We’ve cleaned up our act

 

 

 

Becky got everything trimmed and hemmed.  No more blue tape!

 

The hat

 

 

Turns out there is a photo of Dad and the hat.

 

 

Thank you, brother Tom.

 

Turns out brother Bill had the hat too (sort of).  I’d make this photo from about 1954 plus or minus.

 

 

Along the way

 

 

Lake Minatare State Recreation Area in Nebraska.  It has a lighthouse.

 

 

It doesn’t need a lighthouse. It’s not a very big lake, and it’s in Nebraska!  But during the dark days of the depression, it was constructed as a beacon of hope.  Built entirely of native stone by the Veterans Conservation Corps, it was completed in 1939 and is now known as the Plains Lighthouse.  It doesn’t really have a light at the top.  It serves as an observation tower and attraction.

 

This hat!

 

 

I just remembered; Dad had a hat like this.

 

A wide-brimmed hat.  He wore it fishing at Lake Wohlford.  I can’t find any pictures of him with it on though.

 

Something’s happening here

 

 

In September I sent out the morning view of the tree in Becky’s back yard.

 

Something was happening at the top.

 

Update.  The tree in October.

 

Yup, something’s happening here.

 

And just look what we’ve done to Kansas!

 

 

 

 

Ironically, even though we started our birding adventures in Colorado, our Colorado County Map is not completely filled in,

 

There is still that southwestern gap we haven’t gotten to.  We’ve been to all the counties in Colorado, just not to every one since we started marking them off this way by recording birds in them.

 

Nebraska

 

 

Done with Nebraska.  We made the county map go from this:

 

To this:

 

 

We didn’t exactly conquer the state, but we saw a lot of it.

 

2024 Fall Trip Map

 

Now we’re working our way across the northern edge of Kansas.  It’s fun to pick a highway and follow it as far as we can.  Most of the big cities are connected by Interstate Highways, so by staying off the Interstates, we pretty much stay out of big cities.  We’re following US Highway 36.  Route 36 starts in Ohio to the east, runs through Hannibal Mo, and ends in Estes Park in the west.  We like Highway 36.  In the Denver area it’s the Denver Boulder Turnpike.  Don’t let the name “Turnpike” fool you.  It’s not a toll road.  It was a toll road when they first built it, but they promised that when it was paid off, they would take down the toll booths.  And they did!  Right as Judy and I arrived there in 1968.

 

Following Highway 36 through Kansas is driving at exactly the speed limit, 65mph, and not having to pass or get passed for hours at a time.  Towns are small.  Some don’t even have a stoplight.  Some don’t have a grocery or gas station.  Most have grain silos.  A back road like this feels closer to what we’re passing through than an Interstate does.  There is less of a setback, less distance. 

 

Along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

The nighttime setup.

 

 

 

Before we headed out from Colorado, Becky roughed out some curtains for us.  We didn’t yet know how we were going to hang them, so she made them all over-sized to begin with.  We settled on a strip of Velcro at the top of each curtain so we can put them up and take them down as needed.  I’ve attached the Velcro to the tops of each one and have been resizing them with folding and blue tape.  One would think the curtains could be done in matching pairs, one on each side, but not so.  Each window is a different size and shape than every other window.  They’re all special.  We don’t hang every curtain up every stop; usually just the ones that face the road.  If Becky has time, next time we’re in Colorado, we can fine-tune the sizing.

 

Here we are rigged for daytime driving and hanging out.

 

Shoulder Season

 

 

Spring and Fall.  That sweet spot between Summer and Winter busy times when kids are back in school, and destinations and camping spots aren’t quite so busy.  We’ve gone from searching for an available camping spot in any state park to finding empty campgrounds with no reservations required.  Just arrive and pick a site.

 

2024 Fall Trip Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jesse the Athlete

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a family tradition

 

 

Annie.

 

Henry.

 

Jesse.

 

Nebraska

 

 

We almost visited every county in Wyoming.  Not so hard; it only has 21 counties by my count.  Now Nebraska, that’s a different story.  We’ve been here before.  Here is a map of the counties we’ve already been to.

Bonus points if you can guess where Interstate 70 would fall on this map…