike camping trip from Telluride, CO to Moab. Fantastic trip. On the last day, we descended 2000 feet down through Arches National Park and pedaled into the small town of Moab. It was love at first sight, as the saying goes. A small town in the middle of the desert that catered to people who loved the outdoors, the arts, and who cherished a general laid back attitude about life. I was smitten. I only got to stay with my new love for one day before saying goodbye, but the impression she left on me would last a long time. Fourteen long years.
Now, here I am, in 2010, back rekindling my love for this town and, at the same time, sharing and stoking the fire of love for my wife here in Moab, as this is where we chose to travel to and share our 10 year anniversary together.
So, a fantastic place, this Moab. We both feel so comfortable here. Moab has everything the active, fitness minded, outdoor enthusiast could want. Self sustaining: supermarket and movie theater, independent coffee houses, a micro-brewery, fitness center, library, restaurants, shops - all right smack in the middle of the most breathtaking scenic beauty you can imagine. No malls, no box stores, no cookie cutter subdivisions, no sprawl - you want that stuff you drive 2 hours north to Grand Junction. Moab is a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively. Small town America as it used to be , with an Outdoor Magazine twist.

"Nay- Grow"

Spike? No, just a jackrabbit

Getting late, it was time to wake up The Beagles and bring them to their lodging for the night - Desert Doggie Day Care. Great name. We'll see them tomorrow afternoon. Now it's time to fuel up at the Moab Micro Brewery, then get to bed early. It's an early riser in the AM to catch a shuttle bus for a 45 minute trip into the desert and the start venue for "The Other Half" half marathon.............

Big Towns, Rich Towns & Ghost Towns: The Rocky Mountains






Friday October 15 - Denver, Co to Moab, UT

Preparing for the ghostly walk





Silver Plume's Main Street



 We spend the night in the East Denver KOA. The topography of Eastern Colorado is actually an extension of the Kansas prairie, exactly opposite of what most would expect upon crossing the state line. As we check in at the office, I mentioned this to the owners, stating "this isn't exactly the Colorado I envisioned." Their reply was, "The Colorado you envision is on the other side of town. We pride ourselves here in East Colorado as being the Gateway to Kansas." We thought that was pretty funny. We cooked a nice meal outdoors on the porch of our cabin. It was getting colder as the night wore on. Thankfully the cabins here have heat. All four of us slept soundly. It was a long day on the road. Even The Beagles were wore out after a big romp at Lake Scott.

After breakfast, we leave the KOA and take I-70 through Denver, a BIG city (to us anyway). As we enter Denver, we can see the faint outline of the majestic Rockies. Mile after mile they get closer and closer. We keep driving, smack in the middle of the morning commute traffic we go, passing by malls, strip malls, box stores and finally, the downtown skyscrapers themselves. This is actually only one of three or four times on the entire trip where we had to deal with city traffic. Popping out of downtown on the west side, we finally begin our ascent. Wow! Ruth is blown away (as am I) and jumping out of her seat trying to see everything. Snow capped mountains surround us as we climb through Vail Pass. We stop in Vail, home of the rich, famous and infamous, for lunch al fresco as we bask in the beautiful Colorado sunshine, taking it all in. Faint memories come into my mind from a previous visit to Vail with my ex-wife in another life way back in 1985, when she just missed running over Jack Nicholson one snowy night in downtown. But that's another story. After lunch, we motor on to our sightsee stop for the day, the ghost town of Silver Plume, CO.
Silver Plume is actually categorized as a semi-ghost town, as about 200 people still reside here, down from a peak of about 1200 during it's mining hayday in the 1880's. Mine shafts and mining equipment still dot the mountainsides from that time.The buildings are still intact and the residents are doing lots of renovation. It was very easy to imagine this place as a bustling Old West mining town as we explored nooks and crannies up and down the dirt packed streets for the better part of an hour.



Snow capped Rockies

 Leaving Silver Plume, we climbed higher into The Rockies. We both were awestruck and speechless at the beauty these mountains presented to us. We ascended towards more snow capped peaks, then finally (and reluctantly) began our descent down the other side to Grand Junction, CO., the jumping off spot for the Colorado Plateau, the red rock desert and canyons, and our roosting nest for the next 5 days. The Crown Jewel of southeastern Utah,........ Moab.



Silver Plume- mining equipment





Silver Plume-Main Street

Gretchen-one tired beagle

Bronze Art and Canyons....In the Kansas Prairie!



