Oct 25--Pueblo, CO to Dodge City, KS

Today was a travel day, coming across eastern Colorado and western Kansas.  It was really interesting watching the landscape change as the miles went by.  To begin with, the land looked dry, unused even for pasture, not very productive.  Then you move into an area where there is some irrigation, and the fields look good.  The farther east you go, the flatter the land becomes, and the more productive.  There are LOTS of center pivot irrigation systems, enabling the land to produce corn, sorghum and hay and wheat. 

The majority of the corn that we saw was not harvested, although the mounds of corn on the ground in a few places showed that harvest was taking place.

We also drove past a number of feedlots of various sizes.  The interesting thing is that in western Kansas, the feedlots were full of Holstein critters.  When we got farther west, there were more beef breeds in the feedlots.  

And yes, they did smell like feedlots! :-)

We drove past one place that had an elevator and several piles of grain on the ground.  There were about 3 piles that were covered and 3 that were "in process".  From the dark red color of the grain, I believe that the uncovered piles were sorghum. We have no way of knowing what the covered piles contained.

Probably Sorghum

 

As we came past Garden City, we saw a many-acre fenced area that was full of rows upon rows of parts for wind generators.  There were hundreds of blades in one area, pedestals in another area, and parts that I could not identify.  In looking on the internet, it appears that it is a company that brings in the parts & pieces by rail, then ships them out to where they are needed by semi truck.  The article said that they have 50 acres--I think the company has grown since the article was written.  It was a truly amazing sight, and I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of it.

As we approached Dodge City, we noticed a cloud of what appeared to be smoke just hanging in that area.  Ted asked someone, and they said that it is grain dust produced by a large feed lot outside of town.  We pulled into Dodge City about supper time and spent the night in the Walmart parking lot.  When I exited the camper the next morning, I detected the odor of grain dust in the still morning air.  Brought back memories!

Oct 24--Pueblo, CO, birthplace of Calvin Turner

So today was a more exciting day.  We first explored the dam at Lake Pueblo, from which the Arkansas River flows.

The sun on the bluffs to the west of the lake at sunrise.

Dam from the river side

The Arkansas River flowing below the dam.

The biggest reason for going to Pueblo was to see the area where Ted's Dad, Calvin Turner, was born.  His birth certificate (delayed) shows his place of birth as a "camp beside Lake Minnequa".  This information was given by his mother, Mary Irene Turner.

Lake Minnequa is a body of water in the city of Pueblo.  It was created by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. to provide water to cool the steel they were manufacturing.  It was located on a 270 acre tract of land, and in the early 1900's, the company turned part of the land around the lake into an amusement park and bathing beach, primarily for the benefit of employees of the company. When we walked around the lake, it seemed small, but was probably larger in the early 1900's when it was created.  Mary Turner (Ted's sister) remembers her grandmother telling her that she could hear music during labor & delivery--probably music from the amusement park a short distance away.

As we started our walk from the south end of the lake, the first part of the path wasn't too inspiring.  There were grass, weeds & bushes that were so tall that you couldn't see the lake at all.

Ted counted 120 rings on this tree stump

When we got to the northeast corner of the lake, the water came into sight, and the north side was a beach-like area of white sand.  The lake was a popular place for ducks, as you can see in the pictures.

According to the histories that I found about the lake, the amusement park was located at the north end of the lake, probably in this area beyond the sand.

Here are some views from the northwest corner of the lake.

While we will never know exactly where the Turners were camped, we do know that it was somewhere near this lake, within hearing distance of the north end of the lake.  Now instead of knowing Calvin was born in Pueblo, we have a much better idea of the Turner's surroundings when he was born.  On June 11, it would probably have been much greener and warmer--a beautiful place!

Oct 23--Loveland, CO to Pueblo, CO

Today was spent driving, with not too much to report.  We saw some really interesting rock formations--one was called Castle Rock, and there is a town there by the same name.

We also saw some of our first corn fields!

We made our way to the Lake Pueblo state park, where we stayed for 2 nights.  It is a very pretty lake, very popular for fishing and boating. 

The weather was great, sunny & nice temps. 

Oct 22--Church at Estes Park

Today was a special, long-anticipated day on this trip.  We drove up to Estes Park, CO (elevation 7,943 ft.)

and attended church at the Mountain View Bible Fellowship, pastored by our former Glacier Church pastor, Hal Irvine.  It was a great service, and then we went out for lunch with Hal & Karen.  We had a great time of fellowship, many laughs, and catching up on what has been happening in the eight years since they left Kalispell.  I was having such a good time I forgot to take many pictures, but here are a couple.

Karen & Hal Irvine

 

Ted & Hal Irvine

Tomorrow we head for Pueblo, Colorado.

Oct 21--Catch up Day

Today was one of those days you have to have every once in awhile when the mundane tasks of living have to happen.  We went into town, got a new battery for the RV (for the living quarters, not the engine), and did laundry at a laundromat.  (I haven't done that for a long time!)  Then when we got "home", I did some cleaning.  Nothing exciting today, no pictures, just a "get-er-done" kind of day.

Oct 20--A Visit to Ault, Colorado

We left Buffalo, WY and traveled the rest of the way through Wyoming and into Colorado today.  Here is a map of our day's trip.

There were some interesting rock formations as we drove through Wyoming.

