8/13-8/14 The Heartland
For two days we plowed a straight furrow through the Heartland.
There's not much to exclaim about eastern Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas, but I'll try anyway. Corn greeted us and corn followed us for 600 miles. Route 36, our headland, drew us east through miles of carefully cropped farms. Huge tractors dwarfed modest homesteads where equipment is the only luxury. Giant green machines stood for sale at John Deere dealerships in every small town, far outnumbering any McDonalds in the area.
I amused myself as the miles stretched ahead by spotting water towers that stood high above the corn, announcing each town before its arrival. I counted sections on pivot irrigation. I looked for Dorothy's house. Silent windfarms intermingled with reeking feedlots, packed with cows destined for the table.
And on the seventh day they rest here ( except for farmers). We were hard pressed to find an open gas station and when we did, they were out of gas. A Sunday night in Phillipsburg, a county seat, saw no restaurants or businesses open, but a huge gathering at the Majestic Theater for the 7:00 movie.
Rascal, our steady old girl, reached another milestone. She is 80,000 miles old and doesn't seem a day older than her debut 4 years ago. She has proven herself to be a fashionable yet reliable lady and she hides her age well! She has experienced it all with us and never complained. How fortunate we are to have such a fine ride.
On our second day through Kansas and Missouri, we followed a portion of the Pony Express. Historic markers proclaimed that many of the settlements we rode through were created for posts along the route. Several years ago, we traveled route 50 in Nevada, another section of this first mail delivery system, known as the loneliest road in America. In Kansas, the ride seems much friendlier and not quite so lonely!
We have passed the halfway mark in the contiguous states, a claim to fame for Smith Center, KS. Every cornfield, water tower and dirt crossroad gets us closer to the East . Finally allowing myself to miss my family, I grow more anxious to see them as the miles evaporate. Tomorrow, with the sun in front of us, we head toward the Mississippi. Once we cross, I will feel like I'm home and the days will become hours and the miles mere minutes. Today as Phil Collins sang "Take Me Home" we joined in and at the top of our lungs sang into the wind, our tears irrigating the Heartland.
There's not much to exclaim about eastern Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas, but I'll try anyway. Corn greeted us and corn followed us for 600 miles. Route 36, our headland, drew us east through miles of carefully cropped farms. Huge tractors dwarfed modest homesteads where equipment is the only luxury. Giant green machines stood for sale at John Deere dealerships in every small town, far outnumbering any McDonalds in the area.
I amused myself as the miles stretched ahead by spotting water towers that stood high above the corn, announcing each town before its arrival. I counted sections on pivot irrigation. I looked for Dorothy's house. Silent windfarms intermingled with reeking feedlots, packed with cows destined for the table.
And on the seventh day they rest here ( except for farmers). We were hard pressed to find an open gas station and when we did, they were out of gas. A Sunday night in Phillipsburg, a county seat, saw no restaurants or businesses open, but a huge gathering at the Majestic Theater for the 7:00 movie.
Rascal, our steady old girl, reached another milestone. She is 80,000 miles old and doesn't seem a day older than her debut 4 years ago. She has proven herself to be a fashionable yet reliable lady and she hides her age well! She has experienced it all with us and never complained. How fortunate we are to have such a fine ride.
On our second day through Kansas and Missouri, we followed a portion of the Pony Express. Historic markers proclaimed that many of the settlements we rode through were created for posts along the route. Several years ago, we traveled route 50 in Nevada, another section of this first mail delivery system, known as the loneliest road in America. In Kansas, the ride seems much friendlier and not quite so lonely!
We have passed the halfway mark in the contiguous states, a claim to fame for Smith Center, KS. Every cornfield, water tower and dirt crossroad gets us closer to the East . Finally allowing myself to miss my family, I grow more anxious to see them as the miles evaporate. Tomorrow, with the sun in front of us, we head toward the Mississippi. Once we cross, I will feel like I'm home and the days will become hours and the miles mere minutes. Today as Phil Collins sang "Take Me Home" we joined in and at the top of our lungs sang into the wind, our tears irrigating the Heartland.
And so it starts
Water towers announce every small town
Another crop
Nebraska for five minutes
Pretty much sums it up
An impressive milestone for the "old" girl
We are in the middle
Halfway
Lunch in a cornfield
Dorothy's house?
The a pony Express Route
And part of the California Trail - a little better than Utah!
Proud of the Pony Express!
Yes!
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