Kansas to Missouri early Oct.

We traveled through Kansas from south to north, and now from west to east. We ended up in a small town in Rockwell, Missouri to visit Al and Brenda Hamilton. Al is an Air Force buddy of Birdie who has come down twice to visit us in Chobee. We stayed at the farm and had a great view, weather, and fun time. Birdie and Al drove around checking out the farms and countryside. Brenda and I went to an Amish town and shopped. We went to a football game and met some of his family.

Colorado

We visited Denver for several days and saw Buffalo Bill's Grave site. He was the cowboy who had Annie Oakley and the wild west show. The day we were there happened to be a special event held once a year. There were union and rebel soldiers displaying firing a musket, a woman exhibiting hats and showing how to twirl a rope, and a man dressed as Buffalo Bill. The museum was also open and free to the public for the day. By the way, Birdie did not want to take a pic with the union soldier.

We also ate a Casa Benita's. This is the largest restaurant in the world, seating over 900 people. It was like Disney World. There was a dive show, arcade, puppet show, skits,etc in this place. We ate a Taco and Margarita and enjoyed the show. It was really neat to walk through the place.

We also traveled 11,300 ft up to Berthoud Pass. This was the highest altitude we have been on thus far. Also, as you can see we drove through a town named after Birdie. I made him take a pic for the blog.

Rocky Mtn. National Park, Colorado

Rocky Mtn. National Park, Colorado

The trees are turning as you can see. Today in the valley it was 34 when we woke up at 8 am. The pic of the water is our view from the motorcoach where we are parked for 4 days. Yesterday we went to the park at an elevation of over 11,000 ft. I walked in the snow. We saw elk, moose, and mule deer. The views are beautiful as you can see. I don't think the pics tell the whole story though. On the way here we lost a hub cab. Birdie thought he remembered when he heard a strange sound. We back traced our steps and found not only ours but 7 other hubcaps in the same area. Kinda funny. Today we are going to see some of Birdie's friends and then heading out on Sunday. Love to all.

Moab,Utah

Today was a workout. We left our boondock site in the desert (where the Navajo Indian sell their horsehair pottery and cedar-juniper berry jewelry. I got an anklet to ward off evil. Birdie bought one for Gretchen and Niki. We think they need it. Anyway we then traveled to Moab and went to the Arches National Park. Birdie told me to where my hiking boots and bring plenty of water. I did not know we were going to hike over 6 miles up a mountain to see the Arch. This is the Delicate Arch which is on the Utah license plate. As you can see in the pic, I almost died! The temp was 90 and the air thin and dry. I was ready to head back to Alaska. I was not sure I was going to make it but decided that I had already hiked 2/3 of the way and was not going to be denied the pleasure of seeing this amazing site. A @#$##%%#$ Rock! We only saw foreigners hiking, they must have been like us and not got the memo. Birdie thought they shut down the Toyota plant. We then drove a bit and are now soaking our feet and drinking cocktails.

Nevada

Yesterday we climbed "garnet hill". We dug and broke up rocks and found a few. Then, on our way back we put the Jeep in 4 wheel drive and headed toward a mining area. We found copper and yes,, finally GOLD. I came home and cleaned all of the rocks up and packed them away before Birdie could feel the weight of them. With all of the fish, rocks, and misc. stuff the poor motorcoach is heavy. Oh well... Also this is a pic of a coal powered locomotive that gives rides on the weekends. We are leaving for Moab tomorrow, then Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and toward Indiana. Love to all.

Added pics

Pony Express Trail

Reno is the biggest little city in America, Here are some plums and apples we picked.