Golden, Colorado

We finished up the Lariat Loop back in Golden at the end of a very interesting road trip.  I asked to walk through the historic district to look in the shops and maybe get something to eat.  It's a cute little town, and if you've seen any Coors commercials, you have probably seen a bit of Golden.  The mountain creek that comes rushing through town goes right to the Coors brewery.  I believe it's called Clear Creek.

I checked out a few of the stores and bought myself a pair of silver earrings.  We found an ice cream shop and treated ourselves.  We sat outside in the sun and did some people watching.  Maybe it was the mountain air, or the fact that our light picnic lunch was early in the day and it was now about 3:00 p.m., or because we didn't want to leave Golden just yet, but even after the ice cream, Jeff was starving.  So we walked over to the Old Capitol Grill, a restaurant in what was once the first territorial capitol building of Colorado.  Jeff and the kids snacked on nachos, and both kids ordered salads.  I don't think that has ever happened before.  But when you're camping it's not always easy to get enough fruits and vegetables, so kudos to them for ordering it on their own.  Jeff and I had BLTs on what seemed to be thick-cut homemade bread.  Very good.

After lunch, we headed back through town to our Jeep and then drove back to the campsite.  It's about an hour drive, but it's always a pretty one.  This time, we saw a few prairie dog towns along the highway. 

Ruth was adamant that we get back to the campground before 7:00 p.m., which is when they were having the "Super Soaker Hay Ride" again.  Tonight, Jeff hit Ruth in the shoulder with a water balloon, and she was not amused.  But she still loved the ride.  At the end, the camp staff gave the kids some water balloons to play with. 

After the hayride, the campground showed a movie - an animated one called "Spirit" about a wild mustang who becomes friends with an Indian.  Because I had to run to the store to pick up a few things, Ruth and I got there a little late.  Part of the reason I was late was because I saw the sun setting in my rear view mirror, and I had to stop to watch it and take some pictures.  There were clouds in the sky, and when you looked at the setting sun, you could see the shadow of the Rockies behind it.  Gorgeous.

Tomorrow we pack up and head up to Estes Park, Colorado, home of Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Lariat Loop: Rocky Mountain High

Jeff got to pick today's adventure, and he did a fabulous job.  We drove the Lariat Loop National Scenic Byway, which is a 40-mile road trip west of Colorado that began back in the early 1900's when people were looking for places to drive in their new cars.  To learn more about the Lariat Loop, click here.

The Loop starts in Golden, Colorado, and as soon as we arrived there, I wished we had come here sooner.  Yesterday, to be exact, because on the first Friday of the month, they have stagecoach rides and other special events in the historic district.  Good to know for next time, I guess.

We went to the Visitor Center to get the route map, but it wasn't open for another 30 minutes.  So we walked down the street to a cafe and got bagels for breakfast.  In classic fashion, when the Visitor Center opened, we found out they were out of the Lariat Loop maps.  The man working there drew an outline of the map for Jeff on a map of Golden and sent us on our way.

You can drive either way on the loop, and we started with Lookout Mountain.  You drive switchbacks up to the top of the mountain for great views of Golden and Denver.  There are guard rails for almost all of the road, but it's easy to see that there's not much after the guard rail.  The road itself isn't that difficult, but since Lookout Mountain is also a mecca for cyclists, it becomes challenging trying to navigate a winding, 2 lane road hugging a mountain while also trying to get around the cyclists and avoid hitting oncoming cars.  But the views were worth it.  We also got to watch some people hand gliding off the mountain as we were driving up.  We had the top off the Jeep, and one flew over us.

Near the top of Lookout Mountain is where Buffalo Bill Cody is buried.  The people in Cody, Wyoming aren't too happy about that, we heard when we visited Wyoming in 2009.  It's a beautiful place to

be buried.  Down the path from the gravesite is a museum and gift shop that claims to be the biggest gift shop in Colorado.  I picked up a Christmas tree ornament, Henry got a couple post cards, and Ruth got sunglasses.

We didn't mind this stop in the gift shop, because, as I forgot to mention yesterday, the kids didn't ask to buy souvenirs at the Rockies game, the zoo or the Science Center in Denver.  Pretty amazing. 

We drove through the town of Evergreen, which sits on a lake.  Gorgeous.  We didn't stop, but if I were in the area again, I would definitely spend a day or even a night there.  There's a little main street area, and people were boating on the lake.

We found a park near a creek to have our picnic lunch.  I think the park was called "Lair of the Bear."  We ate at the Jeep, and then took a walk down to the creek, which was running hard from down the mountain.  Between the birds chirping and the water rushing, it was a treat for the ears and the eyes.

Our next stop was at the Red Rocks Amphitheater.  When the Rocky Mountains were pushed up millions of years ago, the Red Rocks were formed as well.  They don't look like any other rocks in the area - they are really red, and they even look different in shape than the surrounding mountains.  Back in the 1930's, the Civilian Conservation Corps built an amphitheater among the rocks, and it's still in use for concerts today.  We hoped to take a tour today, but the band that's playing tonight was practicing and the Visitor Center was closed.  I had checked to see who was playing months ago, but it didn't seem like something we'd all like.  Just from what we could see, this has to be a fabulous place to see (and hear) a concert.  Our tour guide at Dinosaur Ridge later in the drive said Native Americans also used the Red Rocks site for celebrations and gatherings. 

