Thursday May 15, 2014

Travel Day

 

It was a Colorado spring morning, 45 degrees, windy and
sunny . Traveling south on state Rt. 59,
shortly after leaving camp we spotted more snow laying in the ditch next to the
road; the trip south was through vast farm fields over rolling terrain much
like that in Kansas, the farms are huge, covering a vast amount of land, but
the farm houses and surrounding buildings are rather small. We continued south over US 287, where we
almost hit a deer that was grazing along the roadside. Turning east on state Rd. 96 we headed to
county road 54 and the “Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site”; however
turning onto the county road we discovered that the historic site was 6 miles
down a washboard dirt road, at that point we decided that it was not worth
traveling 5 miles an hour for 6 miles over a dirt road, so at the first chance
we turned around, backing the trailer onto a farm field access road. We then returned to Rt. 96 and headed west to
US 287, and south to US 50. Turning west
on US 50 we traveled to state road 194 and the “Bent’s Old Fort National
Historic Site”. This was a
reconstruction of an 1833 trading post that was built along the Arkansas River
where traders, trappers, Indian tribes and travelers along the Santa Fe Trail
could rest, trade or replenish supplies . 
Unlike most forts of the time, this one was built of adobe.   Leaving “Bent’s Old Fort we headed west on
Rt. 194 and Rt. 266 to east US 50; this was again through very flat farm
country with fields as far as the eye could see, trees were few and far
between, mostly around the farm houses or along the creek beds. Another wildlife surprise today was the
sighting of a prairie dog colony, with the traditional lookout standing sentinel
for the colony. When we reached I-25 we
headed north to Colorado Springs. Driving north on I-25 the views were
fantastic with the plains on the right and the Rocky Mountains raising magically
and majestically out of the relatively flat land. Surprisingly even this far south we could see
snow on the mountain tops. In Colorado
Springs we checked into the “Goldfield RV Park” where we will spend several
days exploring the area.