Colorado Trip 2017 - CO Arrival (9/5-9/7)

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The Wagners woke up in Lamar, CO excited to make the next 2-day trek in to their final destination of Almont, CO! But first, looking forward to a stop in Manitou where many Wagner family memories have been made. We had a late, light breakfast at McDonalds in LaJunta near Bent's Old Fort - remember this place kids?! It was a bit cool this morning and no more smoke from the fires out west in the air. We were told a cold front cam through last night.

Lamar, where we overnighted, is where there were sidewalk sales one year and a young Jim bought little Kristie a pair of bright red sandals with his own vacation money. Shortly after, he bought the whole family donuts for breakfast in Canon City was out of money for the rest of the trip!That was also the year we camped our vacation at Cutty's.

(As a side note, when this conversation was taking place on the family group text messages, Jim had a quick reply to Mom's memory which stated: "I don't remember running out of money but i do remember running to the bathroom after riding horses at Cutty's because I had to poop the whole horse ride..." LOL! to which Dad responded: "Not all memories are so pleasant! 😄"

Once on the road, the view was of many, many hayfields and cut sorghum fields. We passed mile after mile of this view on the way from Lamar to LaJunta in eastern Colorado! 

    

As we approached Pueblo, our excitement mounted as that is generally where we are able to catch our first glimpse of the mountains, however, we were so disappointed at 1:30pm local as we could not see them from Pueblo or on the way in to town as we were coming west.

First hazy glimpse of the mountains!

In another aside, we had a check engine light that came on in our car after we gassed up last night and  were not sure what it could signify. After speaking with Lisa, we thought it was possibly just a loose gas cap and decided to go on. There was no Dodge dealership in Lamar but we stopped in Pueblo where there was. We had them check our yellow light and they said not to worry. When we fuel up it runs some sort of test which this time found something that didn't fit quite right so it flipped the light on. They said it will reset itself after it cycles a few times or if not we can have a dealer do it when we get home.

Once we reached Pueblo and turned north toward Colorado Springs and Manitou for the night, we could see the mountains, we finally get our first glimpse of the mountains around 3pm! Lots of smoke again but it is still a beautiful day! With some imagination, you can share the vision we have of the mountains in the distance.






TO BE CONTINUED...

Colorado Trip 2017 - Day 2 (9/4/17)

Day 2 begins in Great Bend, KS upon awakening in the updated Baltzell Motel behind which we used to live. This is where we met Rosa Burroughs and family, as well as Jim & Connie Smith! That was about 50 years ago if you can believe it! Here is the home that Connie lived in behind Baltzell's when we met her!

Connie's home behind Baltzell's

Today will be a long day of travel, however, the family fully expects to see some scenic views via text as the trip ensues. Here is to a great day beginning with - sunrise!

9/4/17 - Our motel near sunrise

David Walter's trash truck

This is the truck David Walter drove to take trash once a week to the dump from the motel and all the homes. He would look forward to asking Jeff Smith and Lisa to ride along. They were always excited to go with him!

Here are trees we planted as 1" tall saplings. Now they are 25-20' tall and 52 years old. House beside them is in location where our home was behind Batzell's Motel.

Trees we planted as 1" Saplings!

Everitt's shed/garage and the back entrance, now updated, of Rosa's home.

          

On the road again and heading toward Colorado! Very excited to see that first glimpse of the mountains but along the way we are driving through St. John, KS. Here is our view...        

9:10am - view of St. John, KS

As we are driving through western KS around 9:45am, Dick tried to capture a quick video of the black-eyed susans which were growing alongside the highway. However, his speediness resulted in a time-lapse video of the floral array - just be forewarned you will feel a bit "rushed" in your viewing 😂. What we won't do to share our journeys....

As we are nearing Greensburg, KS around 10:00am we catch sight of our first wind turbine for this trip. In the distance here you can see a large one and several smaller ones. Of course, the large wind turbines have rotor diameters of approximately 144 feet so the "smaller" ones could be 80-100 feet in diameter!

           

On our many family trips to & from Colorado both from Great Bend and El Dorado, we passed these crazy statues east of Dodge City, KS. Here's a video for the memories...

2:30pm - 30 miles east of Dodge City, KS

As we are driving west, we are seeing more and more of a haze. Don't know if you can tell from the pic, but it is very "hazy" all around from the wildfires out west. Kind of reminds us of 2006 when all of our vacation pics had a very hazy look. If you enlarge the photo you can see Dodge City in the distance. It's a bright sunny day, with no clouds, but we can't see 1/2 mile away because of the haze.

3pm - almost to Dodge City

As we approached Garden City, KS, we saw these giant turbine blades. Our good friend Ron White drove a pilot car to guide these to their location for years

  

4:40pm - Garden City, KS - giant wind turbine blades

5pm - Dinner in Garden City, KS

At 5pm we finally stopped to have a delicious dinner in Garden City, KS. 

This delicious dinner of eggs, ham, and biscuits hit the spot even though Gma is texting everyone with Gpa's phone because she left hers in the car! 

We need our energy to keep chugging away on the journey to Lamar, CO tonight. We still have 105 miles to go. Whew! 

7:45pm - Crossing the KS/CO border!

At 7:45pm we CROSSED THE COLORADO LINE! Yippee! One of our favorite times in the journey second only to the first view of the mountains!

Note the hazy sunset out there!

Finally, at 9pm we are safe and sound in our motel room in Colorado.

Sweet dreams ... and check back for more travel adventures tomorrow!

Safe & Sound 😘  😘  😘

To be continued...

Colorado Trip 2017 - Day 1 (9/3/17)

And so the annual trek to Colorado begins for Dick & Jo. Departing Topeka, KS around 10 am local time the family got the first text photo about 10:15am which was not as interesting as you might hope but everyone knows that the beauty and scenic photo boom will happen soon enough 😊

10:15am - On the road departing Topeka!

Of course, their first rest stop was in Emporia, KS and the photo received via text to the family was via the McDonald's drive through with assurances that they were inside but the view was of the blue skies as you can see...

11:20 am - Our view from McD Emporia

The next documented stop is just outside Marion, KS where the family received this photo of the Mars Arch Bridge which is apparently not being used for traffic but makes for beautiful scenery!

1:15pm - Mars Arch Bridge outside Marion, KS

Close Up of Mars Arch Bridge

Obviously Day 1 is a long day of travel but with planned stops to see friends! The old stomping ground of Great Bend, KS it is and a visit with Harold Rees is a top priority! He is mentally still right there with all the math and photography nerds of our time even though he has faced some physical challenges as he is aging (much like all of us!). Just loved getting to see him and spend a bit of time with him this afternoon!

4:30pm - Rees says hi!

Next stop a quick dinner in Great Bend! Yummy!

5:40pm - Dinner time@TacoBell !

To be continued...