From the pathway to the parking lot at Red Rocks, you can also see Denver in the distance.  It wasn't as clear today as yesterday, but still, the view was great.

 The Loop next took us to the town of Morrison.  It's also a quaint little town with a museum of natural history, but we were museumed out at this point and kept on going.  But neither Henry nor I were going to miss Dinosaur Ridge, our next stop on the trip.

Dinosaur Ridge is a mountain full of dinosaur bones and footprints.  And not just the big dinosaurs like the inguandon.  Because this area was once under the sea, they've also found sharks teeth there.



You can either get a map at the visitor's center and walk the half-mile uphill route to check out the ridge, or pay $4 a person to ride it in a bus with a tour guide.  It was late in the trip and we knew Ruth was probably not going to make the trip on foot, so we took the bus.  We're glad we did, because the tour guide was really good and gave additional insights into the area. 



Brontosaurus footprint



Hundreds of millions of years ago, this area was flat and underwater.  When the ridge pushed up along with the rest of the Rockies, it also pushed up fossils and imprints of what once was the bottom of a sea.  The tour guide showed wavy patterns in the rock that were once the bottom of the sea.  Then, she showed us dinosaur bones stuck in rocks on the side of the ridge and in the ridge itself.  She said the dinosaurs probably didn't die here, but as the earth was shifting and water was flowing around, the bones ended up here. 



She also showed us the effects of brontosaurus footprints in the rock.  Looking at the layers of rock, you can see where the huge dinosaur's foot imprinted in what was once softer ground and hardened over time.  She showed how they walk on their toes by showing how the formation of the rocks are shaped.

The last stop on the tour was to see actual footprints on the ridge.  There were prehistoric crocodile footprints, iguanadon footprints and one other type of prints.  The museum had darkened them to make them more visible.  From the way they appear, you would think the dinosaurs were walking uphill, but it's just that way because of the way the ridge was pushed up.  They allow you to climb on one area of the rock to touch a footprint, so Henry took advantage and put his hand next to one of the iguanadon footprints.

It was a fascinating tour and well worth the $16.  It was also great to purchase a bottle of soda for just $1 at their snack bar.  And yet again, no requests for souvenirs.

Dinner and Entertainment for the Kids

Jeff took the kids to the pool while I worked on dinner.  Tonight, we had grilled chicken, potatoes with rosemary roasted in foil packets on the grill, and tossed salad.  My treat was a few bottles of Breckenridge Brewery's SummerBright Ale, the beer I first had at the brewery before the baseball game.  We found it in the liquor store by the grocery store in Bennett, the next town over from where we're camping.

The name of the grocery store is King Soopers.  Weird.  But it was a nice grocery store - and huge.

While I was grilling and the kids were drying off from the pool, some campground employees came by in a golf cart asking if the kids wanted to ride on a "super soaker hay ride" tonight.  Ruth and Henry were in!  The employees gave Jeff and I water balloons to throw when the hayride came by. 

The kids had a ball.  Not only did people throw water balloons, some turned their campsite hoses on and blasted the kids when they went by.  Henry and Ruth loved it and want to do it again tomorrow night.

The campground has a frozen marble slab to mix cookies and candy into ice cream, so for dessert tonight, the kids went and got some.  Ruth got mint chocolate chip with gummy bears and Henry got chocolate ice cream with marshmallows mixed in. 

The weather cooled off enough to make for perfect lounging outside.  There weren't any mosquitoes like last night, but we had a citronella candle and bug spray just in case.  The only negative were the flies that thought our dinner looked delicious.  The kids had fun using the fly swatter trying to kill them.  The last count I remember from Jeff was 26 flies he had killed.

Everyone is is bed now, and I should be too.  Tomorrow morning we're headed out to Golden, Colorado to drive the Lariat Loop.  It's a driving tour that will take about two hours, going through the Rockies and stopping at historic markers and scenic overlooks.  Jeff did the research to find it and I think it will be great.  It's time to get up in the mountains!

Communing with Nature - and Science



Center of a slab of petrified tree trunk

After our morning at the zoo, we headed over to the Museum of Nature and Science, which is right next to the zoo.  We got there around 12:45 p.m., just in time to see an IMAX movie at 1:00.  It was called "Born to be Wild," about two women who rescue orphaned animals - a woman who raises orphaned elephants in Kenya and a woman who raises orphaned orangutans in Borneo.  They take care of the animals until they can be released in the wild.  Morgan Freeman was the narrator.  We all liked it., although both Ruth and I got headaches from the 3D glasses.



Mammoth head and tusk fossil

By 1:30, we were starving, and had a nice lunch at the cafe in the museum.  The kids saw the salad bar and the pizzas out where you took the slice you wanted and thought it was a buffet.  I caught Henry before he made his salad to go with his pizza, and explained how it worked to Ruth. (The salad bar was sold by weight.)  In the end, both kids got pizza, Ruth got a salad that she shared with Henry and I shared some of my salad with him too.



It's a great museum - interesting for both kids and adults.  You paid for what you wanted to do:  either museum only, museum plus IMAX, and/or add the planetarium.  Since we went to the planetarium in Indianapolis, we just did the museum and an IMAX movie.



