Yellowstone Road Trip - Day 10

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world - the world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.”   ~Mark Jenkins

After our breakfast at America's Best Value Inn in Wall, South Dakota, we were on the road again at 7:50. We gassed up for $3.799 a gallon and headed south on Highway 240 then on Hwy 44 on the scenic route through Badlands National Park. As we approached the park entrance a yellow sign warned us to be cautious of the prairie dogs because they have the plague. They are cute but we were certainly convinced to avoid a firsthand encounter. You'll notice that the park entrance sign has bright, shiny things on top. Those are sharp little metal needles to keep the birds from landing on the top of the sign and pooping on it.

As we got into the park it reminded us of parts of the Painted Desert in Arizona but the colors were more muted – less reds and more grays. The layers were still very distinct, however. At one point where there was a castle-like formation atop one group, Linda counted at least 47 shades of gray with interspersed layers of the same pink over and over. The area was formed from deposition at the bottom of a sea during millions of years, subsequent erosion and some volcanic activity thrown in for good measure. Where there are colors it represents that there were living creatures and plants at one time. We soon came to areas with yellows, also greens. The greens seemed to be from vegetation. In one area there were green flat places among the formations, not valleys but on a level as high as many of the uneven surfaces. Look for them in the photo gallery.

For a ten minute video trip through the Badlands National Park, including some prairie dog footage and a big horn sheep, just view the video below. We really like the music we picked for this video. The first selection is "A Ride Through the Black Hills" by David Anthony. How appropriate is that? The second is "Cloudland" by Patrick O'Hearn. Hope you like them as well.



The Badlands were named from a Lakota name meaning bad lands (mako sica). Early French fur trappers called the area “les mauvaises terres a traverser” which also means bad lands. With rattlesnakes, rocky soil, great winds (Linda had to hold onto her hat) and uneven questionable water supplies, it is easy to see why Indians called them bad. They do have an appealing beauty but not the kind that would have made it easy to put food on the table for the Indians. The peaks, gullies, buttes and wide prairies of the Badlands were challenging to cross until the nice paved roads of today's National Park.

We thoroughly enjoyed the visitor center and our scenic drive through the park. There are many vistas where it is easy to pull over and enjoy the formations. Around one bend we came to a beautiful lake called Horsethief Lake. It was created in the 1930s as a Civilian Conservation Core (CCC) project when a dam was built on Pine Creek. The CCC was a work relief program created by Franklin Roosevelt. It sent young, unemployed men to work on conservation projects. For their hard work, they received $1.00 a day.

After leaving this very interesting park we were still on Hwy 44 until we got onto Hwy 16 west and headed for the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is the world's largest emerging mountain sculpture (641 feet long and 563 feet high). Summer of 2012 was focused on developing Crazy Horse's outstretched hand that rests in the horse's mane along the skyline. The rough shaping of the colossal horse's head is nearing completion. The Crazy Horse Memorial is now in its 65th year. It honors the leader of the Battle of Little Bighorn. It's near the geographic center of the U.S. and is considered sacred by many tribes of native Americans. If it took 65 years to get it finished this much, these two old buzzards won't get to see the finished product. Lots of informative photos included in today's gallery.

We left Crazy Horse and headed on Highway 16 to go the 17 miles to Mount Rushmore. That's where reality collided with fact. When John first spotted the Mount Rushmore carving and pointed it out to Linda she was surprised at its size. In photos and in her imagination she had always expected it to seem larger than it looked just then. Another fact that soon collided with both of the buzzards was the realization that there was no way to get to the park's entrance and the visitor center but through a gate leading to a parking area, run by a concessioner, that cost $11 (not a part of admission to the park). Oh, well, the buzzards coughed it up. There are also severe limitations on dogs on the paths and byways so John and Fannie stayed in Wilma while Linda went into the Visitor Center to get the Buzzard's passport stamped and get a park pin. There is a display of flags from every state on the walkway towards the viewing area. Even though Linda has seen many photos of workers standing next to George's nostrils, the carving somehow still didn't seem as large as she had expected it to appear. Thankfully you have all also seen hundreds of photos of Mount Rushmore and won't be disappointed that FDR is just a bit in the shadows in the photos Linda made. On a scale of 1 to 10, Mt. Rushmore rates about a 2 as being a "citizen friendly" national park. $11 to park, in John's mind, is absurd. He strongly recommends most any other of our national parks as being less crowded and more accessible.  Heck, we've all seen Mt. Rushmore images a zillion times. Guess what....they are pretty accurate!

