August 18-20, 2021 - Leaving Fowler, CO for Scott City, KS
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
We left Fowler, CO 9:35am heading east to Scott City, KS. What a long, long road and the wind blew!
We left Fowler, heading west 1 block on KS Hwy 50, turning north onto KS Hwy 167 for approximately 7-8 miles, then we turned east on CO Hwy 96. We've driven KS Hwy 96 many times and I don't remember a section of it that was as bad as it was from Fowler to the Kansas border. It was such a relief to see the smooth road coming up as we moved into Kansas...no more bumpy roads.
Between the bumpy roads and what small towns were left within the state line of CO, which were few and far between, it was a very long drive today. We did stop once along the road to use our facilities in Bentley. Dean parked and I walked back to Bentley. When I came outside, Dean went in. It was then I noticed a small older lady walking toward me in what appeared to be a man's shirt that was about two times too big for her, a pair of mans jeans with the pant legs rolled up, a belt cinched up tight around her wast, and wearing an old cap. She had come out to get her mail, which was near us. I smiled and walked toward her. I said hello to her and that we had stopped to use our restroom. She smiled and visited with me for quite awhile. When Dean came out, he put the steps up, locked the door and put the safety handle over the door. She was still talking. Dean stood patiently while she continued to talk. I did enjoy visiting with her but after about 20 minutes we needed to move on. Dean went on to the truck and I visited a few more minutes before I told her I sure enjoyed visiting with her and learning a little about her life. She had pointed out where her school was when she was young and how she became a nurse and where she had traveled. It was very interesting. If we'd had some time to hang around there I would have enjoyed visiting with her even more. She said she always enjoys visiting with people when they stop. There was a strip of pavement from the corner to just past her house. I'm sure it is used often by RV's and or trucks that need to stop for a break or like us, to use our facilities. We had stopped in what was left of Chivington, Colorado. I hope we were a blessing to her as she was to me. I love visiting with people, especially older ones who have so much to share.
I cannot tell you how happy we were as we drove across the state line from Colorado and into Kansas several miles later, and onto smooth pavement. What a wonderful feeling it was! We had bumped for what seemed like miles upon miles.
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| My picture turned out blurry - but that Kansas sign meant we were back home! |
We passed through a few Kansas towns, including Leoti which showcased this brightly colored sign with a pergola.
before finally arriving in Scott City, KS for three nights. We are staying at Pine Tree RV Park. It is a small campground, although there were a number of people staying here. I believe they must be part of a crew working in the area. The owner told us that the park would be full this weekend as Scott City is hosting a car show. It's pretty tight so, I hope we have no trouble getting out as we will leave Saturday morning.
While here in Scott City we drove around town to look at homes, buildings, businesses - just getting a feel for the area and what types of things we might be interested in such as museums, etc. We were both tired and decided to order a pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner. It was pretty good. After dinner, I worked on my blog posts.
I am way behind which is due to the lack of internet connection we've had since we left Moab. It's better here, but it's taking a lot of time to download all of the pictures than I expected. It is better here today (Scott City) so I hope I can get everything downloaded tonight.
We were both bushed by the end of the day. I'll be back tomorrow with our plans for tomorrow.
Thursday, August 19, 2021 - Colby, Kansas; Little Jerusalem Badlands; Monument Rocks
We had a plan for today. We were up early and were headed to Colby, KS by 9:30am. We are looking for things to see and do in the area.
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| An overcast sky made for a comfortable temperature, although the wind was pretty gusty. |
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| A farmer in the field! See the dirt fly on this windy day! |
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| We really thought the skies would open at anytime and we'd see some significant rain, but it never happened. |
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| As we neared Oakley, KS we watched as they moved this windmill blade through the intersection. It's quite interesting to watch and it takes quite a bit of time to make that turn. |
We arrived at the Prairie Museum in Colby, KS close to 11am. Since the weather was still iffy, we decided to take in the outdoor tour in case it started to rain.
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| What an interesting windmill. Dean and I both love them. |
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The Cooper Barn
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| | The largest barn in Kansas stands as a representative of the key role agriculture plays in this region. Originally built to house Hereford cattle, the barn was part of the vast Foster Farms enterprise centered in Thomas County. The building is 66' wide, 114' long and 48' high. |
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| Upstairs is used for parties, weddings, etc. |
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| The roof beams. |
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| The floor is beautiful. |
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| There are two sets of these doors to enter the building. |
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| I found the sod house very interesting. I've heard about them, seen them in movies, but I've never seen one up close. |
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| Sod on outside of house. |
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| Sometimes we think our houses are small - can you imagine raising a family in a house like this? |
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| The depth of the window casing! |
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| Sod House. |
A one room school house. My grandparents attended one and so did Dean. I love the hopscotch pattern painted on the sidewalk. We used to play hopscotch at school, along with dodge ball, jump rope, tag, jacks, marbles, softball, etc.
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| Playground equipment - slide and merry go round. |
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| I wanted to show these pictures to our grandkids. These desks are made for two students. Notice the stove in the middle, and the chalkboards at the front of the class. |
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| If they were lucky they might have a piano like the one in the back. |
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| I would guess that most kids in school today do not know what a chalk board like this is. |
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| The teacher's desk. |
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| Cursive letters for writing sentences in school. |
Friday, August 20, 2021 - Work Day at Bentley
We were both up between 5:30-6:00 this morning. I had several loads of laundry to do and started on that right away. After our coffee, I made a morning shake for Dean and I ate some yogurt and strawberries. I had four loads of laundry to do and was able to finish it all about 4:00 this afternoon. Dean worked on his chair again. He took the motor out of his and put it on mine and the motor works fine. He finally decided it was the switch that is not working. He found the exact same one on Amazon and ordered it today. Before that, I called the company we purchased the chairs from to see if we could get one from him. Once Dean determined what the problem was he went ahead and ordered the part. We did not receive a call back from the company we bought it from. However, since he found the switch and ordered it, we are feeling positive about the chair working again very soon.
I vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and refrigerator. It felt good to get it done.
The rest of the afternoon I have been trying to get the blog caught up. I am unable to finish this tonight because I am still waiting for pictures to download. I must remember when I take pictures in the future I need to download them to google photos right away, or they pile up and it takes much longer to get them added in later.
Dean took the truck to a car wash to clean the windshields and the truck. He also stopped at a convenience store to top the truck off with fuel for our drive tomorrow. It was a nice day to get things done.