Henry driving a spacecraft.



The prehistoric life exhibits showed how earth evolved starting at about 600 million years ago.  They showed trilobytes, ancient fossils that look like flat beetles that can still be found in Colorado and Wyoming today.  Since the museum is in Colorado, the exhibits showed how Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska would have looked millions of years ago.  Many areas were under water and full of prehistoric sea life.  The fossils of plants, like this palm frond to the right, were also really interesting.

 

They had a really cool assembled cast of a mammoth fossil - it was gorgeous.  There's a picture of it in this post.

Fish fossils

We also toured the space exhibit and the kids got to try driving and docking a space shuttle.  The kids were fascinated by a real mummy in the Egyptian Mummies exhibit.  Henry studied Egypt in school this year, and when he saw how a woman who wasn't rich was mummified, he told us she must not have had any money, because it was done wrong.  They didn't remove her organs and her wrapping wasn't right.  



We wandered around a bit more, but we had pretty much pushed our feet to the limit with the two trips in one day.  It was time to head back to the campsite to relax, swim in the pool, and make dinner.



It was a beautiful day to be out and about in Denver, and a perfect day for the zoo and museum.  Sunny, warm and a little breeze.  

  



Road Sign of the Day

Along I-70 West, near Aurora, Colorado.

Henry's Review of the Denver Zoo

We went to the Denver Zoo and Denver Museum of Nature and Science today.
First, we went to see the sea lion show and learned about how the train the sea lions.  In one part of it, they tested to see which sea lion could jump the highest, and Bismark, a sea lion with no rear fins that was injured in the wild and then rescued, jumped higher than Lucy.

Then we walked around the zoo loop.  We saw zebras, giraffes, camels, donkeys, elands, kudus, hyenas and kangaroos.

Ruth wanted to go on the carousel, so Mom took her and Dad and I went to get Icees.  I got an orange and blue raspberry mix and Dad got cherry.  We also got Ruth a cherry one.

After that, mom got an ice cream cone.

The Denver Zoo has two elephants and we saw both of them.  One was eating hay and one was drinking water. 

They have Dall Sheep and other mountain goats at the zoo too.  The exhibit is high mountains and the goats climb up on them.

The water buffalo were walking around and one was laying in a big mud puddle.  There was also a black bear that was sleeping on a rock. 

In the Feline area we saw five Sumatran tigers.  Sumatran tigers like water.  Some had bones and were laying in the water chewing on them.  The ones who didn't would chase the tigers to try to get them.  It was fun to watch them play.

When we were getting ready to leave, we saw some penguins and a monkey running around its area.    He was backing away and then would jump to the front because he was afraid of a guy standing there.

Before we left we saw the lions and one of them was awake.  When we walked by them the first time there was only one and he was asleep. 

It was a really nice zoo and I want to go back when they finish the Asia section next year.

Some Pictures from Day One in Denver

Railroad History in Strasburg

I am really enjoying my Roadside America app, because it's helped us to find some things along the way we didn't know about.
Yesterday, on the ride home from Denver, I was checking out the Denver area items, and saw one in Strasburg, the town we're staying in.  It turns out that Strasburg was actually where the Transcontinental Railroad was joined.  Some history reports say it was Utah, but it turns out that's incorrect. 

Henry and I drove into town to locate the marker and sign, which to be honest, are in need of repair.  There's a white marker next to the sign, but the plaque has fallen off, along with some of the concrete. The sign is in front of the railroad tracks, which are just beyond the fence. 

Here's what the sign says:

“A continuous chain of rails from Atlantic to Pacific - long a vision of pioneer railroaders and frontier-tamers-became reality at 3:00 P.M. on August 15, 1870, at a point 3,812 ft. east of the depot in what now is Strasburg, Colorado. Near Comanche Crossing, named for a usually dry, sometimes rampaging creek, the last rails were spiked by Kansas Pacific Railroad crews driving west from Kansas City and east from Denver to give the nation its first truly continuous coast-to-coast railroad. On the final day the crews laid a record-breaking 10-1/4 miles of track in 9 hours to win a barrel of whiskey which canny foremen had placed midway in the final gap.”

You can also see the storm blowing over in the picture.  As Henry and I were driving back to the campground, we saw a huge bolt of lightning.

Good Day, Sunshine!

We had quite a bit of rain overnight, but thankfully, no heavy winds and little thunder and lightning.

I forgot to mention earlier that Jeff read somewhere that Strasburg, Colorado has good potential to get tornadoes, and since there are local businesses like "Tornado Alley Carpet Cleaning," it's sounds believable to me. 

As we got closer to Strasburg on the drive from Goodland, it got really windy on I-70 and I could see that Jeff was holding the steering wheel to the left just to stay straight.  When the gusts hit the motorhome, we would literally sway over to the right.  Instinctively, I would lean left, but of course that wasn't going to do anything.

The good news is that the Weather Channel says the rain is gone for awhile.  Nothing but sunshine predicted for today, and when I got up at 5:47 a.m. the sun was shining bright and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  And yes, 5:47 a.m. is early for vacation, but I keep telling myself that it's 7:47 East coast time to make myself feel better about it.  We're still not acclimated to the time zones.  I think it's harder to do when you drive across country, because you just cross a line and you're one hour behind.  Who knows, but we're doing our best to deal with it.