We drove through more high desert areas, and from the "Road Closed When Lights Flashing" signs and the many large snow fences, it is clear that they can get a lot of wind and snow in this area.  One thing we found very cool is that the snow fences are slowly being replaced by rows of evergreens (Ponderosa pine?).  There were many of these natural snowfences, some quite tall & mature, some just newly planted.  You can see that it is a long-term project, with new "fences" being planted each year.  This is an area where trees do not grow unless you plant them....

Now for the highlight of our day.  One of the places that the Turners received mail in their travels was a little town called Ault, Colorado.  It is just across the border from Cheyenne, WY. The town sign calls it "A Unique Little Town".

 It is a small farming town, with many cornfields, and (I've never see this before) a sheep feedlot.

 We ate lunch at a restaurant on the main street called "Krautburgers", and learned some things about the town from the owner.  First of all, Krautburgers are a mixture of hamburger, onions and seasonings browned together, then mixed with chopped cabbage.  This mixture is baked inside a bread dough bun that is about 5" across.  The mixture is totally enclosed & baked in the bread, and I don't know how she did that.  They were tasty, and very filling.  The picture below is of the building that houses the restaurant.  The owner said that it was built in 1907 as a hotel, so it would have been there in 1912 when the Turners were passing through.  Now the building is home to 3 businesses and several apartments.

The next stop was our campsite in Loveland, Colorado.

Oct 19–Day 5--Through Wyoming

We stayed at a nice campground in Buffalo, WY last night.  Ted found an old Farmall tractor that they were using as a flower display.  I'm sure it was prettier before the flowers froze! :-)

Right beside the tent area of the campground was a peaceful little river.

That is pretty much the end of "pretty" scenery, although the drive from Buffalo to Casper was very interesting.  The first part of the drive was broken, rugged, sagebrush country.  We saw at least 2 flocks of sheep grazing, and about a bajillion antelope.  We came over some very high hills on this road.  They didn't seem like mountains, just very high hills.  Here is a screenshot from my altimeter app when we topped the highest hill.

The closer we got to Casper, the less rugged the countryside became. 

Scattered infrequently along the road, we saw oil well pumpers.
After we left Casper, heading for Douglas, WY, we came by this coal electric generating plant.  (Ignore the bug smears on the windshield) :-)

And thus ends another day!  This is so much fun!

Oct 18–The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

As you can maybe tell from the title, this day didn't go according to plan.  We made a grand total of 37 miles today, from Sheridan, WY to Buffalo, WY.  So here's the story:

First, the bad--I woke up in the middle of the night, sneezing my head off.  This morning, I had a full-blown cold, sneezing, runny nose, and all that "stuff".

The ugly--as we were getting ready to leave the campground this morning, Ted did a walk-around inspection of the vehicles and noticed that there was a big bald place on one of the inside dual tires.  Not wanting to become a statistic of some kind, we determined that new tires were probably in our future.

 We found a TireRama in Sheridan that had the right tires and could install them today. Apparently when we bought the RV, the seller had taken the front tires off and put them as the inside back dual tires, then put new tires on the front and outside back (where we could see them). 

In order to get the new tires put on, we had to unload the van, and unhook the tow dolly.  When the tire change was finished, we had to reverse the process (a 45 minute project each time).  Then when we hooked the tow dolly & van up after the tire change, the running lights wouldn't work on the dolly or the van.

The good--God showed us the tire problem before it became a really big problem, we were able to get the tires replaced in a timely manner, and when we stopped in Buffalo at Bighorn Tire to get the torquing checked on the tires, they also had someone who could fix the running lights!  We found a good campground in Buffalo, and are settled in for a good night's sleep.

Oct 17–Day 3--Little Bighorn Battlefield aka Custer's Last Stand

We spent some time exploring the National Monument at the Little Bighorn Battlefield south of Billings today.  I learned some things about the people and the events leading up to the battle that I had never heard before.  I was really impressed that, along with the monument to the Seventh Cavalry soldiers who died, there is now a monument to the Native Americans who died there as well.  All in all, a very worthwhile stop in our travels.  I took a lot of pictures, trying to show the landscape and what the scene of the battles looked like.  You will have to use your imagination, as the grass would have been green in June of

1876, and there would have been men fighting and dying on these hills.

This is the monument erected to the memory of the soldiers & civilians who died at this place.

These markers show where Custer's troops & the civilians who were with them fell and died.  These are not gravestones, but place markers.

This is the view beyond the photo just above.  The line of trees is the Little Bighorn River, where the Native Americans were encamped with their families (not as a war party).

 The monument to the Native Americans is recessed into the top of a hill very near the US Cavalry monument.  All around the inside are engraved pictures & quotes from the Native Americans of that time and also from their descendants.

This is one of the entrances to the circular memorial, views of the plaques below.

This amazing metal sculpture shows up beautifully against the blue sky!

Here are a couple pictures marking the place of death for some of the Cavalry troops and also some of the Native Americans.  I found it interesting that the Native Americans knew just who fell where, and have attached names to their stones, while many of Custer's men were not identified by name on the stones.

Cavalry markers.  These were scattered around the hills, not just in the little fenced off area of the second photo.

Native American markers are also scattered around, but they didn't lose nearly as many men as did the Cavalry.

This display has information about an archeological dig that was done in 1984, and shows some of the artifacts that were recovered. 

Tomorrow will probably not be nearly as exciting as today, but we are looking forward to seeing the beauties of Wyoming!