Monday 6/12/05 – Fayetteville AR to Hasty CO. 600 miles or so.

I left Monday morning about 9:15. I was hoping to get an earlier start, but I wasn’t really pushing it. Getting packed at Mom’s, then picking up the trailer at Tim’s took a bit longer than planned. Still, it’s not like I have a tight schedule or anything.

My route was mostly smaller roads – Highway 412 through Tulsa, I35 up to Wichita, then state highways across southern Kansas and into Colorado. It went fairly easily, other that a good headwind most of the way. Between the trailer and the wind, I had a hard time keeping 75 mph without dropping out of overdrive. I’m sure I was getting awful gas mileage.

Despite the reputation, I found Southern Kansas to be fairly pretty. Perhaps it’s the time of year – things are still green – but it’s not as flat as southern Illinois. There’s gently rolling hills, and small old farming towns and grain elevators on a regular basis to break things up. You can, however, smell feedlots (industrial cattle holding pens) before you see them. Phew.

One of the most interesting things was the change in the towns immediately as I crossed into Colorado. The land and use didn’t change, but it seemed like people cared more about the towns in Colorado. Perhaps there’s more money, or a different tax structure, but while the towns were the same age, and all had fallen on hard times, the towns in Kansas had more junk & trash, the houses didn’t have the same care, and the lawns were in worse shape. Weird.

I stopped for dinner in Lamar, CO – seemed like a decent little town. I ate at a small Mexican diner, before driving the last 30 miles to the John Martin Reservoir State Park. I had the primitive camping area all to myself, looking out over the lake. Really nice. Jackrabbits everywhere, no real trees, and a view that went for miles. I head coyotes howling at night, freight trains in the distance, and slept well.