The kids are still sleeping, and Jeff is outside working out.  He is really dedicated, and I don't think he's missed a P90X workout yet on the trip.  In Goodland, the campground owner walked by him in the morning and said hi.  Most times, he's up and at it before people are up.

It's not set in stone yet, but on today's agenda is the Denver Zoo and the Museum of Nature and Science.  They're right next to eachother, which will make that easy.  I'm going to pack a picnic lunch, and then we'll grab dinner either in Denver or cook something at the campsite.  Cooking at this site is a bit tricky, since we're in a narrow campsite with not a lot of space to set up the grill.  Ruth has also asked to go to the pool today since the stormy skies kept her out of it yesterday.

Great Day in Denver

After a peaceful night's sleep, and our internal clocks still confused by the time zone change, we got up between 4:30 (Jeff) and 6:30 a.m. this morning. Henry was very excited for the Colorado Rockies baseball game today and was dressed and ready in no time.

We headed into Denver early for the 1:10 game. We got to experience Denver rush hour traffic, which is pretty bad in spots, just like DC.

With our extra time in Denver, we toured the State Capitol and stood on the "Mile High" marker that notes 5,280 feet above sea level - one mile high - on the Capitol steps. Actually, there are three markers, because when measurements were taken over time, the step number changed.  Leaving nothing to chance, I took pictures of all three. 

After the Capitol visit, we parked the Jeep near the stadium and had lunch at the Breckenridge Brewery restaurant. It was a great place with delicious food. I tried their seasonal summer ale and loved it. I think it's called SummerBright, and if I can find it bottled around here, I'm going to pick it up.

Then it was on to the stadium. We picked our tickets up at Will Call. Jeff was able to get good seats behind home plate, about 35 rows back. Henry brought his glove, hoping to catch a foul ball.

We had a great time at the game, even though Henry didn't catch a fly ball and it started to rain in the 7th inning. We left in the 8th inning because it looked like it was looking pretty stormy.  We found a steakhouse/brewery next to the stadium and decided to wait the storm out there.  While Ruth and Henry snacked throughout the game, Jeff and I were holding out for steak.

The Denver Chophouse and Brewery did not disappoint.  I had steak tri-tips in a stout-balsamic sauce that was amazing.  Jeff went with a strip steak that was also very good.  The kids picked at kids meals while we watched the end of the Rockies game on a tv back in the bar.

Henry will be writing a post tomorrow about the game.

The Rockies Baseball Game - by Henry

We went to a Colorado Rockies baseball game. They played the Chicago White Sox.  It was Todd Helton's 2,000th game.  He's the Rockies' first baseman. 

The stadium is huge and very nice.  I liked the "Noise" sign that made people yell.  Ruth and I had Dippin' Dots in the beginning of the game and we split nachos later in the game.

Troy Tulowitzki hit a home run.  He's my favorite player on the Rockies.  After Troy hit the home run, they were up 4 to 1.  But then they had a bad sretch, and the White Sox kept on scoring runs, so the Rockies lost the game 6 to 4 in extra innings.

Henry's Review of the Day

I really liked the High Plains Museum.  My favorite part was seeing the first patented helicopter, and watching the blades move around.
 
The ride to our campsite in Strasburg, Colorado was only two hours.  We saw some buffalo along the way – I think they were part of a little zoo.  Then we spotted four pronghorns in fields along the highway.
 
Once we got to the campground, we went to the pool.  It is hot here, about 90 degrees.  So when we got to the pool, we swam for a bit and then the wind started blowing like crazy.  Dad said we should get out of here!  I was the first one out and I found myself in a mini-tornado or mini-dust bowl storm.  The winds were kicking up dust all over the place.  It blew in my eyes, and rocks were hitting me in the arms.  Ruth was behind me, and Dad was last.  He had to walk back with no shoes or shirt on.  He was covering his face with his shirt to keep the dust out.
 
When we got to the RV, mom was outside, bringing in the chairs.  She said the RV was  rocking because of the wind, and that’s why she went outside to see what was going on.
 
The storm was over pretty quickly, with only a little rain.  It was mostly wind.  It was interesting to watch after learning about the Dust Bowl storms at the High Plains Museum.  It must have been awful to live through them for years, like the people in the Depression did.
 
There are some rabbits in our campground.  We watched one scurry down the street our RV is on.  Then another one came.  I watched them with my binoculars.
 
We went to dinner in Aurora, Colorado at a restaurant called the Bent Fork Grill.  I had the best thing.  It was a French Dip sandwich and fries.  It had roast beef with melted cheese on it.  I shared a little bit with Dad and Ruth, but I ate most of it.  For dessert, I had a Brownie Sampler with vanilla ice cream.  It was pretty good.  Dad got banana fritter with vanilla ice cream and caramel on it.  I had the best entrée but Dad had the best dessert. 
 
We saw storm clouds on the ride home from Aurora, but not over our campground.  After awhile, we saw a rainbow in the sky outside of our RV.  When we went out to look at it, we saw the rabbits again.  When they run away, you can see their bushy white tails.  I think we saw a quail too.
 
Tomorrow we’re going to see the Colorado Rockies play the Chicago White Sox.  I also want to go to the Denver Zoo and aquarium.  I’ll definitely write a report about the baseball game.
 
