23 September, 2014 - On to Colorado

We left Rawlins today blown along by the relentless Wyoming wind. The sky was beautiful, but the wind biting and persistent. I walked a couple of miles this morning and felt like I was crossing Rocky Ridge.  On the way back to the hotel, I could have opened my coat, and if on a skateboard, just coasted back, wind sailing me along.  But the drive took us through the rolling hills and grasslands of Eastern Wyoming, dotted with oil wells and skittering antelope. It was lovely and open forever.  At Cheyenne we turned south and headed towards Colorado. Just before the border, we turned off to visit the Terry Bison Ranch.  They have a couple of herds of bison (buffalo) and a tourist ranch.  We decided not to take the tour, but did visit the tame buffalo along with Sami's contribution to the journey, Freddie Falcon, a drawing of her school mascot.  He will travel with us and also visit parts of this great country.

See Freddy hiding by the horn?  It felt good to be back in the saddle again and "Riding High". 












I tried to get Ronda to climb aboard the Jackalope, but she declined and jumped on our buffalo instead. With the hat and quilted jacket, I think she looked quite stylish.  Ready to go out and chase the herds and head 'em west.

They sell fresh bison meat and all sorts of touristy stuff.  As I looked about, I found a wonderful rolled bison roast that looked delicious. I wish we could have taken it to bring home and slow cook in the crockpot.  But it is not the right time make that happen, at the start of our journey.  I even asked if they shipped meat and they said no.  The owner came in and told me that in just a few minutes they were adding about a thousand pounds of fresh buffalo hamburger to the shelf.  I think that if I lived close, I might be fetching steaks, hamburger and roasts relatively frequently. Buffalo is lean and delicious, a real treat.

As we left the ranch, we passed this enticing outlet, but Ronda forbade me going in to browse around.  I was sure I could find something brilliant or sparkly to take to David or even to bring home. I do think I have the "spark" of a pyro in me.




We crossed the border into Colorado and watched the terrain change to reveal emerald fields, crops and grass, open spaces and straight roads. Other than spots of construction it was smooth sailing.  As we drove further south, we began to see the rugged and beautiful peaks of the Rocky Mountains in the distance.  Even with some haze, they looked impressive.  I tried to capture the effect when we pulled off the freeway for the express purpose of taking a picture.  The didn't show up as well as I would have liked, telephoto would have been a better choice. But still wonderful.

On this same dirt road, with scattered farms spread along both sides, we passed fields of ripe squash, ready for the harvest.  We found both butternut and spaghetti squash in abundance. Between the fields you could see the beehives, strategically placed to provide pollination for the plants. I understand that now beekeepers will peddle hives of bees to needy farmers, moving them from the vicinity of one field to another to provide a service.

In the pictures you can see the squash and the beehives.

Here you can see both types of squash, stretching out on the fertile ground.

From here, we skirted Denver and headed east on I-70 and the rolling hills flattened out to billiard table earth, stretching as far as one could see.  We found ourselves catching up, again, with the storm we had in Salt Lake on Sunday. The clouds increased and thickened, turning darker the more we moved east. Then we could see curtains of rain, white in the setting sun and dark grey as we closed on them. A beautiful rainbow appeared and the roads got wetter and wetter and then, almost like a switch flipped, the clouds scattered, the sun broke through and we sailed on.  We are staying in Colby, Kansas tonight.  We talked to a couple of farmers at the restaurant and learned of the tough drought conditions they have been experiencing. This rain was welcome but not nearly enough.  We hope the season will be better for them.  It has been a good day of easy and pleasant driving.