So the buzzards can mark Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse off their bucket list. But first John will have to put them on his. All in all, Linda was more excited about both of the carvings than John. She has dreamed of seeing Mount Rushmore since she was a child. Maybe that's why she expected it to seem larger than it looked to her today. She was not at all disappointed with Crazy Horse. She knew it was unfinished and the visitor center has great displays showing what will be carved where and a scaled-down replica of the finished carving. AND she got to pick out a sparkly granite rock that is part of the material blasted away during the ongoing project. OK, she actually got two rocks, since John had stayed in Wilma with Fannie while she went to the visitor center and she just knew he would want a rock too. (John comment: "Yeah, dude, Crazy Horse rocks!")

It was interesting to observe the many touristy businesses that have been developed in the area around these two attractions, and the signs they've come up with to attract paying customers. There is a reptile garden, Old McDonald's Farm (a petting zoo), Putz 'n Glow (black light miniature golf), Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns, Bear Country USA. And two different Mystery Spots. There has been no sign of vineyards, but yet we saw at least three wineries seemingly aimed at tourists: Prairie Berry Winery has Red Ass wine (made from rhubarb), Naked Winery has Buck Naked wine and there is a Stone Face Winery.
Today's photo gallery has 49 images, mostly of the Badlands National Park, but some of the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mt. Rushmore. We will add a video to this post at a future date and let you know. We shot some video in the Badlands and just have to process it and put it together. To view the photo gallery, click here.

We checked into our room at LaQuinta in Rapid City, South Dakota at 3:30 and spent some time pulling photos and video off the cameras and listening to the wild children next door run back and forth screaming up and down the hall. Fannie Mae is not a fan and neither are we. Our hope is that they will calm down and sleep tonight so we can as well. We called the motel desk before leaving for dinner and now that we are back the noise is mostly confined to their room. Well, actually they are fairly confined but their noise travels through the wall quite readily. We notified the desk again, and at 9:30pm it's a bit quiter.

We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant, the Millstone. We both had their soup and salad bar, which included desserts as well.

We then went to a Wall*Mart so John could get a jacket for our visit to Yellowstone. Linda is in highlighter heaven because she got a new set to use on the atlas where she charts our road trip progress.

Referencing today's quote we are glad to report that neither of us has collided with the earth and are mostly experiencing kindness from others and are enjoying offering kindness to others as well. This can have amusing results. At a convenience store Linda was in line for the women's restroom when a mom with a diaper and a baby got behind her. Both the men's and the women's restrooms became available at the same time so Linda just told the mom she could use the women's and Linda would use the men's. When Linda came out of the men's there were 2 guys in line and no line for the women's. Some explanation seemed necessary but since she couldn't think of one, Linda just ducked her head and headed for the exit. She thought of one today. She could have said “Howdy guys, I'm in drag and they told me not to use the women's room”. Oh, well, next time. Then today was true karma. John went in to get a soft drink (called pop around here) and use the facility at a convenience store. He was gone for the longest time. While she was waiting Linda saw lots of motorcycle guys hanging around. Then when it was her turn to go inside she had to laugh at the long line of guys for the men's room and NO line at all for the women's. Yea, karma! There is no black and white! Sometimes there can actually be a line at the men's room and no line for the women's room.

Happy trails!

Yellowstone Road Trip - Day 09

“I have the substance of things hoped for. I have the anticipation of things unseen.”  from the book “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger

Alarm went off at 6:30a.m. and the two old buzzards were on the road again by 7:32, having broken their fast in their room.  Leaving North Platte, Nebraska they got on Hwy 30 for a short bit then spent most of their drive today headed north on Highway 83. Daily trivia: did you know that Highway 83 goes from Mexico to Canada? Did you care? Just remember, it might come in handy when you are on Jeopardy.

We now have a car fly swatter so Linda marked that off her Wall's shopping list. There was a plastic one hanging on top of the wall calendar in the our last motel room and it jumped off the wall and into Wilma faster than you could say “Happy Birthday, Linda!” She figured that was OK since it has the motel's name on it and we will be advertising to flies (flys?) in several states.