Henry

History of the High Plains

Before heading to Colorado this morning, we stopped by the High Plains Museum in Goodland.  It got a rave review on TripAdvisor and was also mentioned in the campground brochure. 

It was worth the stop.  The museum covered the high plains from the time of the dinosaurs, through pioneer settlement, the Dust Bowl years and into the 40's.  The fossils were really interesting, and were all found in western Nebraska.  They had mastodon teeth, a mammoth's tusk, and some other bones from early mammals.  We learned that 200 million years ago, part of Kansas was an ancient sea, and that about 100 miles east of Goodland, sharks teeth have been found as the land formations erode.

The exhibits on pioneer settlement and the Dust Bowl were also very interesting.  They showed what the inside and outside of a sod house looked like.  Sod houses were made out of bricks formed with mud and grass and were built into the ground so that from the outside, they looked very short.  They had dioramas of Goodland from its early settlement until the 1940's to show how the town progressed.

The museum curator was most proud of the model of the first patented helicopter on display.  It was built by two men from the area.  We pushed a button, and the blades of the helicopter (they looked like they were made of something like sailcloth) spun around.

After we finished touring the museum, we drove past the other Goodland tourist attraction - a giant reproduction of a Van Gogh sunflower painting on a huge easel.  The Goodland tourism magazine said this painting is one of many that will be located around the world.  Goodland was chos

en in the United States because farmers there grow tons of sunflowers to produce both sunflower seeds to eat and sunflower oil.  Apparently, in mid-August, fields are full of them.  I bet it's a beautiful sight.

Kansas

Today, we drove about 410 miles, from Kansas City, Missouri to Goodland, Kansas.  Goodland is close to the Kansas-Colorado border, so we basically drove across the state.



I thought it was a beautiful drive.  The sky was mainly blue, and in every direction, you either saw green cornfields, recently plowed golden wheat fields, or grazing cattle.  Once, when I looked out Henry's window, there were about 25 cows - mothers and babies - walking in a line down a dusty path through grazing fields.  We also saw cattle cooling themselves off in a pond.

We also saw a huge wind farm along the highway, with corn planted among the windmills.



If you eat beef, bread, or corn products, you owe Kansas a great deal.  It's not called America's Breadbasket for nothing.  There was a sign on the side of the highway that said "Every farmer in Kansas feeds 128 people." - and I believe it.  They also raise hogs and chickens, and grow sorghum and sunflowers - for both seeds and sunflower oil.  For more Kansas fun facts, click here.



While I'm used to seeing farmland in New Jerser and Virginia, the huge grain elevators and other storage facilities, many serviced by railroads, were interesting to look at. 

And you might not think oil when you think of Kansas, but there were lots of oil drilling sites dotted through farmland.



Flour Mill in Abilene

While I thought the drive was very scenic, Jeff had some challenges.  Because the summer is the only warm time on the Plains, that's when they tend to do road construction.  So for good stretches of road, the two lane road was down to one.  And there were Kansas State Police out everywhere - we even saw an RV get pulled over in a 70mph zone.  Take it from us, it's not easy to get a RV to go 70 mph, never mind faster than that.  We also seemed to be going uphill for long periods, not noticeable to me, but Jeff could feel the Jeep pulling on the RV and it made the engine run hotter.

After crossing into Kansas, we first passed Kansas City, Kansas - which is home to the Kansas Speedway.  It was too early to stop at Arthur Bryant's Barbecue, so I'll have to go without this time.  Next, we came upon Topeka, the state capitol.  As soon as I saw the first sigh, I had "the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" song in my head for a couple miles. 

Kansas has so much historical stuff going on.  The Santa Fe and Oregon trails go through Kansas, there were the battles that gave the state the nickname of "Bloody Kansas" before the Civil War, and then there's the history of the early settlers, the ranchers and the Indians.  The are forts in the state going back to the early 1800's.  Fort Riley is still in operation - it's the home of "The Big Red One."  



D-Day Map at Eisenhower Museum

We were driving along I-70, nicknamed "The Main Street of Kansas."  The next city we came to was Abilene, hometown of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  We decided to go check out his Presidential museum and really enjoyed it.  It's a large complex, with Eisenhower's Presidential Library, museum, family home, and the shrine where he's buried.  We only bought museum tickets.

The museum covered Eisenhower's life during World War II and his presidency.  There was lots of WWII memorabilia there, including the table that Eisenhower planned D-Day operations at with his team.  There was also some NASA memorabilia there, since NASA was created during Eisehower's Administration. The kids enjoyed looking at an officer's jeep, an anti-tank rocket launcher, and the "I like Ike" campaign materials. After the museum, we walked past the Eisenhower house and over to the shrine to pay our respects.  Then it was time to hit the road again.



Horses and Corn

We gassed up in Salina, KS and then headed west on I-70 on our way to Goodland.  We passed Russell, Kansas, hometown of Senator Bob Dole. (As a trivia point, the sign said it's also the boyhood hometown of Senator Arlen Specter.) 

If I had done my research better, we might have stopped for the night in Hays, Kansas, which is home to Fort Hays, which was in operation from the 1850's to the 1880's.  Today, it's a museum that covers frontier life and the role of the fort during western expansion.  We'll have to save that for another trip. 

