Colorado and Beyond

After Mesa Verde, we started toward Denver. We had a lot of energy after our experience, and even though we left the park around 6pm that night, we decided to drive until we were tired. We made it through Wolf Creek Pass at night without going over the edge, or hitting any animals. At around 9pm, we found ourselves in Monte Vista, where their motto is, “Experience the Full Monte.” Cute. We passed on the full Monte, but stayed overnight wedged between a public golf course and the public schools. It was actually quite lovely. We woke up bright and early and got on the road again.

While we approached Denver, I got a suggestion from my mom via text to visit some relatives in Colorado. We had lunch with Dave, Jacque and Molly. I regret that I didn’t take any photos. It was so nice to see them after so many years.

We then drove up many steep hills to get to my great aunt Phyllis in Evergreen. Again, we failed to take photos, but had a fantastic time.

Our last stop in the area was Kelly Blume’s house, #DeersDoLodge What a great host. She and Paisley cooked quiche, Kelly made a fire, and we enjoyed each other’s company in the back yard. Kelly has 2 dogs and 1 cat. It was nice for Lucy to run around in the fenced yard. She policed the two pups (both under 2.5yrs) when she decided they were getting too rough. Tetra got a kick out of one of the dogs – Chili who was pretty darn cute.

Kelly offered her facilities as well. We enjoyed showers and did two loads of laundry. Did I mention that she was the most awesome host ever?!?!

The next morning, before Kelly was out of her shower, I made a pot of coffee thinking it was the least I could do for all she’s done for us. Alas – she doesn’t drink coffee, and I had to drink it all! Oh, the travesty. After snacking, chatting and meeting her roommate, Emily, we took off once again.

Driving through Kansas mid-day was HOT! Tetra stayed cool with a fan and an orange slice.

We made it out of there by 9:30, and made some great time down I-70 through Kansas. Matt got us out of Denver while I did a bit of work, then I drove through the first half of Kansas. When we stopped in Salina, we saw we were loosing air in one of our rear tires. We hung out at a truck stop, ate some lousy food, and waited for our tire repair. Around the back of the building, where the tire center was, we chatted with a truck driver from Indiana. He was kind. He hates the medical industry and medication, so we had that to talk about. He gave us some driving advice, including where to get the cheapest gas!

Matt hadn’t driven most of the day and was willing to drive a few more hours. We made it to Topeka by midnight. He found an awesome RV site by a beautiful lake. We all slept well, and had a nice respite.

Notice how we are the only folks there? $20/night at this freakishly awesome place.

I had to lure Matt out of this site as well. He really did like it. Like myself, Matt will blabber on for a half hour or more when he’s real happy. This happened while leaving the site. It made for a nice exit.

Some other activities we enjoyed that morning:

Tetra reaches for Douglas for the first time in her life.

This "palapa," the humidity and the breeze reminded us of Honey Camp.

Toots gets her toots wet.

"the biggest fairy ring Matt's ever seen!" we made sure that we didn't step in the center. we don't want poor T to be a slave to the fairies for the rest of her life.

This was pretty much the best playground structure I have ever seen. There was even rock climbing on it.

It wasn’t much further the next day to Kansas City. Matt was finally able to get rid of one of his records at a record store. The sales guy just bought it outright for himself. He said he couldn’t do consignment, but at least he got another copy out there. I thought it was a success. Next we went to eat at some place that had “Jazz” in the title. It looked good online, but once we sat and got our menus we discovered that it’s not at all a local hub of Cajun goodness, but just one of 6 in a chain of Cajun goodness. It was good!

A little water to wash down that horrid sweet tea!
 

the bathroom artists draw a connection between kitties and aliens

Now, we’ve begun our ascent to Southern Illinois via Missouri. Estimated arrival in about 5 hours.

BTW – pets are great. Tetra’s great. Nothing very exciting to report, except TJ likes chewing on oranges! We give them to her when she starts to get a little fussy.