As we were approaching the Nebraska border into South Dakota we realized that we hadn't taken any photos in Nebraska other than of our dinner last night. It is the Corn Husker State but the corn we saw was corn that must have been crops that did too poorly to be harvested (lack of rain). There just weren't that many attractions along the road, scenic or otherwise, and we were too tired when we got to North Platte to go exploring around town, although what we saw of it was nice. Linda forgot to mention that when we pulled into our lodging yesterday the first guy she saw walking by had on a red t-shirt with black letters that said FEAR THE CORN. What was that all about?

Valentine, Nebraska (called Heart City) is about 20 miles before the South Dakota state line and just to the left of Valentine the time zone changes from Central to Mountain Time. Wilma got very confused and kept changing the time from 10 something to 11 something and back to 10 something, etc. John's cell phone got even more confused when he put it back on "automatic" and it took about a half-hour to catch up to reality. We stopped for a rest stop and driver change the Valentine McDonalds at 10:30. Linda drove us 80 miles north to Murdo, South Dakota and we got there at 10:40 (according to our mixed up Wilma's clock). Next we headed west on Interstate 90 and soon got back into the Central Time Zone for good (at least until we leave Idaho on the way back home). When you study the jaggedy back and forth vertical lines on the time zones in the atlas, it makes you wonder how they were devised. Some don't seem to make a lot of sense.

Back to our quote for today – about the anticipation of things unseen and things hoped for. We had heard about Wall's Drug before, so we were wondering when we would start seeing the signs. Sure enough, right after we got onto the interstate at Murdo there was a sign saying “Entering Wall Drug Country” and we were then 80 miles away from Wall, South Dakota. They probably start even further back on the interstate than 80 miles. Anyway, Linda jotted down what the signs said and it was sort of like a Burma Shave saga at some points with signs coming so close together. With hardly any repeats, she counted 32 signs in the 80 miles before getting to Wall's Drug. She tried to photo a few of them but it is hard at 80 miles an hour (75 speed limit plus 5 for good measure). Here's some samples, each was on a separate sign and included the words Wall's Drugs: Coffee 5 Cents, Homemade Breakfast Rolls, Doughnuts, Shooting Gallery, Free Ice Water, Cowboy Up, 25 Minutes to Wall's Drug, Badlands then Wall's Drug, Homemade Ice Cream, Don't Miss Out, Quality Black Hills Gold, Take a Break, Wall's Drug or Bust, Chuck Wagon Quartet, Have You Dug Wall Drug?, Cowboy Hats, Dinosaur, Traveler's Chapel, Wood Carvings, Homemade Lunch Specials and our favorite FREE Coffee and Donuts for Honeymooners.

We got to Wall, South Dakota before noon and our room (at America's Best Value Inn – not at Wall's Drug) was not ready so we found the City Park and shared a Subway foot-long turkey/ham sandwich for lunch. Linda saw an ad for Subways NEW Birthday Cookie so just had to have one. We then drove through town to get a look at Wall's Drug and the first thing we saw were parking signs and tour buses. Amazing! And the other side of the street from Wall's Drug is filled with the Chamber of Commerce and a  lot of touristy type businesses that probably would not be there except for the draw of Wall's Drug. Linda and John took a quick peek inside and returned to Wall's Drug later after checking into their room and unloading. Quite an amazing place! Here's some of the story: During the Depression in 1931, Ted Hustead, a young pharmacist, his wife Dorothy and son Billy bought a small drug store in Wall, a town of about 300 people. They moved into the back of the store. After a few years they realized they could not stay in business because people in western South Dakota were having hard times. In desperation, Dorothy suggested they advertise free ice water to attract the traveling public who seemed to by driving past in huge numbers. The idea saved the drug store, Because of the Husteads' tenacity, Wall Drug slowly grew to be the largest drug store in the world. Ted and Dorothy have passed onto that great pharmacy in the sky but Wall Drug is still family owned. And, you can still get free ice water. You can learn more about Wall Drug by clicking here.

There are 64 images in today's photo gallery which you can view by clicking here.

We also did a drive-by shooting of the Wall Drug store with our nifty little GoPro Hero2 camera suctioned onto the windsheild. That video is below.



The old buzzards did not make it around the whole place but they did pause mid-afternoon for some homemade ice cream. John had butter pecan and Linda had raspberry. Both flavors were yummy and really did taste homemade.