About 90 minutes later - around 7:00 p.m. Mountain time zone - we pulled into the campground in Goodland.  It was a long driving day, but everyone did well.  It's a small campground, but the kids were thrilled to see a swimming pool and mini-golf course.  Jeff took Ruth to the pool and I took Henry to play golf.  It was hot during the day, but it cooled off at night and was pleasant.

I noticed the sun setting behind the RV, and walked to the edge of the campground to take some pictures.

This will be a short stop.  Tomorrow morning, we'll head to the outskirts of Denver, where we'll spend four days.  It's about 2 hours away.

Well, that's enough for tonight.  I'll be updating the main slide show and adding a Kansas slideshow to the blog tomorrow.

Henry and Ruth's Water Park Review

Henry: 

The first thing we did was Paradise Falls.  It's like a Coco Key or Massunutten water park. Since the power was out until 12:00 there was little water coming out the slide so you would get stuck in the middle of it. So we decided to go to the Surf City Wave Pool and check that out.  It was one of my favorite things in the water park.  I like that they set waves and you could jump over them.

Then we went to Hurricane Falls.  Dad, Ruth and I went on and mom watched.  It was really fun.  We were a round raft and went down big, curvy hills.  There were lots of turns.  The second time we did it, it was just me and dad, and we were straight up and down and I was at the top.  Water started pouring on us because we were so high.  Luckily, we didn't flip over.

Then I went in the Lazy River with mom and Ruth.  It was fun.  I liked swimming it and going fast.  Then we went to a pool that had a big alligator, shark, log raft and snake in it that you could climb on.  I went on the thing where you hold onto a rope and have to step from one lily pad to the next.  This one was really hard, not the one at Coco Key.  They had some slides too.

Then Ruth asked me to go on Aruba Tuba with her.  It's a water slide you go down in a tube, and it ends up in the pool.  We went in a double tube a few times and then we went by ourselves.  It was awesome.

Then we went back to the Lazy River and then Dad bought us Icees. 

Ruth:

My favorite part of the water park was Aruba Tuba.  It was really fun.  When I was in the tube with Henry, we got really wet, and Henry fell out of the tube in the pool the first time.  The second time, Henry said I had to go first.  When I went down by myself, it was fun too.  I went faster by myself.

We kept thinking we heard thunder, but it was a log flume ride that went boom when the car hit the bottom.

I did not like Hurricane Falls.  You were on a big raft and there are a bunch of turns and your whole raft went up the side of the turn and I was literally always on the end up high and I didn't like that.

I really liked the lazy river too.  It was cold, but you got used to the water fast. 

I had a cherry and lemon-lime mix Icee.

Sunset at the Campground

Oceans of Fun!

After the morning's thunderstorms, the skies cleared a bit.  Jeff took the kids to the pool around 11, after he got some work done, and I planned to hang out in the RV.
Then I got to thinking that the hot tub might do me some good, so I walked up there too.  I won't lie, it was not a fun walk.  But the hot tub worked wonders, and the pool chair was actually comfortable.

Around noon, we saw a set of cars head up the first hill on one of the roller coasters at Worlds of Fun, which meant the power was back on!  So Jeff went and bought four tickets to the Ocean of Fun water park, figuring the kids would get more out of that. I hadn't planned to do anything other than sit in a chair, but I figured that the water park was so big there was no way Jeff could watch both kids unless they all three did things together.

I'll let Ruth and Henry write the review of the water park, but the one thing I will say is that it might have fixed my back.  After sitting in the hot tub at the campground, I went in the lazy river with the kids and it was freezing!  Ruth was right, however, when she said I'd get used to it.  Even though you had to pay to get the water park, you had to pay to rent the tubes to float in the lazy river.  That was odd.  So instead, the kids and I just floated around it without a tube.  It was still fun, and soaking in the cold water made my back feel much better.  So I'll give the place a 10 for that.

It remained cloudy the rest of the day, and a few times we thought it was going to storm again, but it never rained.  The sun even came out long enough to give Ruth and Henry some pink on their faces.

After the water park, we cooked outside for the first time this trip.  Unbelievable, really.  But until then, there was always a threat of rain, or we had plans for dinner.  We have a stove in the RV, so earlier in the trip, I made chicken marsala with mashed potatoes and cajun tilapia with rice inside.

I grilled hot dogs and turkey burgers on the grill at our campsite while Jeff showered (and threw all the towels in the laundromat dryer) and the kids played Bananagrams.  It was so nice to be outside.  Even though I had a craving for Arthur Bryant's BBQ, which my "Local Eats" app said was only 1.43 miles away, it seemed wrong not to cook outside on such a beautiful night.

Greetings from Kansas City

Good campgrounds close to Kansas City - either on the Kansas or Missouri side - are pretty slim pickings.  The last time we came through Kansas City, we stayed one night at a small campground in a suburban neighborhood (more like a mobile home park) and then two nights at a hotel with an indoor water park. 



View from our campsite



Jeff found one campground close enough to Kansas City on the Kansas side, but the reviews of the place weren't so good.  I was hunting online as we were driving to Kansas City, and found a campground that was part of an amusement park called Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun.  It was close enough to Kansas City that we wouldn't have to drive 45 minutes to get to the city's attractions, but it was right next to an amusement and water park, and there would be no hiding that from the kids.  But the location was right, so we went with it.

