Road Trip Recap {Part 2}
There is not a whole lot I can say about driving through Kansas on Day Three. We were very glad to have our audio books! There just isn’t much to get out and do. We had brought a Frisbee along, and that was nice for rest stop breaks. Around lunch-time, we found a really nice playground in a town just off the highway so the kids could run around, play and stretch their legs for awhile.
We did make two other “Hey, let’s go look at that!” kind of stops. All along the way, we had been seeing large wind turbines. They seemed to go on for miles and miles. At one point, it didn’t seem like they were too far away from the highway, so we exited and drove to get a closer look. The road turned to gravel about 500 feet from the exit ramp, and we felt like we were on an adventure.
We still weren’t able to get as close as I would have liked, and this picture really doesn’t do justice to the size of the turbines. So if you’re ever driving through Kansas, you just need to go take a look at them yourself.
Just over the border into Colorado, we decided to find a place to stretch our legs again. While we were refueling, I saw a sign for a wildlife viewing area and thought “Hey, let’s go look at that.” So I inquired about it as we checked out. The cashier pointed me in the correct direction and we started driving. Another dirt road. We drove and drove, and pretty soon, it was clear we had either missed it, or it was still too far in the opposite direction we wanted to go. So I turned around, taking a minute to photograph this abandoned barn.
Besides the wide expanses of open land, one of the differences about driving out here is the speed limit. For me, 70 mph is just about as fast as I can comfortably go, so when I saw it posted at 75 mph in Colorado, I got a little nervous and consulted the map for an alternate route. I decided to take the smaller state highway, CO 24 down toward Colorado Springs thinking that the scenery would be prettier, too. Or at the very least, I would be able to look at it since I dared not take my eyes off the road driving at 75. About 5 miles down this road I got my first taste of wondering whether or not I had enough gas to get to the next stop. We drove through a couple small towns that consisted of a cluster of houses near the main road. Needless to say, I was relieved when we finally came to a town big enough to have a gas station. I still had a quarter of tank, but I filled it up anyway.
We made it to Colorado Springs and had a nice dinner and found a hotel across the highway from the Air Force Academy. It was so neat to see them practicing with gliders every morning (I’m sure there’s a more official term for it than ‘practicing’). And it felt good to know we were going to be staying in one place for a few days.
Air Force Academy Chapel
(If you look closely at the bottom center of the photo, you can see Ethan peeking over the wall. I didn’t even realize he was doing that until I opened the photo on my computer.)
We did make two other “Hey, let’s go look at that!” kind of stops. All along the way, we had been seeing large wind turbines. They seemed to go on for miles and miles. At one point, it didn’t seem like they were too far away from the highway, so we exited and drove to get a closer look. The road turned to gravel about 500 feet from the exit ramp, and we felt like we were on an adventure.
We still weren’t able to get as close as I would have liked, and this picture really doesn’t do justice to the size of the turbines. So if you’re ever driving through Kansas, you just need to go take a look at them yourself.
Just over the border into Colorado, we decided to find a place to stretch our legs again. While we were refueling, I saw a sign for a wildlife viewing area and thought “Hey, let’s go look at that.” So I inquired about it as we checked out. The cashier pointed me in the correct direction and we started driving. Another dirt road. We drove and drove, and pretty soon, it was clear we had either missed it, or it was still too far in the opposite direction we wanted to go. So I turned around, taking a minute to photograph this abandoned barn.
Besides the wide expanses of open land, one of the differences about driving out here is the speed limit. For me, 70 mph is just about as fast as I can comfortably go, so when I saw it posted at 75 mph in Colorado, I got a little nervous and consulted the map for an alternate route. I decided to take the smaller state highway, CO 24 down toward Colorado Springs thinking that the scenery would be prettier, too. Or at the very least, I would be able to look at it since I dared not take my eyes off the road driving at 75. About 5 miles down this road I got my first taste of wondering whether or not I had enough gas to get to the next stop. We drove through a couple small towns that consisted of a cluster of houses near the main road. Needless to say, I was relieved when we finally came to a town big enough to have a gas station. I still had a quarter of tank, but I filled it up anyway.
We made it to Colorado Springs and had a nice dinner and found a hotel across the highway from the Air Force Academy. It was so neat to see them practicing with gliders every morning (I’m sure there’s a more official term for it than ‘practicing’). And it felt good to know we were going to be staying in one place for a few days.
Air Force Academy Chapel
(If you look closely at the bottom center of the photo, you can see Ethan peeking over the wall. I didn’t even realize he was doing that until I opened the photo on my computer.)
Comments
It has been amost 24 years since the last time we were at the Air Force Academy...Such a beautiful chapel! What a neat place to take your children.
I am enjoying your trip. LOL!
Love the Air Force chapel.. Great photo.
Hugs,
Betsy