The Interstate
Trip Start
May 22, 2010
1
9
Trip End
Jun 04, 2010
New York City, New York
Thursday, June 3, 2010
We started off east on Route 160 to cross the Rockies. The ride was spectacularly beautiful but unfortunately all we could do was drive and watch it speed by. We needed to get over the mountains, across the eastern plains of Colorado, into Kansas, and up to I-70 by the end of the day. This required all driving and no stopping.
The Rockies were spectacular but even after we left the mountains behind, the vistas were lovely as all the fields that had been golden brown when we drove the same route last September were now brilliantly green. And since eastern Colorado and Kansas are flat, the towns few and far between and the roads perfectly straight, we were able to be on backroads and still make time. Thus we were still able to come upon little local surprises like several prairie dog towns and many adorable little calves with their mothers in the fields by the road.
It was crop dusting season, too, and although it was Sunday, the long-winged bright yellow crop dusting planes were at work. Twice we were buzzed a la "North by Northwest" by a plane but my guess is not by bad guys seeking harm, but by bored pilots checking out the camper. They are used to swooping down low to make a spraying application so think nothing of flying 50 feet above something they want to check out. A little nerve-wracking for us however.
We spent the night in Oakley, Kansas at a prairie campground right at our Interstate entrance. Big sky and pink sunset. The next morning we bit the bullet and off we went on I-70, across Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, etc. Did we see anything? No. Did we learn anything? No.
However, although, we could see nothing, we could hear and did learn a bit from the local radio stations.
Loved the words of the Country Western songs which one doesn't hear much in eastern urban settings. For those of you who don't follow CW, here are snatches of lyrics we heard on "Continuous Country" in Kansas. One traditionalist wanted her boyfriend to "Take me down to the little white church" while another more gutsy singer suggested "let's chase these dreams down the interstate." (With or without the stop at the little white church.) Then there was the jilted lover crooning about his future "in a pine box on a slow train back to Georgia." And an angry Taylor Swift hating "that ol' pickup you never let me drive" and declaring "You're just another picture to burn." And so it goes.
The ads, too, were quite different. One was for a company offering to "remove rust on storage tanks" with their mobile sand blaster. Don't hear much about those opportunities around New York City! "Another place had "Drive Trains Built to Last" and there were "Fix-A-Flat" specials on offer. One commercial announced to us listeners that it was rodeo time! "Look sharp!" the voice advised "with new boots, belts, and hats" at the local emporium. For the more worldly sportsman (or sportswoman) there was Buffalo Dunes Golf. Now maybe that's something our suburbanites could relate to. There's a whole different world out there.
And so to home. Five days later, we arrived back in New York after many exhausting miles swearing that we will NEVER do a cross country trip again. Kevin says we always say that...........
