First Day, of the Rest of Our Trip

Firstly a couple of corrections from yesterdays post--

- The SUV is actually a Cheve Equinox
- The place we stayed in was Goodland , Kansas.

Right , now I have straightened that out, lets talk a bit about yesterday.

I would say that almost every American we have spoken to during the trip have asked what on earth we would want to go to Kansas for & Oklahoma come to that. It reminded me of either a film or American film where someone said "There's only two things that come from Kansas-- Steers and what was the other one-- I think it must have been Beers", well you've got to be politically correct haven't you . So it appears that Kansas has that kind of boring tag against it.

We however have a different opinion -  for example we passed right by Lebanon , Kansas, which for all those of you that did not know, is the Geographical Centre of these United States-- come on, all you Americans--hands up who didn't know that

Well of course they would if they didn't know about Dodge City and Kevin-- more of him later.

So this is what you see in Kansas--lots and lots of continuous views such as these---

Get the picture.
To say it is flat and farming is the proverbial understatement, but this is the Great or High Plains and this is where you cold see someone coming for many miles away.

However, having not only a Navigator but now also a Co-Pilot is also great--

Ok, so we got to Dodge City, which as pretty easy and if you think of the Midwest, it was a pretty wild place until the Earps and Bat Masterson cleaned up the place and moved on to the likes of Tombstone and Deadwood. This also has the original Boot Hill in so I think the name stuck for other Cemeteries.

BTW below are two different towns that we drove through and this was on am Saturday afternoon ---where are the people-- Aliens maybe taken them--they've all gone in to Kansas -- answers please on a postcard.

Anyway , back to Dodge--so if you are an aficionado of the wild west you have to go to these places and see----

Ok, so for those of you who associate Dodge City with Gunsmoke and the guy below--

---- the James Arness character--Marshall Dillon did not exist.

Then we come back to Kevin. So it is Kevin Browning that I referred to at the beginning who is apparently of Indian decent. See -- www.facebook.com/Warponybrowning -- who does the character bit on the historical site.

Lynda and I both agree that there are a whole bunch of people trying to maintain the American Heritage sites for people like us to visit, and they are now factual accounts of what went on in the past between the Indians and the rest, and yes it is to earn money, and yes it sometimes is cheesy but if it is all just left to disappear then what awaste that would be so thanks to all those who care to preserve these sites.

So that's why we came to Kansas to see Dodge City and to meet Kevin---long may he be a part of this.

Finally, sorry about the big pictures below---I am not sure what I pressed so forget them but if anyone knows how to delete things from a blog as you are writing it , please let me know--and yes I have right clicked but delete is not there.  Thanks and Happy Trails---and well done to Chelsea finishing the preseason in style. KTBFFH

So Four Became Two

I have to say that our last day with Ann & Rod as they left to go home to the UK was quite emotional after 3 such amazing weeks together. The only shame was that the weather could not have been a little better when we wanted to have the bit of R&R in the sun, but that was not much anyway.

I guess that you are actually back home now as I write this so we hope it was a great flight for you both.

so its bye bye from them , and it's hello navigator---

 

So after dropping them at the airport we then had to take the car to the Hertz rental to swap it.

 

Apparently they are not allowed to do a continuous rental over 60 days, so as our booking agent knew that we had to drop the others at Denver airport then this would be a good time to do the swap.

The trouble is that in doing so , we incurred two drop off costs which was around the 500 dollars instead of one. so after much work done on sorting out the paperwork I went and had a chat with the manager and asked if she had ever seen someone being charged twice for a single hire and this followed with her agreeing to only charge 90 dollars for the extra driver---not the 13 dollars a day that they originally stated -- which would have been over 700 dollars-- so quite a result

 

Now just got to sort the car out, as the Ford Edge we had been using had to , have an oil change due to the mile we had put on -- 3,387 so far --they gave us a Cheve Emblem, which inside is more cramped, the engine is noisy, the dash lights dim every now and then and it has done 42,000 miles-- we are going to see about changing this for something better in either Kansas or Dallas.

