The best laid plans
August 29, 2015

After an overnighter at the Gunsmoke RV Park outside Dodge City, we were intending to stay at La Junta, Colorado, for several nights; however, a sleepless night of listening to coal trains performing exceptionally noisy clankings and shooshings and backings, and couplings and uncouplings and bangings and rattlings throughout the night, we requested and received a refund.

The reality is that the railroad was only the final straw; alone, it might not have precipitated our decision.  We went there primarily to “do” Picket Wire Canyon, a highly-lauded archaeological and dinosaur track site.  As it turns out, access to that fantablulous goal is via a 10-mile round-trip hike, and as it also turns out, the forecast temperature was to be approximately 100, definitely not a trek a person gets excited about when there is no shade and no shelter for the entire day.

So . . . it would seem that better planning should precede doing Picket Wire.  It would likely be optimum in the autumn.  With a sigh of relief, we ventured on toward Cañon City.

We went from this in Dodge City . . .

to this in Cañon City . . .

City park . . .

During our one afternoon in La Junta, we took a drive around to see what we could see.  A replica of the Statue of Liberty caught my eye, so stop we must to determine why such an oddity would be in that particular place.  

The accompanying plaque told us it was erected in 1951 in the city park by the Boy Scouts of America "With the faith and courage of their forefathers who made possible the freedom of these United States" . . . "as a pledge of everlasting loyalty and fidelity."  None of that explained what precipitated its placement, but I thought it was impressive, and loved my photo of it with the American flag behind.

In general, we got the impression that La Junta is not thriving; however, their city park is delightful.  During our walk, we especially enjoyed the band practicing in the ramada - excellent music, friendly folks.

Fresh grub! . . .

We have been bemoaning the dearth of farm stands encountered along our way.  Departing from La Junta, however, changed that.  For the previous many miles, agriculture consisted almost entirely of field corn, soybeans and milo, lots and lots of milo in western Kansas. 

As if a switch was flipped, we suddenly were in the midst of truck farming that is irrigated from canals carrying water from the Arkansas (pronounced Ar-Kansas) River.  The roadsides were dotted through that region by farm stands.

I was thrilled when we found one that could accommodate our rather large size, and took full advantage to fill our fridge with veggies and melons, not that it takes much to fill that smallish space.  How delightful it is upon walking up to a farm stand to smell the vine-ripened aromas!

As we began our climb toward the mountains and away from the river valley, we reveled in the higher elevations and the first sight of Rocky Mountain ranges.  To our left, we were thrilled at the long line of the Wet Mountains.  Our right was flanked by the Front Range with Pike’s Peak’s bald head towering up behind it.

Cañon City, Prospector's Park, birds . . . 

Rolling on through Cañon City, we could not help but note at least three prisons there, a rather odd and startling sight.  I have since discovered that there are 19 prisons there!  Why the town is so amply supplied with such is beyond my knowing.

Our last-minute choice to escape from La Junta was a campground beyond and at a higher elevation than Cañon City itself, and near to Royal Gorge.  The Prospector's RV Park has some great features for children, including a splash park, swimming pool and jump pillow; however, the place in general is relatively primitive.  We are ensconced down the hill in a corner all to ourselves, not another RV in sight.

Our feeder has attracted our first evening grosbeak of the trip, and as usual, the hummers - black-throated and broad-tailed, first for this trip - are battling for nectar.  We also have a pair of canyon towhees feeding two babies on the ground - seems late in the season for such. 

Royal Gorge . .  .

We had never seen Royal Gorge before, and what a sight it is!  Of course the bridge that spans it is the big draw - the highest suspension bridge in the U.S. at 956 feet above the Arkansas River, and nearly a quarter-mile long.  Unfortunately, the powers that be have opted to add attractions that they term an "amusement park", said accouterments justify their hiking up the costs.

For our $20/each senior discount, we would be allowed to walk out on the bridge and ride the gondola over the canyon, attend the theater and putz around on a goofy baby train, but what we really wanted was only to walk out on the bridge.  Just couldn't see shelling out $40 to do it.

We enjoyed walking along the rim of the fabulously beautiful gorge and peering deep down to the river below.  The Arkansas, through here, is quite the white-water rafting mecca.  Even late in the day, we saw three rafts making their way through some rapids that looked very intimidating in what seems to be low water.

That speck high in the center of the photo is a crazy person on the zipline.

The canyon was host to a large flock of white-throated swifts zipping rapidly one way and then another.  They were also new for our trip list.

The fire . . .

In 2013, a horrendous fire on the south rim jumped entirely across the huge chasm and destroyed the park facilities, including the caboose of Old Engine No. 499.  The locomotive itself survived, but not unscathed.  Hundreds of tourists and staff were evacuated.  When we first arrived, I wondered aloud why the landscaping was all so new; that was my answer.  It's pretty amazing what has been rebuilt so quickly.  About 100 of the wooden planks on the bridge were damaged and replaced, but other than that, it also seems to have come through the conflagration.

I was curious about this odd vein on the cliff face.  My geology-minded partner said it is called a "sill", resulting from molten lava flowing through a crack in the rock.

Meanwhile, back in Dodge City, I was flabbergasted to see this train-like rig - a motor home towing a three-wheeled motorcycle in addition to a car.

You never know what you're going to see at a roadside rest stop.  I had to jump out for a chat with this nice fellow and get the skinny on his companions - four very large dogs.  He transports dogs for military families and was on his way home after one such deed.  Out of his 22(!) great Danes, he often brings along these four because they're such good travelers.  He has 22, one for each color, he said.  I'm thinking some of them must be teal and fuchsia.  Some are rescues, very sweet canines.  They slobbered on me a lot, but it was friendly slobber.