Dinner was next door to our motel at South Dakota Roadtrip Cafe and Fat Boy's BBQ (it's really the same place). It was very good. John had pulled pork and beef brisket, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Linda had a smoked buffalo sandwich, Fat Boy beans and a Fat Tire amber ale. The service was slow but old printers always study the menu carefully and can entertain themselves by finding typos. For example, at the Roadtrip Cafe you can order “potrions of coleslaw, waffle fries” etc. and “All smoked sandwiches swerved with your choice of one side."

All in all, it was a most enjoyable day and Buzzard Number One had a quite memorable birthday.  Buzzard Number Two bought her a couple of souvenirs and a birthday card at Wall's Drug. He gave her the sweet card at dinner and said “I was going to get you a funny one but you're getting really old and . . .” He's all heart! And always so concerned about Buzzard Number One's advancing age (she is a whole NINE months and five days older!). Says he's always preferred older women.

Happy trails!

P.S.Another sign you might see in today's photos is for Firehouse Brewery in Rapid City. There were 3 huge signs at different places along the interstate, each with an actual big red firetruck parked in front of the sign – very attention getting.

P.P.S. Fannie Mae is enjoying the buffalo and the while-tailed deer at our motel.

Yellowstone Road Trip - Day 08

"Travel for the young is part of education, for the old, a part of experience." ~Francis Bacon.

After the two old buzzards had their La Quinta Sunnyside Breakfast (same song, second verse) they motated outta Dodge City at 7:27 on Highway 50 right onto Highway 283 going North. They turned left onto 96 at Ness City and found a Pot o' Gold. It is a unique giant slot machine on someone's private property. You can find it in today's photo gallery. The old buzzards hereby grant permission for you to print and frame it for posterity. You can bet that you will never see another one! We also found a convenient Wendy's to our "relief". When necessary, you can always find a room of necessity in Ness City!

Wilma and her GPS did NOT want us to turn left onto 96 out of Ness City. She sternly kept telling us to “Make a U-turn if possible!” By the time we got onto 83 going north she recalculated and helped us find Monument Rocks National Natural Landmark. Seeing it required driving 14 miles round trip on a dirt road. But, it was well worth it. We were driving on a very flat area when we suddenly came upon the towering formations. John's first comment was “Stonehenge!” They are actually chalk pyramids from what was once the floor of a vast inland sea. This site is the first natural landmark chosen by the US Dept. of the Interior as a National Natural Landmark. This landmark is on private land but the owners are generous to share this site with the public. The limestone formations, originally formed 80 million years ago, stretch to 70 feet in height. Sadly, the Pyramid Ranch, upon which the Monument Rocks reside, is on the auction block. Don't know what will happen in the future. See the link in the next paragraph and check it out.

So far, it is very pristine. It would be a terrible shame if it was vandalized. It is just seemingly out in the middle of nowhere and there is no one around for miles and miles except for a few tourists at times. It has also been designated as one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas. Click here for more information about the Monument Rocks.

There are lots of photos of Monument Rocks in today's gallery, and you can get an idea of the rocks and the 7-mile long dirt road  you get to drive to reach them on the following video.



While we were still on 96 we stopped by the side of the road and got to see a monument to George Washington Carver. He had a homestead in the area for several years while he was a very young man. It was a sod house. He left to continue his education and was later in his life that he conducted so much on peanuts and sweet potatoes, among other things.

On Hwy 83 we saw a historical marker about El Cuartelojo Pueblo Ruins. This is the furthest north that there are any records of the Pueblo Indians having made a settlement. They came to Kansas in the 1600s to get away from the poor treatment they were receiving from Spanish soldiers in Taos (now in New Mexico instead of Mexico).

Another spotting on Hwy 83 was a huge bronze statue of Buffalo Bill in the process of shooting a buffalo.

All of this and more in today's photo gallery of 32 images. You can view them by clicking here.

After lunch at a nice city park in Rexford, Kansas, Linda took the wheel and drove until we got to our America's Best Value Inn in North Platte, Nebraska.

Since we are in North Platte, we thought we would have some Mongolian food at Kings Mongolian Buffet. We will let you know later if there was anything memorable about it. LATER: We had our Mongolian Buffet. They had lots of seafood, especially shrimp (boiled, bacon wrapped and grilled, fried). Bubba would have loved the place. Lots of fruits, good hot & sour soup and soft ice cream for dessert.