 

So then -- where are we now you might ask -- well I took this at 08.15, at least I think it is but my laptop says 07.15 -- from out hotel room in the Holiday Inn in Goodman, Kansas, big farming area - and 50miles further on than my target of getting to Burlington-- so Lynda and I are well on our way to being in Dodge City, by tonight.

 

 

We got there at around 8pm so we treated ourselves to a McDonalds meal--in bed by 9pm knackered.

 

So I guess that this is phase 2 for Lynda and I and the real test of our relationship starts now but I am not worried because you don't go through every demand that we have managed in our lives together without the strength to handle the longest time every together continuously, without work coming in between us as it has over the years---- anyway its not a test , it is joy to have this amount of time together with the woman I love.

 

That's enough of that---need to get on and get breakfast and get on the road again, so until next time folks, via condeos.

Bon Voyage-Kalo Taxithi and Adios Amigos

So here we are, over 3 weeks and 4000 miles later we unfortunately must drop our wonderful friends Rod and Ann off at Denver airport and say thanks for a great time with such great people.

Just as a reminder here is where we have visited---
-Seattle + St.Helens, Washington State
- Portland + Seaside, Oregon
- Yellowstone Park, Idaho/Wyoming /Montana
- Cody, Wyoming.
- Deadwood, South Dakota
- Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
- Cheyenne, Wyoming
- Colorado Springs. Colorado
- Rainbow trout ranch in Antonito, Colorado
- Bluff and Monument Valley, in Utah via New Mexico and Arizona
- Montrose and Black Canyon. Colorado
- Manitou Springs, Colorado
- And Finally-- Denver International airport via Nordstrom's at Park Meadows shopping mall.

Not bad for a bunch of old folk and the majority of that done at altitude of anywhere between 5 & 12000 ft.

Afternoon beer at bar in Manitou Springs yesterday afternoon. It hammered down with rain on the way down the mountain into MS but cleared up for a walk round--very arty and more "genuine" Indian jewellery than you can shake a stick at.

Below has just gone on my bucket list to do in America at some point in the future-- Electra Glide in Blue-- remember the TV cops show-- brilliant--

So I mentioned yesterday I think on facebook that the Cliff House at Pikes Peak is a bit up market and so it continued to prove as we had drinks and a meal in the restaurant at the Hotel -- rooms are a bit like this---

 

 

The food and wine for dinner were outstanding and the chef here is extremely talented.

 

 

Sorry about the duplication --it wasn't that good and I have still to master the delete and rotation buttons---   BTW, the loo seat is heated but I am not sure about sitting on something that has water in and has cables attached.

So here is one of the last we will take of Rod and Ann as I doubt we will get to many photo shoots tomorrow--- although I might do especially to prove what the average couple should come home with---it is more than they went with.

Still trying to get them booked on line with BA but not happening--lets hope they have been upgraded. We will miss you both and in a funny way look forward to the next time we see you as it will be at the end of our phase 2.

Right then -- need coffee badly and then I can face the day --More shopping !

Later's

Black Canyon Rocks ---Lot's of them.

So we ate in a restaurant that had a family half and a sport bar half so we ate in the sports bar half but they couldn't find a channel with the Chelsea game on so had to make do with facebook updates -- shame about the result but it would appear to have been a good pre-season-- Roma Saturday in NYC, and then Hull FC--need to check where Lynda and I will be.

So back to yesterday, and with not holding our hopes out too much for anything spectacular our visit to Black Canyon turned out to be a real diamond.

I will put a whole bunch onto the full profile later.

The high point on the top is around 9000 feet elevation-- here is from the top.

 

 

The river here is more powerful than the Mississippi due to the amount in height that it falls-- see below---

Just so its not all boring stuff about nature and that here is my favourite interlude---

Talking of wild life, when we were about to pull in to the main visitors centre we stopped to see about 5 metres in front of us a mother Bobcat and her 4 or 5 cubs crossing the road--- there is no joke with this--they were trying to get to the other side.