Buffalo Bill Cody

 Thursday October 14 - Wakeeney, KS to Denver, CO

Entrance to Lake Scott

Down in the gorge-Lake Scott

We slept soundly in a cabin in this KOA last night, Up and packing early, cooking breakfast on my trusty MSR Pocket Rocket stove - we eat as the sun is rising over the prairie. Absolutely beautiful and beyond description (as much of what we saw on this trip is-we'll do our best). We herd The Beagles into the van, then head 30 miles south to Lake Scott State Park, my running venue for today. About 10 miles out from the park, we round one of the very few curves in Kansas, and.......... holy crap! Right in front of us, in the middle of the Kansas prairie, aka middle of nowhere, is a huge, I mean HUGE, bronze statue of William F. Cody, aka Buffalo Bill, astride his horse taking aim at a buffalo next to him. This artwork was immense! Behind the hill the statue sat upon was a parking lot where a kiosk gave information about this Kansas Prairie son and and his exploits. Wow. Just pops into view in the middle of the prairie. If you don't get off the Super Slab, you don't get to see stuff like this.
Ten miles further down the road we come to  Lake Scott State Park. We turn onto the park road and, whoooaaaaa........... down, down, down we descend, twisting and curving as we head for the visitor center at the lake. Cliff rock walls now tower above us - beautiful trees and grass surround us, all around a large, beautiful lake. A totally different ecosystem in the middle of the prairie. Amazing. Who says the prairie is boring? (answer: the people on the Interstate!). I had a great hilly run, actually climbing out of the gorge on up to the prairie and back, while Roo ran Gretchen & Duncan around the lake. A very quick, very cold shower (no hot water) had me refreshed from the heat of the day.
After a snack, we visited the northern most ancient pueblo ruins ever found in North America- -right here in this park, in Kansas. You usually don't associate Pueblo Indian ruins with Kansas, but here they are.  Fascinating. Our visit done, we bid goodbye to Scott Lake S.P., climbed back up to the prairie, then caught KS Highway 40 west to Limon, Co. Hwy 40 has to be the second lonliest road in America, only because of it's shorter length. US Hwy 50 through Utah & Nevada holds the lonliest road designation.We were the only car on the road for miles and miles, and yes, "we could see for miles and miles and miles and miles and mmmmmiiiillles.........oh yeah." Bad place for a breakdown -but absolutely gorgeous and quiet. Mingling with locals in some of the teeny towns we went through gave us a new perspective on how people really live outside of suburbia. Eye opening.

Ruth & the Pueblo Ruins

Onward to Limon, CO to catch I-70 again, then motoring on to Denver, our stop for the night. Tomorrow, Ruth will be speechless for hours (hard to believe) as we leave the beautiful Kansas Prairie and begin our ascent of the Rocky Mountains..........

Pony Express and the Wild, Wild, West

Wednesday, October 13 - Kansas City, MO to Wakeeney, KS

We awaken to a beautiful day, after a very windy and somewhat cooler night in the tent. Today, we head north to St. Joseph, MO - the largest jumping off point for pioneers heading West - the last bastion of civilization before heading into Indian country and the unknown. St. Jo is also the starting point of the famous Pony Express - the original livery and roadhouse now houses the Pony Express Museum, our destination this morning. The Pony Express was the nations first "high speed" carrier of mail from St. Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA. It only operated for 18 months (1860-1862) before the telegraph and railroad  put it out of business, but it became an iconic part of the American West mystique in no time.
We arrive in St. Jo and park behind the museum. This part of St. Joseph was the center of town in the 1860's, but today is the industrial section. However, the old hotel and many homes from the Pony Express era still stand, including Jesse Jame's house where he was shot and killed while hanging a picture in his parlor (living room).
We toured the Pony Express museum, which was educational and just fantastic, then strolled around the area sightseeing. Pony Express riders left the livery in St. Jo on the Pony Express Trail heading west 100 miles to the first roadhouse in Marysville, KS to quickly freshen up, eat a bit, and change horses. The best part? KS hwy 136 from the museum IS the Pony Express Trail!! We drove the exact route to Marysville that the Pony Express riders did 150 years ago! Being an Old West enthusiast, this really got me pumped.



Roo & The Beagles

 

Pony Express Livery-St.Joseph, MO

Marysville, KS is another gem of a town we came upon. A beautiful, old, "walking" town, with a coffee shop appropriately named The Pony Espresso Cafe. Nice. We stopped at the Pony Express roadhouse - still standing - to take photos, then drove south to pick up I-70 again. The Kansas prairie is beautiful and stunning, contrary to what we had heard. Back on I-70, we motor on to our KOA campground for the night in Wakeeney, KS. Tomorrow is another run day, and yet another surprise awaits us. 

Pony Express Roadhouse-Marysville, KS