Happy trails!

Yellowstone Road Trip - Day 07

“Invitations to travel are like dancing lessons from God.”  ~Kurt Vonnegut

The two old buzzards and their Fannie slept in for a while before going downstairs for Sunshine Breakfast at La Quinta. John gave up making a waffle since bacon and scrambled eggs were a part of the fare. Linda brought her Raw Bits Twang Twang and added a Dole fruit cup to them. She looked on the package to see if the fruits were from Kansas. It said California. Then she noticed that California was just where you write for nutrition information. The origin of the fruits (peaches, pears, pineapple) was actually Thailand. Go figure . . .

We were on the road to Meade, Kansas by 10:10 for a short day trip to see the Dalton Gang's hideout and secret escape route. We took Hwy 283 south, then turned right (SW) onto Hwy 54 to get to Meade. We found the hideout with no problem, pulled up and waited for the rain to subside. It was coming down a little harder so we drove into town, got coffee (John) and iced tea (Linda) at the Smoke Boss BBQ & Espresso place (another go figure). Since it was still raining and John rationalized that they could both sit in Wilma's luxurious leather seats, or he could do that and let Linda shop. So, Linda spent about 20 minutes in an antique store called Oldtimers Antiques. She found a bargain treasure for her garden – a metal star for $2.00.

The locals were happy to see the rain but would have liked for it to be coming down harder. We felt their pain but just wanted it to slow down for long enough for us to go see the Dalton Gang's old stomping grounds. We got our wish very soon and had a great visit to the museum and secret tunnel. In one of the rooms there was a photo of the couple who lived in the house after the Daltons. No one (except the Dalton gang) had known about the tunnel until the new residents discovered it.

The attendant at the museum was very friendly, dressed in Westerny clothes and spoke with a cowboy accent, as in “Howdy Folks” etc. Turns out he farms wheat. We left with a badge, a newspaper repro from October 7, 1892. The Dalton gang had been wiped out two days earlier so the Coffeville Journal had lots of news to report about the excitement. Two of the three Dalton brothers were shot and killed as well as two other gang members, the third brother was captured. Four brave Coffeeville citizens lost their lives.

The following is a short video we shot at the Dalton Gang Hideout:



The bank cashier who fetched the money at gunpoint was Bert Ayers (Linda's maiden name is Ayers). The surviving Dalton brother, Emmett, was sentenced to life and got out after 15 years for good behavior. He went to California and was a real estate man at the time of his death in 1937.

The buzzards headed back towards Dodge going north on Highway 23. It was there that they finally got to see some specimen-sized sunflowers instead of the small ones that grow wild along some of the roadways. This field had obviously been planted since the large sunflowers were in straight rows. They were getting so heavy that their heads were beginning to drop.

John also found a group of very old farm buildings and a healthy sorgum crop to photo on that same stretch of road. As we came into Gray County we spotted their Senior Center and a target marketing advertisement on the bench outside. (see photo gallery). We also took a photo of a "NO J TURN" sign. Had to look that one up on Google.

We also got some shots of a couple of feed lots. The cows seemed to be mostly black (with a few brown and white ones) and not as crowded together as some places we have seen in California and Texas. There also was no noticeable "fragrance" in the air.

During our travels today, John came up with a motto: "Kansas, where you need a flyswatter for your car." What a great promotional giveaway for some political candidate. Our car had an abundance of flies in it when we left and it seemed that just when we got rid of them, more appeared – along with mosquitos.

We turned right (east) at Cimarron and were soon "back in Dodge" via Highway 50. John parked and went into the first bank we could find (Bank of America). No, he was not inspired by the Dalton Gang. He bought a roll of quarters so we could do laundry at the motel.

Dinner tonight was at El Charro Restaurant. John had a ground beef chili rellano, a beef enchilada and a guacamole tostado. Linda had a Southwest chicken salad. Both had a Dos Equiis with lime.

Well, there are 48 photos in today's gallery. It's a real mixed bag of subjects. You can visit today's photo gallery by clicking here. There will be a video of our visit to the Dalton Gang Hideaway added to this post fairly soon. We'll let you know when we've added it.

And so another day of travel comes to a happy close.

