Spring 2010 page 3
From Bardwell, our trajectory was North and West, adding states to our map as we went.
First stop after leaving Texas was Arcadia, OK
The Route:
In Arcadia we stayed in a city park on Arcadia Lake
which is also on the historic route 66. If you are in the area detour off
of the interstate long enough to visit Pops gas station. We failed to get a
picture but you can see it at
http://www.pops66.com/38.0.html
From Arcadia we drove across Oklahoma and up into Kansas to Dodge City.
The Route:
As you can see, we took the back roads for this day's travel. I suspect it was my first time touring Oklahoma. All previous visits had been the "drive on main highway very fast" sort of visits. It was quite an interesting drive and quite surprising to me how quickly the terrain and climate changed as we went west and then north. Western Oklahoma is not like the eastern part of the state. That south central part of Kansas sure is empty territory with straight roads. Dodge City was a very brief stop. We didn't even go look at the old town.
Colorado Springs was out next stop.
The Route:
We spent a couple of days in Colorado Springs so we could visit with our friends, Tom and Chris Moe and their son Ryan. We camped at the Air Force Academy which has a very nice RV park. One of our stops was at the Valley of the Gods, a small park practically in town, that is preserving some really cool rock formations. Unfortunately for our tour guide, Ryan, it was a rainy day with VERY low clouds.
Yes, that rock in the background is just balancing on that small amount of rock
between it and the large base. After the park we went to Manitou Springs
for lunch and some browsing. It is a small town built into a very narrow
river gorge. Ryan wanted us to see the church where he had been married
and to meet his pastor. In the small world department, we discovered the
pastor was a former pastor of the church we visited in Tombstone two pages ago.
From Colorado Springs to home it was just drive and stop. No sightseeing and very few pictures.
Rawlins, WY
The Route:
We did have a copy of Roadside Geology of Wyoming by this time but even that doesn't help much with I-80.
Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah.
The Route:
More I-80-yawn. The RV park on the base at Hill was small
but had a fenced dog park which the boys welcomed and a commissary which I
welcomed. It also had a great view
Sticking with the Air Force our next stop was Mountain Home AFB in Idaho.
The Route:
Roadside Geology of Idaho helped with I-84 a little but most of
that route is just the Columbia plateau so there isn't a lot to read about.
Mountain Home AFB is a very small base. I'd like to find out if it is one
of those hidden gems that only the insiders know about or is it a place folks go
when their career is on the downhill slide. Anyway, it has a nice little
RV park
.
As you can see we have left spring behind in Texas or Oklahoma.
Oregon
The Route:
We stopped at LePaige Park, another Corp of Engineers Park.
This one is on the John Day River where it flows into the Columbia. Small
but very nice.
We are going back with Erin, Justin, and Gracie in July. We had strong headwinds most of the day. Really cuts into your mileage.
The final day.
The Route:
More headwinds..$$$. It was good to get back to our property. Sometimes we refer to it as home but other times we say home is where the fifth wheel is. So, right now both homes are co-located. Click here for pictures.
We hope you enjoyed this somewhat overdue final report.