Mueller State Park, Tues-Wed, June 5-6 Day 21-22
We're in the Rockies. This morning the temperature is 52 degrees. Snow covered Pikes Peak looms in the distance. I'm digging out my blue jeans and fleece. After breakfast we plan to drive to Woodland Park and find a Starbucks to upload our journal entries. I've got to figure out how to upload the pictures. Pictures speak louder and you won't have to listen to me write as much. We're camped at about 8,000 feet and boy can you tell it. Walking back from the vault toilets last night we were both panting like dogs. Our site is in the middle of an evergreen/Aspen forest and the leaves are just coming out. Many of the hiking trails are closed until June 20 because it's calving time for the Elk.
The first indication of bears is a bright yellow sign attached tightly to the picnic table at our site.
The gist is this… don't leave anything out side your camper unattended. If you have a tent or pop up camper, don't cook inside! This is one reason we decided on a hard sided camper. The sign specifically mentions not hanging humming bird feeders.
Last night the wind rocked the camper. The radio says gust are predicted up to 60 mph. I
John Martin State Park CO, Monday-Tues Fussy birds, a solitary hike and "THEM"
The next morning we awake to bright sun and shrieking birds. The campground's trees are filled with all kinds of birds and when a buzzard or hawk flies overhead they all make the biggest racket. Out done by shear numbers the big gliders pass on for easier game. There is a nest of hatchlings just over our camper and when papa bird returns with breakfast the racket starts over again. After breakfast I start out on my hike. The day is hot and dry. It's weird not to perspire when walking uphill in 85 degree heat. I find a great rock formation to climb up on and can see Helen below reading by the camper. I whistle and she looks up and waves. I see her in the binoculars. The day is warm and I watch for rattlesnakes in the rock shadows but later the ranger says they move deeper to stay cool. There are few trees and I'm amazed at the variety of prairie plants and insects. Many of the sounds the birds and other critters are making I've never heard before. Eventually I come upon to an anthill about 4 feet across. There are only a few ants coming and going, some dragging food back to the colony. The hole is about a quarter inch across. Remembering one of my favorite science fiction movies, THEM and the giant ants I barely touch the colony entrance with my walking stick to see what happens…and I'm not disappointed. These guys boil out in dozens spreading to the perimeter of the 4 foot mound looking for "who done it." An alarm must have sounded because other ants are pouring in from the area beyond the mound. They're looking for me. The predictability of their formidable defense system is better than any movie. . I moved on. Stopped off at a bird viewing area behind the ranger's station. There is a diverse number of birds and waterfowl in the marshlands surrounding the reservoir and many are seen here.
I return sunburned but feeling great. Number 30 sunscreen is not enough. We make plans that evening and decide on Mueller State Park in the Rockies about 160 miles away through Pueblo CO. It's nice to have a plan.
Helen visits the bird viewing area behind the visitor's center the next day and of course finds two snakes on the path, one a baby rattler, the other a garder. (This does not make her happy camper!!!) We're told the bull snakes in this area, grow up to 12 feet and as big around as your arm. Lord, I'm glad she didn't see one of those!
Crossing Kansas to John Martin State Park CO Sunday-Monday, June 3-4 Day 19-20
Cattle Poop, Road kill and Beauty.
We left the flats early Sunday morning on 64 west beyond Cherokee to 281 N. to Medicine Lodge KA to 160 W to Coldwater on 160 W and 34N to Bucklin on 400 though Dodge City, Cimarron, Garden City, and crossed into Colorado near Holly on to Lamar to the John Martin Reservoir State Park CO.
We passed John's RV Park and Horse Motel outside of Lamar, crossed the Oklahoma boarder and faced the expanse across Kansas. Contrary to what we were told Kansas, at least along the hyw 400/50 route is both interesting and beautiful. Wind gusts are unexpected and scary when towing, but it seems that everyone else is towing something. The big rigs blow by at 65 mph plowing a 75 mph blast of air you can feel behind your windshield and down your spine. Local pickup trucks are towing either horses, huge bales of wheat straw, cattle manure or people.