Yellowstone Road Trip - Day 06

“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give, to roam the roads of lands remote: to travel is to live.” ~Hans Christian Anderson

We had breakfast in our room (Post Honey Bunches of Oats and RBTT) and were on the road by 8:04 back to Highway 50 after a short stint on I-25.

At Rocky Ford, Colorado they were celebrating National Back to School Day and a sign wished good luck to The Rocky Ford Meloneers (ever heard of a melon as a high school mascot?). We have noticed lots of signs showing many kinds of melons for sale during the last few days.

After getting coffee at Dog House Espresso in La Junta we decided to find Bent's Old Fort. Note to Mileage Madness gamers – add 14 miles for the extra miles spent on Colorado 194 roundtrip to Old Fort.

Bent's Old Fort was one of the most significant centers of the fur trade on the Santa Fe Trail, influencing economies around the world. It was opened in 1833 and became one of the pillars of the Western fur industry in the 1830s and 1840s. The fort was located on the Arkansas River, the international boundary between Mexico on the south and the United States on the north. The post played a major role in U.S. Expansion into the Southwest leading to the establishment of the present-day United States boundaries.

On one of the display boards was the following poem:

Buffalo fresh, buffalo dried,

Roasted, boiled, stewed or fried,

Buffalo serves in every stead

For poultry and pastry,

for meat and for bread.

(Doesn't this remind you of Bubba's ode to shrimp in Forest Gump?)

The old buzzards were very impressed by the detail with which the fort gives visitors a view of what life was like for residents of the fort. There is everything from chickens to a functioning blacksmith's shop. There is a complete kitchen of the era with ingredients that would been used in their meals. There are living quarters, a dining room, stored provisions, furs spread out to dry, a trade room, a carpenter's shop, a well room and many other features. Each is very complete with furniture as well as small items. And the really fantastic feature is that you can walk through the rooms. The entrances aren't roped off as they are in many historic sites.

 

They have farm animals like the fort residents had....sheep, chickens, horses, mules, steers, cows, peacocks and pea hens. The docent brought in about a dozen eggs she had just collected from the hens. Two pea fowl graced the courtyard of the fort. Back in the day, if you owned a pea fowl, you were considered to dwell in the "upper" class.

There were living quarters and a billiards room (men only allowed) where it is reported that strip billiards was played for male entertainment and some of the losers would inevitably end up nearly naked. There were also games of cards, backgammon, chess and checkers.

The docents and rangers were all very friendly and helpful, making our visit even more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise. Fannie was welcomed in all areas so all three of us got some well-needed exercise as the fort was a little of a hike from the parking lot. John figures about a mile, round trip, plus what we walked in the Fort.

And on our way back onto Highway 50 we stopped on Colorado 194 for photos at a few oddities we had noticed on our seven miles of backtracking. In today's photo gallery you will see a John Deer mailbox, some old buildings and a modern looking home with sod covering as a big part of its structure. It looked like it would be very well insulated. It was so tempting to go knock on their door and ask for a tour. Maybe next time . . .

We stopped in Lamar, Colorado for lunch at 12:25. Using Wilma's GPS, John found nice shady Willow Creek Park. It was just a few blocks off the main drag. Linda had a boiled egg, whole wheat Pringles and Tarvin tomatoes. John had a La Quinta banana and a rice cake smeared with a little peanut butter.

Linda took over as driver at 12:50 as we departed Lamar. Some quirky business names viewed as we made our way back to Highway 50 were Thoughts in Bloom (a florist) and Check Inn (a motel)

We try to photo the welcome signs at the state lines but they are sometimes hard to see in time but we did get welcomed into Kansas at 1:30 by a sign. However, it was fully 50 minutes later before we saw a trace of a sunflower. Actually, so far we have seen more sunflowers in Colorado than in Kansas. We did not pass the line for a time change until about 20 miles into Kansas. That is because the four counties in northwest Kansas are on Mountain Time and the rest are on Central Time. That must get confusing at “times” for people doing business in both zones.

At Cimarron, Kansas, the Lazy Blue Jays were being congratulated on a sign for being State 3A Champs. Maybe the team isn't as lazy as the name of their mascot. Moments That Matter is the name of a photography studio seen as we went through Cimarron.

