Saturday, May 22, 2010

Hwy. 50 -- Halstead, Kansas to Royal Gorge, Colorado

Current Location:  Royal Gorge, Colorado


We left Spring Lake RV Resort in Halstead early Friday morning to continue west on Highway 50.  We didn't take a walk that morning since the roads were still all muddy from rain the day before.  We were hoping to find a McDonald's for breakfast but we were still out in Kansas farmlands and we could not see a Ronald McDonald anywhere.  As we drove along we saw well pumping units in the cow pastures.  Yes, they have oil fields here in Kansas.  The pumping units are smaller because these wells are more shallow than those in other places. 


Giving up on finding McDonald's, we pulled off the highway in Kinsley, Kansas at a little wayside park to eat some cereal.  Just so happens this is the midway point from coast to coast on Highway 50.  They have a huge sign above the wayside park to prove it.

After breakfast we continued on through the remaining part of Kansas and into Colorado.  We saw many cattle holding yards along the way.  You know where these poor critters are going to be heading one of these days.   Yep!  Looks like a bunch of steak to me.


The highway here in Colorado is fairly straight.  High plains area with altitude over 3,400 feet.  We stopped for the night in La Junta at a little KOA park.  Nothing special but I may do a little review of the park later.    This morning we got up and took a 35 minute walk down some country road.  We passed a baby rattlesnake flat in the road.  Run over by some farmer perhaps.  We were ready to roll by 8:00 and hadn't gotten too far when very strong crosswinds hit us.  Bruce dropped his speed and hung on for dear life as we drove on toward Pueblo.  We had located a McDonald's there for breakfast this morning!



Pet Peeve Time:  All of you RVer's out there know how hard it can be to find places to park for a shopping stop or restaurant break.  If you are driving a good sized MH or towing a lengthy 5er you need to find some serious space out there.  So when you see a billboard that says "RV and Truck Parking" that is where you want to head.  You get there and you see an extra large parking lot and some yahoos driving small cars have parked in your lot.  This was the case at McD's this morning.  There were at least 15 empty car parking spaces in the McD's lot so why couldn't these idiots people have parked in their own designated area?  We were able to get our motorhome in the driveway but it would have been easier without those cars parked right in the middle.  Just wondering.


This is the town of Pueblo ahead of us and a great view of the Rocky Mountains.  From here we continued west past Canon City to Royal Gorge.  The scenery began to get better and better.  We will be in Royal Gorge for 3 nights.



After our stay in Royal Gorge we will be traveling to Gunnison for 6 nights.  Looking forward to that.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Until next time.....so long for now!

8 comments:

Sam&Donna Weibel said...

You guys are really making the miles, last weekend you were in MO and now in Puebla Co. Are you going north or south, just wondering if Durango, is in your plans, That is the home of the narrow gauge steam trains that hug the river. That car parking in the Bus/RV spots was one of my pet peeves, when I was driving the coach, when people want to stop they don't want to be delayed by someone who parked in those spots and there is no room for the bus. Several times I had to pull behind cars and then they were blocked in till I reurned to the bus, I was always nice and smiled and pointed at the spaces and the signs. Have a great time. Colorado is one of our favorite places , lots to see and do. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

Carol K said...

Yes! That's a pet peeve of ours, too, at rest areas and other places that offer big rig parking! We comment on it every time? "Why did he park there?" Also, it's hard to find places to stop on interstates when there aren't rest areas or when they are closed, like in Arizona. But at least we have our bathroom with us, so as long as we can stop, we can go. Ha!

Margie M. said...

Hi Sam and Donna: We aren't planning to south to Durango on this trip. We're sticking pretty close to Hwy. 50 the whole way to Calif. We plan to do all of extreme southern CO when we get a chance to go to Santa Fe and Taos. Hopefully in a couple of years.

Phyllis said...

Yup, twice we have pulled into a Cracker Barrell to find cars parked in the RV spots and lots of empty car spaces. So twice we had to keep on moving down the road.

That view of the Kansas road sure reminds me of my view of the Nebraska road.

Chuck and Anneke's RV travels said...

Brings back memories of last summer. We spent time in Canon City and Gunnison, CO. Those cattle pens really gave off an odor.

Travel safe.

Al Bossence said...

I sure wished we had some mountains in our windshield right now.
Yep, know what you mean about the the totally inconsiderate & lazy 4 wheelers leaving their vehicles scattered about in RV designated areas. Happens a lot at the Cracker Barrels we stop at.

The Gypsy G-Mas said...

Ah, our home state of Colorado! The royal gorge is pretty spectacular. Make sure to walk across the bridge...that is if you're not afraid of heights. I've really enjoyed following your journey across Hwy 50. I saw parts of Tom Brokaw's documentary on it earlier this year (or maybe last year). It's a trip we hope to do someday as well. Take care, have fun, and stay safe!

Jerry and Suzy said...

We agree about cars in RV sites in rest areas. We never go to Cracker Barrel any more, so can't comment on that. We need tospend a bunch of time in Colorado -- haven't been there at all since we retired. Thanks for sharing.