Kansas - Another State, Another Day

We have now entered our 4th state - a new one for David.  Lynne had been to Kansas City proper many years ago on business.  We are in Newton, KS tonight.

Kansas is much prettier than expected .....  lots of green, silos, ranch homes and fields.

One thing we did discover is that there is a spot in the state known as the windmill capital and we saw many.  We even saw an industrial site that housed the parts on the ground: the blades, the posts, etc. and they are very LARGE and LONG!

We did, of course, see lots of corn fields. They are early in their season as they were none too tall yet.

We have seen clouds in the distance that look like Kansas storms but fortunately we have not experienced them.  So far, we have had only a few rain drops here and there and a bit of lightning in the distance.

And best of all are the awesome rest stops.  They are super clean and very efficient!

Miles today = 312

Miles on US-50 today = 312.  We are 52% of the way to Ocean City, MD

TO = 1731.

Rocky Mountain High

Today, we got REALLY high in Colorado.  And, that has nothing to do with the recent liberalization of the laws in this state.

Instead, it captures the experience that we had going over a very high summit.

The views from the summit are quite spectacular.

The descent on the east side of the summit is very quick.  In the course of 15 to 20 minutes, the temperature changed from low 50's to high 80's

It is not only a high summit, it is also the Continental Divide.  Apparently, from here on out, all of the rivers run backwards.

We were only about 30 minutes over the summit when one of those rivers showed up alongside the highway.  What a surprise, here in Colorado, to see that the name of the river is the Arkansas River.  Sure enough, Wikipedia tells us that it truly does flow all the way to Arkansas, where it joins the Mississippi. Who knew?

A notable sight seen prior to the summit was a HUGE contingent of bicycles.  Not all in one clump, but in small groups that went on for some miles.  Certainly many hundreds in number, and quite plausibly over one thousand.

It seems that there is an annual week-long event known as 'The Bicycle Tour of Colorado'.  Unlike the tour of California, it is not a competition.  Just a big ride for ambitious fans of the two wheeler.

Less than an hour beyond the summit the landscape becomes pretty flat, much in contrast to the Rocky Mountain region of the state.

The flat landscape is expected to continue tomorrow, when we enter Kansas.  The state line is only about 35 miles further down the road.

Trivia for the day:  'Rocky Mountain High' is, as we all know, a John Denver tune.  As many of you know, we are good friends with Pete Huttlinger, who was JD's lead guitarist for the last 3-4 years of John's life.

Today is Pete's birthday.

PETE:  If you are following the blog - Happy Birthday Buddy!  We are looking forward to seeing you in Snowmass on the homeward leg of this great adventure.

Miles today = 337

Miles on US-50 today = 337.  We are 42% of the way to Ocean City, MD

TO = 1414.

'Nother Day, 'Nother National Park

Today we visited the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

It was just like Arches National Park, except that it was a lot different.

It was alike in that the sights were absolutely breathtaking.

It was different in that it was 15 to 20 degrees cooler (Amen!), it was much less crowded, and the the sights were viewable from locations that were a lot closer to the parking places.  That gave us a much needed break, as we are still feeling the effects of a very rigorous day yesterday.

It was also different in that the rocks are much less red, instead showing a lot of black, gray and tan.

Although we enjoyed the visit very much, the visit was still very somber in one respect.

Why?  Well . . . . we have been to this park once before.

It was on September 11, 2001.

Miles today = 130

Miles on US-50 today = 63.  We are 30% of the way to Ocean City. That figure will increase substantially in the next three days.

TO = 1070.

Arches Arches Arches

Greetings from Colorado - Grand Junction to be precise.  Colorado is the first state in which we will spend more than one night.

Today was devoted to seeing Arches National Park.  The park lies about 25 miles south of US-50, via an exit that is about 50 miles west of the Utah/Colorado State line.

The sights in the park are, quite simply, spectacular.

Most are not immediately visible from the road.  So, we parked and hiked.  The longest one was about 3/4 mile each way, and several others were roughly 1/2 mile each way.  We did about 4 such visits, and each was well worth it.  However, the weather was hot and dry, and we were thoroughly spent at the end of the day.

Today was also the first day that we did some peripheral driving, i.e., driving on pathways other than US-50.  Because of that, our 'miles today' figure is less than our 'miles along US-50 today'.  You'll see that often in the days to come.

Miles today = 197.

Miles on 50 today = 102.  We are 28% of the way to Ocean City, MD.

TO = 940.