No state seems to have a franchise on road work. There are lots of jobs provided all along our route so far. When we were on the last leg of our trip we came to a full stop near the main drag of a tiny town. We had to wait for the flagmen to let us go on the one lane that was in use. We watched a cute little old man toddle from the corner grocery with his just-purchased cold drink. He came across the street to the Post Office and stood there watching the stopped traffic. A postal employee noticed him and thoughtfully brought out a chair for him so he could relax and enjoy the view. We then noticed that lots of other folks (mostly older) were viewing the stopped traffic from the corner store. We decided that they must be pretty hard up for entertainment. Either that or they are very easily entertained. Glad to help.

We had intended to stop near Garden City at a bison preserve but learned that reservations for a tour are necessary. Apparently the buffalo have to get all spruced up for guests. How would you like to give a mani-pedi to a 2000 pound buffalo?

The crops in Kansas seem a lot healthier in general than many we saw in Colorado. Lots of corn and grains looked to be sadly lacking for moisture and may not even be worth harvesting. John noticed several corn fields with signs at the end of rows of corn indicated $0.40 less per gallon than unleaded regular.

We got into Dodge City at 5:15 and went to check in to America's Best Value Inn. They had sent us a welcoming email a couple of days ago about our reservation and how they were looking forward to having us stay with them. However, apparently they have recently changed their pet friendly policy so that if you have a pet you must stay in a room that is a smoking room. That didn't sound appealing so we went down the road a bit and found a very nice La Quinta where our room is on the second floor. Fannie hates elevators with a capital H so it is good that we are not on their fourth floor. The good news is that she does love stairs and we can all use the exercise.

The La Quinta staff recommended a place called The Bad Habit as a good place for John to find some Kansas beef. It was quite nice and John thoroughly enjoyed his filet mignon, salad, cottage cheese and Texas toast (just half a piece). Linda had an excellent Southwest chicken salad with a glass of moose drool from Missoula, Montana. She was surprised by what had been described as corn chips on the menu. They were Fritos which John pointed out ARE corn chips. And, they were good in the salad.

Okay, then, our 50 photos from Bent's Fort and along the farm road are posted in today's photo gallery. You can view them by clicking here.

Good night all! Happy Trails!

Yellowstone Road Trip - Day 05

“Our surroundings were of the wildest possible description. The roar of the water was constantly in our ears, and the walls of the canyon, towering half mile in height above us, were seemingly vertical. Occasionally a rock would fall from one side or the other, with a roar and crash, exploding like a ton of dynamite when it struck bottom, making us think our last day had come.” ~Abraham Lincoln Fellows, 1901

The Old Buzzards got up before the alarm went off and had a quick  La Quinta Sunrise/Sunshine Breakfast. Linda had coffee, OJ and RBTT with a little added strawberry yogurt. John had a bagel, strawberry yogurt, OJ, half a banana and coffee. There was too long of a line for a make-it-yourself waffles, so he made do with other items.

After the luggage cart was loaded with all the Buzzard's paraphernalia Linda was waiting with it while John went to fetch Wilma. A barefooted guy came by and after looking over all the gear and Linda's camping like attire said, very enthusiastically “Did you have a great ride on the river?”  He was so sure of himself that Linda just answered “Sure!”

We took Highway 32 onto 50 out of Grand Junction and soon came upon Delta, Colorado. We had gone through Delta, Utah yesterday so it was a little confusing for a minute when it looked like we had made a wrong turn. On the outskirts was the Devil's Thumb Golf Course. In town we noticed a Delta Pawn. There were fireman out on the main drag doing some kind of fill-the-boot fundraiser. They helped us find Doghouse Espresso which was a funky place with great coffee. There are some photos of the firemen and Doghouse Espresso in the day's photo gallery.

John had mentioned that it would be nice to find some fresh peaches and just outside Delta Linda spotted a pickup on the side of the road with a sign saying “Peaches, Picked Fresh this Morning” but she didn't see it in time to stop and it was on the wrong side of the road. Soon we came to a fruit and vegetable stand on the right side of the road and John saw it in time to stop and get some peaches.

Montrose was next with a Rose Bowl and a Taco John's. There were lots of businesses named after the Black Canyon that we were fast approaching. We wondered if there might be a Black Canyon Dentistry and a Black Canyon Septic Tanks, among others.