The golden wheat fields against a deep blue sky are a down right inspiring with huge combines rolling south to Oklahoma. We got to see their cattle industry and what feeds'em. There is mile after mile of cornfields and cattle feed yards that sustain 10s of thousands of cattle eating grain before being shipped to market by rail. Some of these yards are over a half a mile wide. I counted the miles. The stench is overpowering but to the good people of Kansas I'm sure it smells like money.
We're taking turns driving now because the road is hypnotic and at times we began to see mirages…seriously!!! And when something big appears 5 miles down the road it's difficult to tell if it's coming or going, truck or beast, road or sky. Like the Steve Martin comedy skit on the early Saturday Night Live Shows we found ourselves asking, "What is that?...What IS that??? Is that ah…What is THAT? Eyestrain is hard on us. Being from the mountains of North Carolina we're not used to seeing so much space at one time. We use our binoculars to read signs ahead. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT??????????
Buzzards live a good life in Kansas. Deer and raccoon road kill is abundant. When an occasional car comes by they act offended when interrupted.
Our brains are nice and fried as we pull into camp John Martin. Three hundred and sixty miles in one day is hazardous to your health…at least at our age. Exhausted we shower and sleep…oh yes, and hand the bird feeder.
Great Salt Flats State Park Oklahoma Sat. June 2 Day 18,
Of salt, strange biological agents and swimming pools
Today, our second day in the Great Salt Prairie campground, we drove to Cherokee to see the great salt flats. Remember the flats were closed because some diggers (people dig to find crystals) fond "something." Well we went there anyway. You've got to understand that Oklahoma is vast and empty. We could have brought in several dozen large backhoe diggers and nobody would have seen us…or cared. The news release posted on the locked gate read that some months ago some diggers found several vials of mysterious liquid buried since WWII AND that these vials are currently being tested by Army AND that the liquid remains unidentifiable. That sounds like a "something" to me! We climbed a moderate observation stand for a peek. The salt flats are vast and with binoculars we could make out the dam behind which we are camped. The remnants of an ancient sea, the Great Salt Prairie is home to many large birds and other wildlife.
Driving empty roads we visited Cherokee looking for propane gas for our camper tanks. Towns in Oklahoma simply amaze me. The approach to any town is mostly wheat fields beyond sight and cattle belonging to someone I hope and occasionally a solitary wind pump to water the cattle squeaks in the breeze. There is stillness. Anything that sticks up more than a foot above ground is noticeable and is interesting. The only words that come to mind are empty, stillness and sun…yet a small town is an oasis, nothing but trees and community. At a small grocery store, I found real Italian prociutto (sp?)!!! a polite young cashier directed us to the town's city park where we hoped to picnic in a shady spot. She said go to town and turn right. Town roads in the west are at right or left angles. We did just that and found a small city park with picnic tables and a town swimming pool full of kids. Here the younger children were squealing, splashing and hitting each other over the heads with their water noodles, the self-conscious teenagers primping and picking at their swim suits. Often we heard a diving board thump when the spriest of kids did a double back flip. We marvel at them as we eat and enjoyed the coolness of the shade. Helen must have snuck in a forbidden treat back at the grocery store. Gradually a small cup of ice cream appears from under the table. I show my cards and produce a bag of ginger snaps I have in my lap. As we munch celery sticks Helen says, " We have lemon curd back at the camper…it's great on ginger snaps." This is her way of saying "save some for me." I love lemon curd.
Great Salt Lake State Park Oklahoma Fri.June 1 Day 17 D'plane, d'plane
The next morning the sky is clearing and the birds are chirping. Our camper neighbor Ray says, "that wasn't so bad. We didn't even pull in the awning!" I think, the hell you squawk? Tonight we are promised another storm.