It's a nice campground, with a huge pool, game room, and convenience store.  Even though we can see the roller coasters from our campsite, it's not loud at all. 

Ruth already gave you a review of the pool, so I will just add that the hot tub is fantastic.  It helped my back, which is still killing me after the tennis game. 


BBQ Prime Ribs



The number one thing on Jeff's mind when coming to Kansas City was barbecue.  So for dinner last night, we went to Fiorello's Jack Stack Restaurant.  We went there for the last trip and loved it, so we had to go back again.  It did not disappoint.  Jeff went with Jack's Special Combo, which includes ribs, burnt ends, and BBQ'd prime ribs.  I went with a whole plate of slow smoked and then fire grilled crown prime ribs.  Words cannot describe how fabulous they are.  Henry got beef ribs and Ruth got a brisket plate and both enjoyed their meal.

No thunderstorms materialized last night as predicted by the Weather Channel, but they finally hit at 2 a.m.  In addition to the lightning, thunder and hail, this time we had some strong winds too, which rocked the RV back and forth.  Jeff and I woke up, but the kids slept through it.  Then we had another one around 6 a.m..  Both storms passed over us in about 15 to 20 minutes.

We lost power twice this morning, but it's back now.  Unfortunately, as of 9 a.m., the power was not back in the water park.  Jeff was going to take the kids while I hang out there and rest my back.  We're hoping the power will be restored by the time the water park opens.

Looks like we'll be taking it easy today, thanks to my back.  Getting old stinks.

Highlights from Ruth's Journal

Chapter 1.  Finally in Ohio! 

On the way to Columbus, I saw a deer eating grass and another one dead on the road.

Chapter 2.  Unpacking the RV

We just got to our first campground of the trip and we are unpacking the RV. After we unpack, we are going to dad`s friends house and go get dinner with him.

Chapter 3.  Meeting Jay at His House

We met Jay and his family and hen we went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Chapter 4.  Breakfast and Baseball

We are having breakfast, and soon we are heading to the Cincinnati Stadioum to see the Reds play the Yankees.

Chapter 5.  The Game and Dinner

The game was so much fun and the Yankees won!  The food was also great.  After the game, we went to dinner at a famous restaurant.

Chapter 6.  Going to our First KOA of the Trip

We are hooking up the Jeep and getting ready to go our first KOA of the trip.  We are going to Indianapolis.  Yahoo!

Chapter 7.  Finally There

We finally got to Indianapolis and I went straight to the pool.  After that we went to the game room and then we rented banana bikes.  We are right next to the pool.

Chapter 8.  Museum Time

We are still in Indianapolis and soon we are going to the Children's Museum and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. 

Chapter 9.  How It Was

It was so fun.  We went to a lunch place called Shapiro's and then we went to the race station.  It was so funny because Dad kissed the bricks of it.

Chapter 10.  Going to Springfield

We woke up, got pancakes and now we are headed to Abe Lincoln's hometown.

Ruth's Pool Report

I've been in two swimming pools so far.  One was in Indianapolis and the one here in Kansas City.

The pool in Indianapolis was freezing cold.  It was right by our campsite.  My dad didn't really want to go in, but I made him.  Henry went in when dad went in.  I liked it when Dad picked me up in the pool and threw me.

In Kansas City, the pool is very big with a basketball hoop on the side.  Henry was playing basketball the whole time we were there.  Mom and Dad went in the pool too.  It was cold, but you got used to it quickly.

There was a hot tub at the pool, but kids couldn't go in it.  I wish I could go in.

I'm excited to go to the water park at the campground later this morning.  I'll write about that later.

So Who's from Missouri?

We traveled Missouri Route 24 to 36 to get to Kansas City from Hannibal.  Who knew so many famous people were from that area of the state.   In addition to Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain and Molly Brown, we came upon  Marceline, Walt Disney's hometown.  I found that courtesy of my Roadside America iPhone app, which notes all the wacky, weird and interesting sites in the U.S. Unfortunately, while we were in the vicinity of the World's Biggest Pecan (12 feet long and made of cement), it was on a different highway so we couldn't stop to see it.



Walt Disney Boyhood Home Museum



The museum commemorating Walt's time in Marceline is in the town's old train station.  We learned at Disney World that Walt loved trains, and once you see his town, it's clear why.  It was definitely a railroad town, with a beautiful train station.  Walt could watch trains come and go all day.

We didn't go in the museum, and we skipped checking out a tree that Walt used to lay under and think about cartoons because it might have been sticky with the RV and Jeep in tow.  But it was nice to see where Walt grew up.

A bit farther down the road in Laclede, we saw signs for the birthplace of General Pershing.  In Hamilton, you can visit the JC Penney Museum, honoring James Cash Penney, who started the first store and then the chain. And then in Kearney, a short distance from Kansas City, there's the hometown of Jesse James.

Hannibal, Missouri

On our way from Springfield to Kansas City, we were happy to see Hannibal, Missouri on our route.  Right after we crossed the Mississippi River, we took the first exit off Route 36 and headed into town. 