We decided to take time to visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison (the Gunnison is a river) National Park which meant leaving highway 50 to go seven miles in and seven miles back out (you Mileage Madness players should take note of those 14 miles). The quote at the start of today's post is from one of the early explorers of Black Canyon. The rocks aren't really black but it is so deep, so sheer and so narrow that very little sunlight can penetrate it. In 1901 Abraham Lincoln Fellows (quoted above) and William Torrence floated the canyon's river on a rubber mattress – 33 miles in nine days – and said an irrigation tunnel was feasible. The 5.8-mile Gunnison Diversion Tunnel, begun in 1905 and dedicated in 1909, still delivers river water for irrigation.

It took fans of Black Canyon from 1930 to 1999 before they were able to persuade Congress to declare Black Canyon of the Gunnison as a National Park. In just 48 miles in Black Canyon the Gunnison River loses more elevation than the 1,500 mile Mississippi River does from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The river drops an average of 96 feet per mile in the park. It drops 480 feet in one two-mile stretch. All that fast moving water and debris are why the canyon walls are so steep.

We entered at the south rim, went to the visitor center to get our National Park Passport stamped and a park pin for Linda's collection. Then we stopped along the park's paved road at several of the vista points to peer down into the canyon and take photos. At the crossed fissures vista Linda took a nice 394 yard path to the viewing area. But when she got on the path to return it was suddenly very much of an uphill climb and she got back into the car gasping for air. Of course, the elevation could have been having some affect on her as well since we were at places up to eight thousand feet while in the park. John even took some 300 yard paths to viewing points and did just fine. Even up and down hill. His 100# loss is making a big difference in his walking endurance.

Here is a short video with shots of the Gunnison from the canyon rim, and John's walk out to one of the view points.



We emerged from the park back onto Highway 50 at 12:45. So our little jaunt cost us a little over two hours. We felt that it was well worth delaying our arrival to Pueblo. Soon were were at Blue Mesa Reservoir and we then started noticing fly fishermen in the river down stream from it.

By 1:45 amid sprinkles of rain we found a roadside picnic table with a nice cover so we stopped for a late lunch of a peach, a stolen La Quinta banana and a peanut butter rice cake. We were both looking forward to Mexican food dinner at Jorges tonight in Pueblo, recommended by former Puebloite (Puebloan?) Gale Hammond (not of Morgan Hill). So we didn't want to have a heavy late lunch. Linda thought the hand sanitizer dispenser instructions at the site were funny since the instructions said to start with clean hands.

Back on Highway 50 the rain had stopped. We had green plains, cows, sheep and gentle hills. The hay was mostly in large rolls. We only sighted one place that had bales of hay in the fields. By Monarch Pass there were lots of Rocky Mountains, some with snow still dusting their tops. There were also lots of winding roads. And there were many mountains that we couldn't see because they were completely covered with trees. In a few places there were yellow patches in some of the deciduous trees. The fall colors will be beautiful within a few weeks. The mostly all green is very nice for now though, The Continental Divide is at Monarch Pass – 13,720 feet.

After being on a two-lane road for several hours (with occasional passing lanes) and being behind trucks which were hard to pass safely the traffic came to a dead stop at 4:15. We figured that some rocks had fallen into one of the lanes but it was a traffic accident and after about 15 minutes we started to move slowly past the unfortunate vacationers. Fortunately, it appeared no one had been injured, but their Audi had a bad Labor Day.

Some nice photos of the Black Canyon on the Gunnison in today's photo gallery, along with an eclectic espresso place. You can view today's gallery by clicking here. Also, for more information on the Black Canyon on the Gunnison National Park, click here.

We finally reached our sumptuous lodging at Motel 6 at a little after 5:00. We called to make sure that Jorge's was open since it was Labor Day. Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, no answer. Oh, well, maybe next time. So we chose to eat at a Black-Eyed Pea since we had never tried one anywhere and it was excellent. It was Chicken Fried Monday so John had salad, chicken-fried steak, green beans and baked potato. Linda had grilled Cajun catfish, sweet potato fries, squash casserole AND substituted BLACK-EYED PEAS for rice. John actually finished the day 134 calories under budget.

Stopped to gas up at a Loaf 'n Jug (owned by Kroger Foods) for $3.459. Then back to our Fannie at Motel 6 and to bed after blogging.
Happy trails!