New Mexico

Sunday, July 21, Day 90 (cont'd)

We are passing through some areas with buttes and mesas  beginning to look like New Mexico.

And then we cross into that state.

We didn't see any Elk, but did enjoy the view beyond… beautiful!

It seems like a road crewman forgot about this can of yellow paint until he realized he was leaving an
unexpected line and pulled over.

I'm finally getting good at spotting antelope.  Either that, or there are more of them.

More storms up ahead..

We stopped for the night at Storrie Lake - only there was no lake!

This is a state park that boasts 1100 square acres of lake surface, home to fishing, windsurfing, birdwatching, and Hobie Cat regattas. The lake is fed by the Gallinas River, which also appears to be dry.  The area was pretty but kind of eerie with no water and very few people there.

Tomorrow we are going to skirt through the top of New Mexico, including Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
Then we are headed south to the El Malpais National Monument.

Rocky Mountain High

Saturday, July 20, Day 89 (cont'd)

We passed through Colby Kansas, a town of about 5300. While there was not much to see, this Sherman County Courthouse caught my eye.  It seems like every small town in the Midwest has a landmark building.  This one features Seth Thomas clocks in this fifth story. Kansas has 105 counties, the most of any state! 

Soon we were at the Kansas- Colorado border - another clever name Kanorado, for this town on the border.

This seems like such bucolic farm country.  It is known for its continental climate, i.e. hot humid summers and cold dry winters.  And average temperatures go from 12 degrees to 90 degrees.  And those are averages!  Temperatures are below freezing 165 days of the year.

Up ahead we are beginning to see the Rocky Mountains, and a storm front moving in.

This rain squall is coming down the face of the mountains and it looks like we are heading into it. Which we do! Lots of thunder and lightening.

Just on the other side of the squall, toward Colorado City, we encounter these amazing rock formations called the Garden of the Gods.  We are headed to the home of Aunt Jolene, our friend Laura's Aunt.

Laura told us we would go past this area, which is close to Aunt Jolene's. 

The Garden of the Gods was sacred to the Indians from about 1300 BC.  They were attracted by the wildlife, plants and rock overhangs that provided shelter.  Indians who used this area included Ute, Comanche, Apache, Kiowa, Shoshone, Cheyenne, Pawnee and Lakota.

One of the two surveyors who came here thought it would make an excellent beer garden! 

Fortunately, he didn't have a say in the matter, and when the man who purchased it died, his family donated it to the city for a public park.  Now it's about 1300 acres of recreation land. We wished we had time to explore.

Helen Hunt Jackson, who wrote the classic Indian novel "Ramona," said of this place. "You wind among rocks of every conceivable and inconceivable shape and size…all bright red, all motionless and silent, with a strange look of having been just stopped and held back in the very climax of some supernatural catastrophe."

What we didn't know, but shouldn't have expected anthing less --- Laura's family was having a party, a birthday party for her father who was turning 85.  We met the "famous" Aunt Jolene, whose late husband was the first representative of  Rolex Watches in the US.  She has a wonderful house, filled with her  fabulous sumi-e Japanese brush paintings, and the landscaping around her house has one of every kind of fir tree imaginable.  It's almost a botanical preserve! She had many of the species imported.  Her house, I'm sure has been featured in one of the design magazines!

After seeing Laura's son Seth, wife Tara, granddaughters Savannah and Charlotte, plus sister Linda, we went with her father Ed and mother Dolores to a wonderful little French restaurant.  Ed is amazing for 85!  Being surrounded by women, Ed was happy to have John along.  It was a lot of fun! It was a surprise to see everyone and an unexpected highlight along our way! 

Dolores, Linda, Ed, Laura, Aunt Jolene, John, Dixie 

Sunday, July 21, Day 90

We met Laura the next morning in historic Old Colorado City for breakfast at the Bon Ton Cafe.  And we got a chance to look around briefly.  It looks like a great little area to explore!  Another place to visit again. 

Laura had been a coworker John' s and has been such a good friend to both of us for a long time,  it was good to see her.

This was a mural in Old Colorado City, paying homage to its days as a wild west town!

As we headed south along highway 25, we passed through Pueblo, and then saw these mountains jutting out.  They are called Spanish Peaks.  In Indian language, the translations are "two breasts," or "breasts of the earth."  Guess guys just can't help themselves …

The peaks are very prominent and can be seen from all sides for many miles.

Everywhere are stark reminders of pioneers who have come and gone.  This is such harsh country, high plains with wind always blowing.  Whoever lived here gave it their all…

 

And a reminder of that ever blowing wind, here are some wind generators under construction.  Seeing the car in the foreground gives you an appreciation of just how big they are!

The blades are amazing and it's easier to appreciate their size here on the ground.  Imagine all the equipment and effort it takes to put one of these together, out here on the vast plain.

Leaving Nebraska

I think this is the best picture I took on the trip!  

We have seen so many abandoned farmhouses along the way, but it takes on particular meaning when you hear the names and stories of the people who used to live here.  My brother-in-laws family came to homestead, his grandfather walking from Oklahoma after not finding the right land there. His ancestors raised big families here and were part of the frontier experience.   Yet history moves quickly, and these pioneers have come and gone in sagas we can only imagine or read about.