New State and New Time Zone

Utah is a much prettier state than Nevada.

However, the difference is not seen at the moment that you cross the border.  The first 90 miles of US-50 in Utah are little different from Nevada.  The 'Loneliest Road in America' descriptor still applies.

Then, things got a lot better.

We are now in Red Rock country.  The views amaze one mile after the next.

There were two sightings of bicyclists today.  Like yesterday, one was a solo rider, and female at that.

The other sighting was of a fairly large group - about 8, we think.  The big difference was that they had support vehicles with cautionary signs displayed on them.  Seems to us like a much safer way to see the road from your bicycle.

There were also two delays today.  The more interesting one was when we had to pull to the side of the road to let a wide load go by.  And we mean a REALLY wide load.  And there were two of them, along with several pilot cars.

There are some segments of US-50 that are common with other highways.  Today, we found two of those segments.  For about 10 minutes, we were northbound on I-15 with Las Vegas behind us and Salt Lake City ahead (though neither very near).

For our last 110 miles today, as well as a good part of tomorrow, we are on eastbound I-70.  Nonetheless, we have been on US-50 the whole time!

Tonight we rest is Green River Utah.  Not too surprisingly, there is a fairly large river running through town, and the water does have a distinctly green cast to it.

Miles today = 329.  We are 24% of the way to Ocean City.

TO = 743.  'TO' is short for 'Trip Odometer'.  It is our total miles to date for the trip.  We'll use this notation in subsequent blogs.

Tomorrow and Saturday will be our first days of enjoying adventures beyond simply putting miles behind us.

Tune in then to see what those adventures might be!

Welcome to Ely - Day 1 is successful

Yes, welcome to Ely Nevada.

 We left home (almost) on time at 6:50 this morning.

Miles today - 414.   So, we are about 14% of the way to Ocean City, MD.  Not bad for the first day out.

 Only the first 75 miles were in California.  We entered Nevada and traversed almost the entire width of the state today.  The Utah state line is a mere 60 miles away.

Some other stats (assuming the plan holds):

• Today was the 4th longest day of driving that we will have
• Our longest day, many days off, is just over 500 miles
• Our total mileage will be well over 8,000
• We will lay our heads in 30 different locations.  Most for one night, but some for two and some for three.

We took it easy, keeping the cruise control at about 60, even though the speed limit in most places is 70.  That paid off with excellent gas mileage - about 34 MPG.  And, we very peacefully sat out a 30 minute delay due to road work.

 The segment of Hwy 50 that spans Nevada is known as 'The loneliest road in America'.

Neither of us would offer the slightest argument with that label.

It seems that the highway does not belong solely to motor vehicles.  We were surprised to see bicyclists sharing the road with us.  Nothing wrong with bicycling, of course.  But, on this road it is a LONG way between stations with even the most rudimentary of services (such as an outhouse).

We were particularly surprised to note that, except for one party of four, all of the cyclists were riding entirely solo.  Seems quite dangerous to us!

In any event, day is done, and we're relaxing a bit before bed.

We only brought three bottles of the good California selections from home. We'll have to wait and see what sort of vintages we'll be able to find down the road.

Road Trip FAQS

Q:  When will you be taking this trip?

A:  Well . . . we don't think it would be prudent to cite the specific dates here online.  If you know us, and want to know, email us.  We'd be glad to tell you.  Suffice it to say that we leave in less than a month, and we'll be gone for a bit more than a month.

Q:  Are you RV'ing it?

A:  No.  We think that we'll be more comfortable in a car.  In fact, we bought a new car, purchased more or less specifically for the trip.  It's a 2014 Subaru Forrester.

Q:  When you depart, will you double back to the Highway 50 'Start Line' in West Sacramento?

A:  No.  We've covered all of that segment dozens of times, and most of it thousands of times.  No need to see it again.

Q:  What are some of the highlights that you expect to see?

 A:  Quite a few.

• At least four National Parks
• Mt. Rushmore (A National Memorial, not a National Park)
• The St. Louis Arch (One component of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial)
• The Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, PA
• Three or four Major League Baseball games, each in a different city
• Niagara Falls
• Four of the five Great Lakes - we'll miss Lake Michigan
• At least 18 states beyond California, and probably 1 or 2 more.
• One Canadian province, i.e., Ontario
• Family in Minnesota
• Music Festival in Snowmass, CO
• College friends in Estes Park, CO

Q:  What if we need to reach you?

A:  We will be in touch with our email accounts and our cell phones.