Wyoming to Colorado and onto Kansas

The mountains of Wyoming and the farmland are just about ready for summer. Some of the mountains still have a little snow on the peaks, but the low lands are ready for the herds to come and graze for the spring and part of the summer. The clouds this day were so light and puffy, but alas there was not a bit of moisture in them for the ground below.

The Grand Teton Mountains are so beautiful and they have snow on them year round. Today the clouds blended in with the snow and made such a beautiful sight. Whenever I see these sights, I never doubt that God has a hand in the beauty that surrounds us each and every day.

The highest peak on the mountains is Grand Teton (13,766 ft/4,196 m). No wonder there is snow on this all the time..burrr.

After looking at the beauty of the mountains then down at the Interstate, it was..oops. There seemed to be a back up forming, right ahead of us. The lead truck was the cause of the problem. From where we were it didn't seem like too much of a problem until we came closer to it, then

we could see why everything was backing up.

This took up one and a half lanes on the Interstate, to the point that no one could pass it on either side. The Wyoming Highway Patrol was escorting the truck down the road to make sure that everyone would be safe on the roadway. At one point the truck did pull to the side of the road so that the traffic behind him could pass and go on their merry way.

To move tanks this size, the only way is on a flatbed truck. Not even the railroad could haul this to wherever it was going. Some of these trucks that haul the oversize loads have special controls in them to drive the extra long loads that are a lot longer than fifty-two feet. At least it was a good day to be traveling and the weather was being kind to the driver. This area can be bad with dust storms and/or snow. The wind is always blowing, and some days it can be blowing as fast as 6o mph.

The majesty of the mountains gave way to the low laying hills below. Where the farmland became predominate.

The lowlands of the farms were so lush and green. The hay was about ready to cut, and in some places they had already cut the first crop of hay. The barns and corals were waiting for the cows and horses to come for the round-up. Spring is always a busy time for the ranchers, for taking care of their herds after a long winter.

The rock formations change the closer you come to the Denver, Colorado area. All of a sudden there will be a rock sticking up out of the ground in the middle of nowhere. I have a few friends that paint, and this is one of the photos that they might like to try putting on canvas.

Soon we will be leaving the beauty of the mountains for the Prairie Lands of the Midwest and my driver/husband will be on the look out for cars and big animals on the road ways. Come to think about it, sometimes there are big animals behind the wheels of cars and trucks. These people that show now respect for the roadways need to be removed from the general population, as far as I am concerned. They can cause an accident in just a blink of an eye. My husband is a good and safe driver. He has driven over a million and a half miles in his 24 year career in the transportation industry, with not one accident. That is a lot to be said, since there are so many unsafe drivers, cars and trucks both, out there on the roadways now.

Denver was as brief stop over for us. Then it was on to Kansas, the land of OZ as in the Wizard of OZ. The state makes a big to do about the movie. They have all kinds of memorabilia wherever you go. Anything that can have an image placed on it, will have it. From salt shakers to toilet

seats nothing is safe from the impressions from the Wizard of Oz movie,  that is for sure.

We spent the night in a truck stop in Kansas and the sky appeared to be on fire. The storm that came in during the night was very turbulent. The wind rocked the truck as if it were just a toy and the thunder rattled the windows, sometimes. But we are use to this kind of weather and just go with the flow. There is nothing else you can do, other than cry and that doesn't do any good, either. So, as my husband would say.."Honey, just hunker down and ride it out."

Kansas has some beautiful birds. I don't know what type of bird this is, but it was just sitting in the tree as we were turning the corner. It had such a long tail, that it seemed that there was more tail than bird. Or could it be a "droan" appearing to be a bird?

It could be checking out the helicopters at Fort Riley and wondering if they could come out and play. Have you ever wondered what birds think when they see aircraft flying in the air?

The wheat fields were ready to harvest. We could see the golden color for miles and miles. This region of the country is known as: The Great Plains region, of the US is called "the Breadbasket of the US" because of its huge production of grain, particularly wheat, which is used in making bread.

Farm machinery is on the move wherever we looked. We call them "Big Farm Animals". This one is a wheat harvester. It is fun when you are going down a two lane road and big truck meets big farm animal. The truck can't move off the road, so the farm equipment has to go off into the fields. We have met a few on the roadways this year and it was fun to watch the farmer face as we passed by. He appeared to be thinking that a big truck had no business on "his" road. I just shake my head and laugh.

Today we weren't far from Dodge City, Kansas.

Dodge City was founded in 1872 and quickly became the world’s largest shipping point for Longhorn cattle. Dodge was the wildest of the early frontier towns, but law and order was soon established with the help of men such as Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and Bill Tilghman.
Dodge City was a town that persisted and grew, and still honors its western heritage

There are a few towns that use the name "Boot Hill" for their graveyard, from the Old West. The first graveyard named "Boot Hill" was at Dodge City.Kansas. The term alludes to the fact that many of its occupants were cowboys who "died with their boots on," the implication here being they died violently, as in gunfights or by hanging, and not of natural causes. The term became commonplace throughout the Old West, with some Boot Hills becoming famous, such as Dodge City, Kansas, Tombstone, Arizona and Deadwood, South Dakota.

                  

                                  

It is always a site to see the American Flag waving in the breeze, wherever we go. There are some towns and cities that have special areas set aside for those who have served their country in various wars and conflicts. It is a place to gather and remember.

And now we have come to the end of our travels for the month of May and will have gone about six thousand and six hundred miles this month. That is a lot of road we have covered.

So, until the next time I'll see you on the otherside.