Strasburg, CO

We are finally in Colorado.  Our last time change for a little while, we are now in Mountain Time.  Uneventful drive after a very very windy night.  We were both awoken when there was a huge thump against the trailer, no it wasn't the Wicked Witch just a poor little bird that blew into the trailer.  Temps were in the 70's when we got up, yes Sara yesterday was a dry heat and yes Carl it was rather like an oven, so it was quite refreshing this morning.  Kansas plays weather reports at the rest areas.  It is over speakers outside the building, again a rather unique feature.

Top picture is of a museum(Old Town) right onside the CO welcome center and the camper parked in the lot.  We drove for miles looking at pasture land.  That is a farm on the left horizon.  The land developed more hills and had trees but it was still acres of corn, grain and miles of prairie.  Panoramic of the campground entrance.  This KOA is at 5391 feet, the next one is another 2000 feet.

Our little baby camper peeking out between to "arks".  We are usually the smallest one but we love our trailer.  The last one is a pic of the bathroom.  It is typical of all the campgrounds.  Three toilet stalls and three shower stalls.  We have found the KOA ones to be exceptionally clean.  This campground is nestled between RT 70 and railroad tracks, I think there might even be an airport in the area.  Another thing of note, many cotton wood trees are leaving the ground covered with "poofy" white fluff and it is blowing around in the wind.  Sigh, we hope the trains stop running over night because we know the traffic won't.  Two nights here then on to Estes Park.

WaKeeney, Kansas

Not too much to report today.  First pic is a panoramic of the campground looking at our camper.  Feature of our new camera so you might be seeing more of those.  The next pics tell the tale of the heat here in Kansas.  It was 106 outside this afternoon.  Owen stayed in the AC watching a race and I stayed in the pool for the afternoon. We have had a really nice day today doing absolutely nothing.  We had pancakes at the office this morning then planned our next stop.  Didn't even do laundry, funny it is still waiting for me and the world hasn't ended.  We still have some clean clothes so no rush.

These were off the TV around 7, the temp right now is a balmy 91.  We will be in Colorado tomorrow, a new time zone to get used to so our posts will be coming to you Mountain time which is two hours earlier than Eastern.  We'll be going up, up up, almost 5400 feet.  Until then....

WaKeeney, Kansas

We traveled to Kansas today.  Up and out early due to the predicted thunder storms.  The pic on left shows the clouds as we drove west.  We also had major traffic issues on the highway.  The three lane highway went to one lane so it took forever to get out of Missouri this morning.  The next pic is of the Topeka capitol building, which is under repair.  Another hectic place with lane closures.

We finally got to my kind of area, wide open space.  We drove along acres of corn then rolling hill prairies dotted with cattle and acres of amber grain, wheat I think.  I love the windmills.  There were 100's all along the highway in the open fields.  These ones were huge, bigger than others we have seen.  Hard to believe that Kansas is flat because we hit some good elevations today.  Most of the hills were gradual climbs so it didn't seem all that bad but the gas mileage showed it.  Another funky issue, road construction where we were on the east bound side with two way traffic and the exits on the west bound side were just closed. There were two or three, of course it was right when we needed gas.  Many exits with nothing on them but farms.  Photo on right is the office of our latest KOA.

Our little camper baking in the almost 100 degree heat.  At least we have a little baby tree.  Next is the field beyond the campground property.

This last one is the sky around 9:15.  We must be getting close to the next time zone, Mountain, since the sun didn't set until close to 9:45.  Not sure if we will do much tomorrow.  Supposed to be a bit warmer.  Maybe a little house work.  You will have to wait and see.  Until tomorrow.....

Crown Center

 Joyce C. Hall created Hallmark cards in 1910.  In 1968 he and his son created a place that would "help revitalize a part of Kansas City's decaying urban core.  It is a vibrant shopping, dining and entertainment center.  Two million square feet of office space and the city's two largest hotels.  You'll find more than 60 unique places to shop and eat and fun places to be entertained."  The top 2 photos are of the outside of the visitors center.

Every year the employees designed a Christmas tree for Joyce C Hall including the year that he died.  Each was unique and many of the designs were added to the Hallmark line.  Hoops and Yoyo for Sara :P

On the left, an embosser working on a design.  The right a bow maker.