They have Mark Twain's (Samuel Clemens) boyhood home, Becky Thatcher's house, Clemens' father's law office, and a store, next to an interpretive center with information on Twain's life.  We walked around the area, and then headed up some stairs to view the Mississippi River from a bridge built back in the 1930's, that was dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt.  Senator Harry Truman also attended the dedication.

They also have a statue of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn at the end of town.

It's a cute little town with a main street with shops.  And having been to many touristy towns with gift shops, I'd have to say I found the gift shop with the best prices.  Don't they know everyone else is charging at least $3 for a bottle of water?

The travel quote we used for our first roadtrip blog came from Mark Twain:  “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

And here's another Twain quote that's pretty good:   “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” 

On the way back to the highway, we passed the birthplace of the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown, a Titanic survivor.  As we would come to learn, lots of famous people are from Missouri.

Springfield, Illinois Slideshow

In the Land of Lincoln - Springfield, Illinois

Springfield, Illinois was home to Abraham Lincoln when he was a lawyer, and it was at his home in Springfield where he was notified that he had won the Republican nomination for President of the United States.

We began our time in Springfield at the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.  They're not fans of photography there, so I wasn't able to take many pictures other than where they allowed photography.

The museum lets you walk through Lincoln's life from when he was a boy born in a log cabin in Indiana, to his days in Springfield, to his time in the White House and ends with a walk past his casket laying in state as it would have after he died.  We learned that his kids were wild as children, and saw how grief stricken Abe and Mary were when their son Willie died in the White House.  The figures of Abe, Mary and others were so lifelike, it was amazing.

Ruth wanted to go to one of the two movies they were showing and Henry was a trooper and went along with it.  It was one of those theaters that tries to be so realistic that when a cannon goes off, your chair jolts and puffs of smoke come out from under the screens.  Made for an interesting experience.

After the museum, we headed over to the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site.  There were no tours available for an hour, so we walked over to Jimmy John's, a local sub shop chain, so lunch.  Great subs.  A rise in blood sugar also helped improve Ruth's mood.

As we walked back to the Lincoln Home site, we met up with a man who plays Lincoln's bodyguard in living history events in Springfield.  He showed us the church where the Lincoln family worshipped and pointed out the Lincoln pew and gave us tips on things to do.  Henry liked his glasses - the lenses were a shade of purple.

Inside the Visitor's Center, we saw Abe Lincoln chatting with visitors.  Hollywood could not have hired a better look-alike.  The kids waited while visitors from China chatted with Abe, and then they got their picture taken with him.  After we walked around a bit, it was our time to tour the Lincoln house.  The exterior of the house has been restored over time, but the interior is original, including the mahogany doorways.  There is also some furniture in the house that was there when the Lincolns lived there, as well as some other pieces brought over from Lincoln's law office.

As we were leaving the house, Abe was near the front door, which gave me the opportunity to snap a picture as if we were back in time.  Pretty cool.

As were were leaving the house, the kids saw that Abe was giving a speech on his front porch.  He was finished by the time we got to the front of the house, but he invited us to walk with him to the (old) State Capitol, and Ruth wanted to go.  Abraham Lincoln is her favorite president, and I think she would have followed him anywhere.

We walked a few blocks with the group and Abe to the old State Capitol, and went up into the Legislative Chamber.  It was a beautiful room with a huge portrait of George Washington and red, white and blue bunting hanging at the top of the columns.  We sat at the legistors' desks.  There, Abe gave a rousing speech on the evils of slavery, the importance of preserving the Union and his ideals.  The man was so good, you felt like you were back in 1861.  (Earlier, Jeff had talked with him in the visitor center, and he said he's been doing this since 1976.)

Coming out of the old State Capitol after the speech, we walked past Lincoln's law offices and the church he attended when he lived in Springfield.

Ruth and Henry enjoyed the whole thing, although they both said they didn't exactly understand what Lincoln was saying during his speech.

All Quiet on the Midwestern Front

We all fell asleep as Round Three of the thunderstorm came through.  I never heard another thing storm-wise, but as we pulled out of the campground this morning, there was water everywhere.

I woke up at 2:30 a.m. because of another issue, however.  Ruth says it's because I'm too old to play tennis.  That's love, I tell ya.  But she might have a point.

The kids brought their tennis rackets and balls along for the trip, and the Springfield campground had a tennis court.  I originally walked over to watch and take some pictures, but since Jeff was playing, I decided to play too.  I was teamed up with Henry.

I have not picked up a tennis racket since shortly after Jeff and I got married in 1998 and our apartment building had tennis courts. So I had no business thinking I could just starting running around, backhanding and forehanding tennis balls.  Billie Jean King, I am not.

That was pretty evident when an errant serve walloped Ruth right in the face.  To be fair, I think she tried to hit it, but with the angle of her racket, the ball ricocheted off her face.  Oops.

So at 2:30 this morning, my sciatic nerve let me have it.  I took some Advil and remembered my friend Jen saying to put a pillow between your knees when you sleep, and it worked well. 

I think my tennis days might be over.

Now, we're on our way to Kansas City.  We'll camp in Kansas City, Kansas and do some sightseeing in Kansas City, Missouri.  And eat lots of barbecue.  We're still driving under cloud cover, but no rain so far.  Once we got out of the Springfield area, the darker clouds have gone away.  Now, every once in awhile, a little patch of blue pops out.