There are small turbo jet single engine planes buzzing around all day like mosquitoes. Apparently there is a small "touch and go" Air Force training base nearby. Is that why they call the little town down the road "Jet"?
Helen is wandering around the camp talking to people as I write. In the distance I can see her talking to a lady hugging a clipboard close to her bosom. Are we being signed up for something? Later: We are invited to church on Sunday and a church supper tonight.
During lunch we charted our course to Colorado and plan to leave especially early Sunday morning. The challenge is to find and reserve state campgrounds adequately spaced apart so as to keep our daily travel miles well under 200. In Kansas and western Colorado this is tricky. Helen's camp wanderings also bring us news that the main road through the Rocky Mountain State Park in CO is under construction and repairs are holding up traffic. This "news source man" drove in here during the peak of the storm last night straight from Colorado.
We're told the salt plains (the reason we stopped here) are closed because a hiker found "something" buried there says Ray our neighbor. It's "something" and it was buried during WWll and a plane keeps flying around to keep people off the salt plains…not the trainer jets but another plane. We watch the skies and at our age, our salt intake.
First Night at Great Salt Plains State Park Oklahoma Thurs. May 31 Day 16
Search for the great Internet and a Dark and Stormy Night
This morning is sunny and it's going to be a hot day as we travel towards Ponca City to find the Internet. We waved goodbye to the Bill and Annie sitting in their little gate shack fussing with the Great Internet. We passed the Boat and Tote (rv and boat storage place) and turned right on hwy 60 to Ponca City passing several oil refineries along the way.
The Great Salt Plains Lake state park looked interesting so Helen called ahead for reservations. When we arrived the campsite was hot and too close to the road so we begged the local state ranger for a change. We're parked between two larger "rigs" looking like little toot between two large steam engines. We're at least in the shade. All our neighbors are "gone fish'in" all day so we seldom see them. Ray returned that evening with a catfish almost 2 feet long. He says the salt flats makes the lake salty and the catfish special.
Later 1:30 am: It is a really really dark and stormy night at the Great Salt Plains campground. We're experiencing our first (and are told not likely our last) mid-western thunder and lighting storm. I'm thankful that we pulled in the awning and stored all the gear before sunset. Later: It's after 1:30 am and our ears are glued to the weather radio for tornado warnings. Helen is on the bed on her knees with the Oklahoma state map sprawled in front of her trying to locate where tornados are hitting. I'm busy typing on the computer and peeping out the window for any sign of fellow campers hauling ass toward the concrete block bathhouses. Wind rocks the camper side to side and the hail on fiberglass sounds like a band of drunken gypsies dancing outside the door on a big sheet of bubble wrap. We glanced at each other from time to time and say, "Should we grab our pants yet?" I stop myself from opening the camper door for fear a blast of wind might rip it out of my hands and off the camper. "If a damn munchkin flies by the window we're head'en for the bathhouse," I say bravely to Helen between squawks from the radio and booms of thunder. The lighting is fierce and at times the night glows red and angry. Somewhere between "heaven" and "earth" some poor thing has been found. I'm reminded of a scene from Disney's Fantasia. I note the short space in the camper that separates me from my pants.