Saturday, July 20, Day 89

We left this morning to continue toward home.  It was hard to leave.   A short way down the road, we slowed down to let these deer cross.  John spotted them early, or they would have bounded out right in our path.  Our niece's husband runs an auto repair shop and this is his busiest time of year as he repairs vehicles that have hit deer.  We were lucky!

As we drive along, our hearts goes out to the thousands and thousands of farmers whose livelihoods are devastated by this prolonged drought.

Nebraska Two

It was county fair time, and we made a quick trip to see one of Bev's daughters, Carol.  Her husband Greg had been asked to restore the kiddies train for the fair, so we got to see the results of his labors. 

 Nice job, Greg!

We also spent some time out at the farm, where nephew Bill showed John the inside of his new

equipment "shed".  Bill farms nine sections, which amounts to 5760 acres in wheat, corn, and cattle feed, plus cattle.  He bought the land from Bev and Cy and has raised his own two boys here. 

The equipment is impressive.

Bill's wife Stephanie had visitors , a man from Belgium who had been an exchange student here over 40 years ago .  He had very fond memories and wanted his family to see the country.  I can't imagine the culture shock of seeing this country, coming from Belgium! 

The boys did what all boys do when they get here - spend all their time on the four wheelers!  This was always the highlight of my son's visits! 

Stephanie, Bill, their son Allan, Bev and John. Another son Will was out on the tractor.

The loss of crops is unbelievable.  The corn crop was declared a complete loss.  The wheat was the same.  They have sold off cattle, as has my other niece Kathi and her husband who are cattle ranchers. 

Kathi and Brendan take their cattle to South Dakota to graze on rangeland  during the summer.  It's a massive undertaking, witih 2500 head of cattle.  They will also need to cull their herd this summer because of the drought. 

Equipment sits idle as they watch everything wither.  They seem to take these dry years in stride - but it is heartbreaking to see and I don't know how they do it. 

The clouds above look promising, but the dusty road tells the real story.  

Even though we were there a short time, we watched the sky with anticipation and hope.   Nothing came of it, as with so many similar days while we were there.   

Nebraska

Saturday, June 13, Day 82 (cont'd)

We have crossed into Nebraska and are closing in on my sister's place.  I see the state motto, "The Good Life" but have to wonder why the sign is full of bullet holes!

As we drop south, we soon parallel the Platte River, and see McConaughy Lake, one of the largest

reservoirs in the region.

Temperatures are rising!  My sister didn't tell me about this heat wave!  It would climb another degree to 105 as we passed through the town of Ogallala, which was founded as a terminus for the great cattle drives from Texas. 

We are in an area covered by the huge Ogallala Aquifer.  The aquifer covers eight states and 174,000 square miles.  It holds about 3 billion acre feet of water.  The depletion of the aquifer due to irrigation farming has accelerated in recent years, and the estimates to replace the loss with groundwater is 100,000 years.  Plus, the growth of oil and gas extraction, which takes massive amounts of water, has everyone worried.  The area is currently experiencing drought conditions that have gone on for a few years.  The aquifer also provides about 82% of the drinking water for over 2 million people in these states.  The proposed Keystone Pipeline skirts this aquifer on the eastern side, and lots of people in Nebraska are worried about what impact a spill could have on the water so critical to this area. 

Nevertheless, is the most productive region in the country for livestock, corn, wheat and soybeans. 

We have seen a lot of these coal trains passing by.  Lots of products and crops are transported through here and out of here via railroad.  

Hay and alfalfa is also grown out here for cattle feed.  With drought conditions, production is down, and lots of farmers, including my nephew, are having to sell their cattle because they can't grow enough feed and it's too expensive to ship it in.  You can tell where irrigation is being used - better yielding crops, but more groundwater coming from the aquifer.  Terracing and better crop rotation makes a difference.

We drop down into the valley near McCook, Nebraska, and we are almost there.  It's been two years since I've seen my sister.  We are soul mates and we talk all the time, but it will be good to see her! 

Someone has created a new sign for the town-- I personally think they should have considered some other designs.  I'm not sure what this even represents! 

My sister Beverly and I.   This picture was taken on my last visit. There is 13 years difference between us, and we really didn't grow up together, but we are so close as sisters! 

Sunday, July 13 - Saturday, July 20, Days 83-89

Over the next week all we did was visit.  My sister has eight children.  Normally we would travel
most of the state to see all but a few who have moved away, but on this visit, we pretty much stayed put!

My brother-in-law, Cy, passed away last year.  He came back to Nebraska to farm after his older
brother was killed in a car accident.  My sister never expected to be a farm wife, but she became a good one, and they raised their large family and ran a successful farm for many years.  They were married 58 years.

One of the first things we did was go out to the cemetary to pay our respects.

The family had recently had a reunion.  They had taken vacation time to be here, and now are back into their busy lives.   As Bev and I sat and visited, I counted up her descendants, including spouses, grandchildren and now great grandchildren.  There were 91 on my list!   These are just some that came to the reunion. 

Her kids treat her really well, and for the reunion, put her in this "Lily Tomlin" style chair.  These are six of her eight kids.  

When Bev and Cy had their 50th anniversary, this family portrait was taken. In the eight years since,   lots more kid have been added, but it gives an idea of how big her family is!  She has done her part to keep Nebraska populated! That's my brother-in-law, Cy, the patriarch, in the middle front. By far,  I'm not the only one who misses him.