Have you ever been in one of those situations where 4 people are all fumbling to get out their cameras and just when one is ready , the animals have disappeared--just like the kitkat advert with the Panda's on UK TV--- well that was us lot.

So just to prove there is no exaggeration on my part , here is a piccie of a male Bobcat that was walking along the road on our way down-- 3M away and not a care in the world and also a deer which we saw a little further on--maybe he ended up as dinner.

 You need to look carefully at this one as the bobcat does blend in well with the back ground.

On the way down , we saw a house for sale so we have bought this together and are all selling up when we get back to move out here.

So after that decision we thought it best to get some retail therapy so a visit to CJ Penney was necessary in the afternoon.

This did give us a bit of an opportunity to get back and lay by the pool for an hour or two.

So from an uncertain start we ended having had a great day and now need to get our act together to get on the road from Montrose, CO, across another part of the Rockies to Pike Peak where we stay tonight---- the sun is shining so please let it stay so. Happy trails.

It's All Up hill From Here

Well it is from Bluff anyway.

So we left Bluff at around 9am yesterday morning and first had a nearby stop over at a site of where there were Petroglyphics on the side of a cliff face.

here are a couple of pictures from this but I will put more on the Profile later.

You will have to zoom in a bit on them to see properly but know that this is how the Navajo recorded things a couple of thousand years ago is pretty remarkable. Long may they protect these sites.

The other symbol that will be seen all over America is that of Kokopelli  who is a symbol of fertility who also is a story telling musician that goes back thousands of years. Strange how when we were at Vances workshops in St. Helens, Oregon he had one there as well as us seeing them all the way on our travels. He looks like the character on the Inn sign below--

So we left Bluff with the temperature somewhere around 85 degrees and started to drive to our next destination Denver first while finishing at Montrose.

Denver being back in Colorado is surrounded by Pine Forests and Mining. Plus it has a real live narrow gauge railway that has an 1890's train that travel daily from there to Silverton, up in the Rockies. Lynda and I went on this to the zip lining location about half way up and this was pretty amazing.
Here are a couple of piccies from the railway station and lunch in the restaurant in Denver--

 

Sorry about the sideways picks --I will fix that first next time--and yes that was the attire of the waitresses--well, it is in keeping with the atmosphere, just don't let the wife catch you ogling too much.

Anyway, I don't think any one of us could have envisaged the drive through the mountains--I reckon on the way to a Silverton we were probably up as high as 11 to 12000 feet elevation with some pretty scary drops on the right side on the way up and especially down.

Half way was a town called Ouray, which they describe as the Switzerland of America and you can understand that as I think with a metre of snow and this would just look like it--google it and you will see what I mean.

By this time of course the temperature had plummeted to 50 degrees and it was raining most of the way in the mountains --didn't I mention that driving was made much more fun by the rain, especially when you drive over where mud has slid onto the road.

Still it does look spectacular.

So we arrived at Montrose and after a bit of essential shopping, we found our The Black Canyon Motel -- and learned another valuable lesson regarding books and covers and not judging -- because the rooms are very good, large with everything in and the best wifi so far.

So last night , we dined on Mucky Kentucky, with beer and wine, in the room and thoroughly enjoyed it.

So the sad thing is that we were hoping when we all booked this trip months ago, that in august the weather would be good for the last few days for chilling by a pool in sunshine but this does not appear to be going to be the case so we have to make the best of what we have.

Breakfast in a moment and then plan for the day-- we are going to go to the Black Canyon national park and other local sites and I am told that some shopping  therapy is on the cards as well.

We are spending the final night with Rod and Ann tomorrow night at the Cliff Hotel in Pikes Peak which is a real class place and a final splash in Nordstrom's in Denver before flight home.

That's it, a continental breakfast is calling and need to get planning-- Oh and Good luck to the mighty Blues tonight as Chelsea take on Real Madrid in the Guinness Cup in Miami, now where is that Sports Bar--- Carefree people and KTBFFH.