City mice
August 28, 2015

Yeesh!  I’m adopting Trinity’s word: for her, it is used for something surprising; I’m utilizing it because I can’t think of anything remotely appropriate to cover the past week’s activities in Kansas City.  That was when the country mice (Chris & me) visited the city mice (Sara, Ray & Trinity).

Longview Farm, Longview Lake . . .

We stayed in a lovely rural park that Sarah found for us at Longview Lake in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.  The location, unfortunately, was a half-hour or so drive from their place in Lenexa, but still a great choice.  The lake is a reservoir on the Little Blue River. 

Turtles, always turtles, okay maybe a tortoise in this case.  This one galumped across the park drive in  front of us, eventually disappearing into the grass.

Longview Lake Park is county maintained and contains a whole slew of recreational opportunities - from radio-control flying fields to swimming beach, equine trails and boating.  It is carved out of an historic farm of special interest.  There is a fascinating article about the history of Longview Farm at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longview_Farm.

The undertaking was quite remarkable: "The farm and over 50 other structures was built on 1,780 acres. Construction started in 1913 and completed in 1914 taking just 18 months to complete. The result is what came to be known as the world's most beautiful farm.  Construction workers included 50 Belgian craftsmen and 200 Sicilian stonemasons, among 2,000 other workers employed, to build the Longview Mansion and farm."

The 22,000 sq. ft. mansion consists of 48 rooms, 6 fireplaces, 14 bedrooms and 10 baths.  It is rented out now for special events.

I can't imagine what it was like having more than 2,000 workers completing the place, right down to the main manicured lawn of 225 acres in less than two years!  175 people were needed to run the farm.

We recognized right away that something was afoot as we drove into the area and saw random structures of similar style - stuccoed with red tile roofs. 

We photographed a few that are abandoned and/or . . . part of an urban redevelopment plan . . .

 . . . and others that are still in use.

Apparently one of the original Longview Farm structures, this house exudes charm.  If I could live in it, it would almost make it worthwhile to move to Kansas.

The Longview Lake recreational opportunities were lost on us - our time was with family, but we did enjoy the many deer in the park, in addition to a whole passel of hummingbirds that sipped the feeder nectar down with great abandon and the American goldfinches that were the only takers at the seed feeder.

This groundhog kept a close eye on us, but only after he gained safety by proximity to his lair.

Grandparent alert . . .

Be aware that reading further in this post could cause an overload of sappiness.  So what did we do during this family stop?

T-Rex . . .

There was a fun girls’ day of shopping, accented by lunch at the T-Rex Cafe, where grandma was possibly even more enthralled than granddaughter.  The place is a marvel of all things prehistoric and aquatic.

In addition to the fantasmagorical sights throughout, the place displayed a wealth of amazing crystals and fossils, many of both categories man-size.

There was even an archaeological dig site where T uncovered portions of a dinosaur skeleton.

Deanna Rose . . .

We five had a good and tiring day at Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead, a destination that easily keeps a youngster’s interest with its varied activities.  And . . . she caught a fish.

Fun fam stuff . . .

We read and painted and cooked and ate and walked, attended back-to-school night and had a tea party, fully planned and orchestrated by Trinity.

Trinity recruited big brother to assist in a treat-making project.  Since no actual product resulted from the process, I relied on my imagination to determine that it was quite tasty.

Trinity is schooling us on tea party etiquette before we begin.

Showing off the blue suede (!) cake she decorated for her dad's birthday.

There was a great chicken & dumpling Sunday supper served by Sara, at which we were joined by Ray’s parents.  Two visits later, we have gotten better acquainted with them and find we really enjoy their company.

We pulled off a large dinner party at our “house”, just very, very glad the weather cooperated.  The five of us were joined by my brother-in-law Bob’s ever-burgeoning clan, who reside semi-nearby and trekked over for a visit.

Play ball, hopefully . . .

And the kids treated us to super second-row third-base seats at a Kansas City Royals game, an afternoon of baseball that nearly did not happen.

Despite a favorable weather forecast, the game finally commenced a nervous 2-1/2 hours late.  During the rain delay whilst we were cooling our heels and soothing our throats with gigantic blue margaritas, there was a rumor that the game was called.  Perhaps the margaritas helped our attitudes at that alarming news - more waiting was rewarded by an excellent day at the ballpark, polished off by losing the car in the parking lot.  Much trooping hither and thither later, it was found and we were rounded up for our drive home.

It's a huge project to cover and uncover the field to keep off the rain.

Finally - play ball!

She's wearing the special Royals jersey Ray had made for her in memory of her Grandpa W.

In the end, the leavetaking was softened by the fact that they are coming to visit in Prescott in October.

Not too shabby a view from Sara's 10th floor workspace, all the better to see the tornadoes approaching.

Chris got his hair cut; I'm lookin' pretty road weary, but holding out until I get back to Julie to get my do done right.

Someone was counting the days until our arrival.

At one random stop while exploring Longview Park, I struck up a conversation with Roy, a pilot who demonstrated his helicopter aerobatic prowess while I attempted to snap pictures as the aircraft zipped past, up and down and around - a very impressive display.  We had a nice talk with him and learned that he had lived in Bandera, Texas, the home of my Winans ancestors and that he knew kin there.

Just because Sara said so. . .