Day 15. Wed. May 30 Oklahoma OSAGE Cove Park on Lake Kaw (Army Corps of Engineers Park managed by the ACE)
Tall Grass, jumping Bison, rebooted computers and fast hummingbirds
Leaving Osage Hills we drive across open country to The Tall Grass Prairie Preserve owned by the Nature Conservancy, a private non-profit organization. This protected track is all that remains of unplowed prairie grasslands that used to stretch from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico… 142 million acres) Only 10 percent of this land exist today. The preserve is home to over 1000 Bison. Can you imagine? We sat quietly and tried to imagine wagon trains rolling west in the great distance. We're cautioned at the visitor's center that Bison can weight up to 2000 lbs, jump 6 feet vertically or horizontally, run 35 mph and have an attitude. Wonder what kind of grass they're grazing on. (Pictures here)
When we arrive at Osage Cove Campground a formidable but friendly lady named Sue is working from a small gate shack in the middle of the road. She slides open a little window and says, "Howdy, you unhookin?" She tells us to camp anywhere we wish so long as we avoid reserved sites with tags… and to come back and tell her which site we "dropped on". We find site number 51, a lovely spot of turf with shade and a nice view of the lake…and no reserve tags in sight. We drop anchor which entails the following: (1) positioning the camper, (2) placing boards under the wheels and watching the leveling bubbles (3) blocking the tires so the camper can't roll, (4) unlatching and cranking up the hitch and moving the car out of the way (5) lowing the hitch to make clearance in order to lower the rear stablizers (6) leveling from front to back while watching the bubble (7) rolling out the awning, popping up the chairs, and hanging Helen's hummingbird feeder and last but not least (8) the pouring of two glasses of wine! On a real good day we can do the dock dance in 15 minutes… less the wine pouring of course. We drive back to Sue's Shack. There instead we find Sue's husband Bob fighting with the Oklahoma State Park's Internet Reserve System Computer. Another fellow (Let's call him Sam) is waiting patiently in a chair behind Bob gesturing towards the computer screen. I crowd in the gate shack behind Sam to see what's going on. I poke my face between Bob and Sam. It looks to me like the system's locked up but Bob is determined to enter data and cuss. Sam agrees with me that things are locked up…and together after 15 minutes of listening to Bob cuss the failures of Oklahoma technology we humbly suggest that he shut down restart the system. Bob says," Nope, gotta get Sue" who mysteriously appears at the door. She pushes past me, shoves Bob aside and plants herself in front of the computer and announces, "the computer's locked up. Gotta reboot. " Bob shakes his head wearily. "Whole system's been weird since the last storm. Hell this thing screws up when the dogs bark." There are four of us in the gate shack by now and it's getting hot. Sue gives the power cord a swift jerk and everything goes black. She plugs it back in and sure'nuff, after what seems a life time the Oklahoma State Park's Internet Reserve System Computer comes back on line. Yee Haw, let's rock and roll. At this point the computer tell us that Sam, sitting in front of me …really is in front of me… and has reserved site #51 just before I entered the gate shack. Aaaaagh!!! I'm ready to bite a hole out of the side of Sue's computer. Maybe out of Sue too…but having transcended earlier to some numb place I joyfully give way. Bob says alternate site 54 is pretty and available for two whole days! Perfect! We return to site 51, do the undocking dance while Sam and family, pulling their gigantic 5th wheel trailer, idles in the distance and watches. We are so good. We move the camper in about 5 minutes… of course the chairs are thrown on top of the camper and Helen's hummingbird feeder is dangling off the camper's rear as we pull out. We move to site #54 dancing and prancing all the way. We set up again and even manage two glasses of wine when we noticed the reserve tag. Aaaaagh!!! The site is only available for one night! You can't imagine how hard it is to keep the language of this journal clean. Remember the rule from day one about always carrying at least two bottles of wine? Damn good rule!!!
When we got to the bathhouse that evening for showers there was only one faucet.-cold! Aaaaagh!!! This means no hot showers tonight! Helen back at camp says, "Who was that screaming in the bathhouse?"
Near dusk we hear a humming sound over our heads. Well, I'll be damn. Helen's red throated humming bird from Osage Hills State Park near Pawhuska has found us at last.
Let's see, what we can toast to this evening?
To all our loved ones and new friends from the road…yea
To the scrumptious sunset over Kaw lake and moonrise from the east…fantastic
To hot water that keeps me civilized and manly…absolutely!
And to Sue and Bob, the last of the old time pioneers struggling to survive technology and globlelization while living and loving the out of doors…you bet.
And to one hell of a fast hummingbird…unbelievable!
and…
