Cards ahead one game to zip so far!  Game two tonight in STL.  Go Cards!

Me in my Rally Squirrel shirt--GO CARDS!

St. Louis Cardinals in the 2011 World Series!  GO CARDS!  First game tonight in STL.  Temps in the low 40s!  Brrrrrr! 

GO CARDS!

Sat, 9/3/11:


KOA, Oak Grove, MO, to STL:  Started out at 9:00 this morning.  But most of the stuff we take back with us is all packed and ready to go.  All we have to do is unload the refrigerator.  I drove to about 20 miles east of Columbia where we stopped to eat.  Although the temperatures have been really hot all summer, everything was really green and the crops all looked healthy.  After our breakfast Mike started driving.  About 30 miles from home there was an accident and traffic was backed up for miles.  After about ½ hour we were on our way again.  Got to Storage Banc at about 2;30, unloaded, and we were home and had everything put away by 3:00. A little later on  Mike was relaxing watching a baseball game and I was all settled in to watch a movie and a little storm came through, and POOF!  We have no power.  A little lightning and not much wind, but nevertheless we have no power.  Didn’t come back on until 10:00.  Whatever.  It’s good to be home.  We put about 10,000 miles on the truck

Triple J RV Park, Russell, KS, to KOA, Oak Grove, MO:  Left around 9:00 this morning continuing east on I70.  After only about 30 minutes on the road a road runner ran out in front of me.  Your first instinct is to swerve to avoid it, but I know better, especially when pulling, and just slowed down.  It turned around and ran the other way just in time.  Whew!  And I didn’t know there were road runners in Kansas!  It’s so hot here maybe he thought he was in Arizona or something. Stopped for food at around 10:00 and I continued driving.  We switched around noon and Mike continued on.  Eastern Kansas is really pretty with the Flint Hills, more trees, streams and rivers.  Drove through Kansas City and saw a lot of new buildings.  Oak Grove is about 30 miles east of Kansas City.  Hot again today.  102 degrees.  One last drive tomorrow.  We should be home by early afternoon.

Kansas City in the haze.

Amost home.

KOA, Limon, CO, to Triple J RV Park, Russell, KS:  Left at 8:00 this morning.  We had a little storm last night.  One big clap of thunder and some gusty winds for about 10 minutes and that was it.  This morning I drove for about 2-1/2 hours.  We stopped in Colby, KS, for fuel and food and then Mike started driving.  We lost an hour, but we’re now on Central Time.  Yes!  Crossing Kansas it hit a high of 112 degrees!  We are so not used to this heat!  I just hoped we wouldn’t break down or something. Supposed to cool down tomorrow hopefully.  Got here about 2:30 and after setting up we headed over to do some laundry one last time.  Only one more stop tomorrow—Oak Grove KOA—just east of Kansas City. 

I'm thinking of something cool--like Lake Tahoe

KOA, Laramie, WY, to KOA, Limon, CO:  Left this morning around 8:00.  Back on I80 heading east again and very quickly started a long pull uphill.  Way up to about 8800 ft. and then leveled out into a big alpine meadow.  Very pretty up there.  We actually drove through a pine forest, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.  At the pretty little town of Cheyenne, WY, we headed south on I25.  Stopped at a Flying J for fuel and breakfast.  I parked in the same area as the semis.  We look so small next to these big rigs.  Had some breakfast and then back on the road.  I continued to drive for another half hour or so and then we switched.  With Wyoming in our rear-view mirror, we continued south on I25 past Ft. Collins and Loveland (really nice) and headed east on the 470 bypass around Denver to I70 east.  I70 through eastern Colorado and all of Kansas is high, arid plains.  Not much out here.  We’re in Limon tonight.  Tomorrow we head to Russell, KS. 

Pictures taken in Cheyenne a couple of years ago

Love these decorated cowboy boots all over town!

Capitol building

High Plains Drifters

Phillips RV Park, Evanston, WY, to KOA, Laramie, WY:  Back on I80 heading east again across the high plains covered with sagebrush and scrub and the higher buttes all around and back into the mountains again as we neared Laramie.  This high plain is between 6000 and 8000 ft. high.  Rt. 80 is good road, flat and straight, and in good condition.  But there’s not much out here along this ribbon of highway.  A few small towns, some power plants, refineries, and a chemical plant.  And it must be horrendous in the winter, judging by all the snow fences along this lonely stretch of road.  Wyoming has a total population of only about 600,000.  BUT, it also has Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, and Flaming Gorge.  Not bad.  We left this morning at 7:30.  I drove until about 11:30 when we stopped for fuel and breakfast and then Mike took over.  We got here and were set up by 2:00.

Some great things to see in Wyoming

Morning Glory Pool--Yellowstone

Grand Tetons

Flaming Gorge