Three Times is a Charm: Vacation is finally here!!

Our trip to South Dakota last year was exhilarating! We decided to continue west this year. I (Lois) have never been west of the Devil's Tower and I believe everyone has been to Colorado except me! Dave's cousin Larry & wife Susie live in Montrose, Colorado so we will be going there, plus Dave's sister Diane lives in Placitas, New Mexico and we have NEVER been there! So here we go.....

We left Cedar Falls, Iowa on Sunday, July 25 around 8:30 and arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska at 3:00 pm. I have never been to Nebraska. I've been told so many stories about it that I was actually scared to go there. "Boring, boring, boring..." Well of course, from Interstate 80 you can't see anything but corn & soybeans. Once in a while you could smell the cows but couldn't see the farm they were on. Once we left I-80 on Monday at Kearney, Nebraska and started south toward Kansas, it got a bit more interesting, if not eye-opening. Kansas ranges from hilly ranch land to flat farm land. Miles and miles of corn and soybeans & wheat. Some sunflower fields. The corn in Nebraska and Kansas doesn't look near as healthy or as tall as Iowa corn. Of course, they have had MUCH less rain that we have had. When it says "Sandy Creek" they aren't kidding! Many rivers and creeks were so low, they hardly had water in them. Iowa needs to share :o). Lots of grayed, weathered farms and towns that looked as though no one lived there. Ghost farms. You could tell that times have been hard over the years in this part of the country.

Needless to say, there are no pics from these 2 states unless it is of our bikes. We didn't stop very often, averaging 300 miles per day. Our 3rd day, Tuesday, led us into Colorado at Burlington. We continued on to Colorado Springs to find a freeway with stop lights and 65mph in between. The lights got closer together and the speed went down to 30mph in places. YUK! It made for tiring riding but we persevered to The Garden of the gods near Manitou Springs. It's a free state park and has a day full of activities, IF you are up to hiking, climbing, adventuring, etc. By the time we drove the grueling ride through Colorado Springs traffic, Lois was crabby and tired and hot. We rode through the park on our bikes, stopping for pictures. No hiking this day! It was a beautiful park though, and had a very nice visitor's center with history and beautiful gifts from the area. We ended up riding through the park 3 times!

The pictures are kinda out of order from Wednesday but there's so much to post. I'll let y'all have a look and fix it later when I'm home.

Tuesday morning in Colby, Kansas. Ready to roll!

Visitor's Center, Burlington, Colorado

1st pic at Garden of the gods

Kissing camels

Garden of the gods visitor's center. There was also a film, "How did these red rocks get here?"

Balanced Rock

Big Sandstone rock wall

Dave & Lois

WEDNESDAY JULY 28

The Royal Gorge state park. Once you pay the park admission, just about every activity/ride is included!
Incline Railway

Built in 1931, and traveling at a 45-degree angle, America's steepest Incline Railway is still considered one of the most difficult structures ever built. Here, timeless granite walls loom all around as you descend over 1,500 feet to the canyon floor, a mere 50 feet at its widest.