The Center is huge.  It is on three floors and includes many little shops, theaters, and places to eat. We ate at "A Street Car Named Desire"  get me a burger quick.  The facade was a street car.  

As we got off the escalator we were overtaken with the smell of chocolate.  The smell just drew us into Chips Chocolate Factory.  That is a batch of fudge on the table waiting to be cut up.  There were cases of various kinds of candy all with some form of chocolate.  Also had bins of different colored M & M's.  Most of which are not sold by the bag.  We did have to get a little something. (I really wanted one of everything but settled on one thing)  On the right is a cinnamon bun.  I think the name of the bakery was Mamma's something or other.  Again we were tempted but left it sitting on display.  We did show some restraint :D
Another five hour travel day tomorrow, to Kansas where we will stay for two nights again.  Update tomorrow if the internet service allows.

Kansas City, MO

 Today was a travel day.  Six hours on the road with a stiff head wind.  Not the best day for mileage.  We traveled through farm country, acres of corn and amber grain of some kind.  Not sure if this is unique to Missouri but I don't remember seeing it in any other state.  The state roads/highways are not numbered but use letters.  We crossed the Mississippi for the last time today and crossed the Missouri River a couple of times.  Both are still very high.

1. We are staying at Trailside RV Park.  It is nestled between Route 70 and a busy local throughfare and as a bonus has  railroad tracks nearby.  Not the best place we have stayed but we are only here for two nights. We do have internet access here at our site.  It is much stronger now that the wind has gone down.  The pics might not be up to par today since I took them.  Owen is feeling a little under the weather, looking a tad green around the gills so to speak.  Hopefully a good nights sleep will have him back to "normal".  Hope everybody is doing well, until tomorrow.

Anheuser-Busch

Went to the Anheuser-Busch for a tour.  The tour took a little over an hour.  It is an amazing facility.  Huge but with landscaped grounds.  Brick walkways and flowers and trees everywhere.  The first pic is of the sign you see on the road into the facility.  The next is on the entrance of the building entrance.  The St Louis property is the largest of the 12 US breweries.

No tour would be complete without the Clydesdales.  Just one of many on the grounds.  Their stables are cleaner than some houses.  Every day each horse eats 50 pounds of hay, 23 quarts of mixed feed and 30 gallons of water.  The next is just a sample of the kinds of beers brewed here.

After going through the brew house you see the 50 degree aging cellars.  The beer actually ages over beechwood and is in the tanks on the left which are stacked 4 high, that's a lot of beer.

This picture is on the bottling/canning line.  Again there is a lot of beer going through these lines on a daily basis.  The tour ended at the hospitality suite where two free samples was available for everybody on the tour.  Soda was available for kids and non drinkers.  From there we went to this historical site, it gave me another stamp in my Passport for National Parks and was part of Grant's Farm.

Both of these homes belonged to Ulysses S Grant.  The one on the left was where he and his wife lived most of their lives.  The one on the left, Hardscrabble Farm, was built in 1885 but they lived there for only a few months.  The property was bought by August Busch Sr. and today is an exotic animal park, petting zoo and Bavarian-style farm.   You ride a tram through fields with animals that are free to roam and are dropped at a courtyard where there is a hospitality house (2 more samples) and places to purchase food.  There are also more Clydesdales on one side of the parking area.  All in all it was a great day.

St Louis

Went to the St Louis Science Center today. Before I talk about the museum note that there are no pictures today. We are using a server (tengonet)that restricts how much you can download and yesterday's pictures got us kicked off. I can still access with the IPad but can't do pictures. That said we had a good day at the science center. Saw 2 Omnimax movies, Sea Rex and Tornado Alley. Both were excellent but the tornado one was very scary since we are in tornado alley right now and had a watch this afternoon. (YIKES!). We also went to Body Worlds and the Brain. Sara and I went to a similar show in Detroit but it was a bit different. The show has real body parts that have been plasticised. People donate their bodies to this company to preserve with plastic and put on display. You see all of the internal organs in situ as well as all the muscles, bones, and nerves. If you ever get a chance to see one of these shows we highly recommend it. We are here until Thursday, not sure if we will be allowed back on line only time will tell.