On The Road Again - May 2021

 It was easy on the navigator today.  Get on I-80 in Wyoming, stay on I-80, get off I-80 in Nevada.  Not too hard to figure out.  Landscape changed dramatically from the wide open plains of Wyoming to the beautiful escarpments in Utah.  Went from 6600 feet in Wyoming to an almost steady downhill slope into Park City and then further down into Salt Lake City.  Finally, we just had a flat ride along the Great Salt Lake into Nevada. You'll be glad to know that we have finally named our RV and tow vehicle.  There have been many ideas on what it should be; however, we finally decided on The Lady and The Tramp.  Lady being the RV because she's pretty and stays on the straight and narrow; whereas the Jeep roams all over and doesn't mind getting dirty.   Tomorrow we head to Reno and home.  It's been more than a month and we'll be glad to get home.

For those of you paying attention, Green River is the town in Wyoming where we had our flat tire during the first week of our trip.  However, this time, we're on the last legs of our trip and Green River was a convenient spot to stop.   This morning we started out from Buckley and headed north (eventually we got to I-25, but it was an adventure - saw more of north Denver than we wanted to).  Stopped at Costco way north of Denver and took advantage of their good gas prices.  Drove to Loveland and had breakfast with Connor (twin son of Ken and Melanie).  He graduated from NDSU and is working in the Fort Collins/Denver area.  Actually, today was his first anniversary of being in the area.  Fun conversation and then we admired his new red RAM four-door pick-up.  Awesome vehicle, I don't think he missed many bells and whistles. Paul suggested that we take a shortcut just north of Fort Collins which would take us to Laramie on I-80.  Pretty countryside and always had a view of the Ro

 Well, when we left Oakley, the wind was blowing fast and furious (what a great name for a TV series).  Anyway, as we traveled west on I-70, we could see plenty of windmills which were taking full advantage of the 40 mph winds.  The town on the Kansas - Colorado border is Kanorado, guess that was better than Colosas - how original!! We had made reservations at Buckley ANG base just northeast of Denver and, we were lucky to get the last spot!  Got all set up and then called Paul and Sandy.  Since Sandy had a conference call at 3 pm, we did some shopping and then went over to their home in Centennial.  Had a great time enjoying the beautiful weather sitting on their patio.  Good conversation, bird-watching, and then dinner.  Always fun to get together.  Might be able to revisit our anniversary celebrations in Monterey in July.  Time will tell.

  Must be the home of Annie Oakley, because the Buffalo Bill museum is here also.   Have to check that out.   Took off from Topeka this morning and took an interesting detour south (we’re not saying we made a wrong turn, but that may have been the case).   In any event, the next exit was seventeen miles away and we got off I-335 there and traveled on US 56 west through the heartland.   Interesting drive and fun to see the countryside – might as well get the most of a bad decision.   Passed through Council Grove, KS, which bragged about being on the Santa Fe Trail (even had a side road leading to some wagon tracks).   Finally found a road north which took us back to I-70 at Junction City.   On I-70, we got off at Abilene, KS (home of Ike and Mamie and their presidential museum).   Stopped at the Visitor’s Center, but the Director had closed shop for two days to go to a tourism conference – must be hurting for volunteers to man the office.   The Visitor’s Center occupies the old train st

  Quick, what’s the capital of Kansas.   Darn, that was too easy!   We left Scott AFB early this morning and headed west (where else?) on I-70 through St Louis and across Missouri.   Confusing driving through Kansas City (which is actually in Missouri) – too many crossroads and interstates going through that city.   I think we crossed the Mississippi once and the Missouri twice – not sure how that works out.   The Arch in St Louis was pretty in the fog and rain.   Finally half-way across Missouri, the sun came out and we had blue, cloudy skies for the rest of the trip.   Made a side trip on Exit 66 to visit the Cheese Store.   After seeing their advertisements for miles, we thought it would be a good spot to take a break.   Located in a small town, they had a wide selection cheese, wine, Dotty’s pretzels, etc.   We contributed to the local economy and then made our way back to I-70.   It’s fun figuring how where I can turn around with the Jeep attached and a tight turning radius.  

  Well, it’s back to our earlier life.   Left Indianapolis this morning and took US 40 across Indiana (mostly because I missed the turn-off in Indianapolis to I-70).   Turns out that was a good mistake because there were no trucks on US 40 and we enjoyed the countryside cruising at a steady 50 mph.   We always like seeing the old homes along the way.   Funny how some are abandoned and left to just rot away, even though they have some great architectural points.   Pretty much all farmland and rather flat.   At the Illinois border, we went back to I-70 and continued with the trucks.   Decided to stay at Scott AFB and they had space at the FamCamp, so we are here for the night.     Set up camp and then toured the base and the surrounding countryside.   Not very exciting and neither of us remembered much about our two year tour of duty when we lived at Bellevue and I worked at Scott.   Of course, that was forty-three years ago, so I guess we might be forgiven.   Scott is a beautiful ba