Colorado, Utah, Nevada

[Bill MacDermod]

Originally our trip to Bullards Beach was going to be along the southern route but then we change it to a more northerly route and I asked for help with Nebraska, Wyoming, etc. and after looking at the trip once finished we ended up going thru some of the same routes on our return trip as on our going out trip. We would like to modify that by going out thru Kansas, northern Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Northern California to Oregon. We are leaving Big Lake State Park in the Mound City area of Missouri on Tues the 6th of July (they would only give us the whole weekend over the 4th & not a single nite) then head across northern Kansas to Colorado with 1 stop in Kansas, (is there anything to see in Kansas?? . Most of these states are very mountainous so how long will it take to cross CO, UT, and NV. ?? Please comment on one state at a time. Thanks for your patience and any contributions you can make

[Des Nolan]

1 stop in Kansas, (is there anything to see in Kansas?? .

We saw the highway billboard and pulled off to visit Ft. Riley "Home of the US Cavalry". What a fantastic site and museum, with artifacts and superb dioramas from the settling of the West.

For me this (free) stop authenticated some of the history depicted in old Western movies (which I love). Next time we are back that way we will take time for a much longer visit. Des

[jdtrotter]

I always wanted to drive across Kansas---I guess looking for Dorothy. I really expected to only see lots of wheat fields, and there were many, but I was quite surprised to find this little jewel in Western Kansas -- West of U.S. Highway 83 off State Route 95-- Scott Lake State Park.

Mind you, we arrived during mid week and I understand that on the weekends, it full with reservations. But it was real nice midweek.

Diane

[John Mc]

Colorado's fascinating and beautiful, everybody knows that. But I once spent four days driving from Denver to KC and stayed entertained every day. I resolved to sample every posted tourist trap along I-70 and vicinity, from Prairie Dog Town (don't bother) to The Garden of Eden (in Lucas, a can't-miss mecca for Outsider Art). I published an account ofthe result in the Camp Coast to Coast membership magazine two years ago.

Kansas is studded with ghost towns, and enlivened by the daily prospect of thunder, lightning, hailstorms and worse. During two of my past three voyages across this sea of grass, luckless people within fifty miles have been killed by tornado and by a dam break that washed over an interstate highway.

If you're in a hurry, the Great Plains are tedious and boring, but the more you linger, the more you learn.