Valentine's Day--Part 2

As it flurried we began our drive back to WY. But we weren't on I25 long when we noted a sign. It said that the highway was closed due to weather at the last exit in Colorado. Oh no! What to do? Well it was Valentine's Day after all, so what better way to enjoy the evening than with a hotel room and an evening in....LOVEland, Colorado! We enjoyed an evening of strolling through the shops they had there, then back to the room for a yummy junk food dinner.

The TV in the bedroom of our suite.

Our bed, sorry, we had already slept in it!

The TV in the living room of our suite.

The rest of our living room! Note the bags that held our dinner.

By the next morning, the weather had cleared and we made it back safe and sound.

"Valentine's Day" or "Romantic Getaway Caused by Snow" - by Guest Writer Kevin

It was Valentine's Day, you can tell by the blue I have on. It was also the day before Christie's birthday and so her present from her fiance Steve was a little skydiving fun. We all went to an indoor skydiving place in Denver. After a video and a little training we suited up to fly!

Here I am sporting my blue flying suit

Steve, Christie and myself in full gear.

Steve and Christie getting suited up.

After our class had been fully trained and set, we flew in a 120 MPH wind tunnel. Or in my case fell up, rather than flew.

Christie flying.


Steve flying!

Me flying!

More of me flying!

After a morning of flying and a nice lunch we enjoyed a nice afternoon walking around a mall that actually had more than 1 floor for a change. As we enjoyed the day shopping, however, it had started snowing a bit...

Black Friday

We spent Thanksgiving in Colorado Springs with Christie, Steve, and friends (pictures coming soon, I hope). The next morning, instead of shopping the sales, I decided to snuggle with Shelob the tarantula.

Then we went to meet Christie's parents for lunch. When Christie asked if we liked BBQ, I was excited to see what it would be like out west. Turns out we were eating at Famous Dave's. Yummy, but not what I expected. The view of Pike's Peak from the parking lot couldn't be beat though.

Here's the lunch crew: Mr and Mrs Kleinert, Christie, me, and Kevin.

After lunch Christie, Kevin, and I headed for Garden of the Gods, a park with some beautiful rock formations.

They call this formation Kissing Camels

This one is Kissing Carringtons with Kissing Camels in background.
Christie wouldn't let me kiss her.

The view heading from the parking lot, onto one of the trails.

Pike's Peak is there in the background again, but its a bit hard to see because of the clouds.

The park dedication sign.

One last view before we decided it was just too cold to keep walking around.

And finally, some Buffalo that I forgot to post when I saw them a couple of weeks ago. These were along the highway. They didn't seem to mind the cars.

Wyoming or Bust

Today we decided to take a late check out so that I could put in a couple of hours of work before hitting the road. Kevin packed us back up again while I worked and soon we were back on the road for the short jog into Wyoming.

Here we are raising a train on the tracks that run parallel to the highway. Isn't the paint job neat?

Crossing the Wyoming state line. That same symbol is all over the state, on signs, on the license plates - everywhere.

The sign for Laramie county which is the first county over the boarder and also the county Cheyenne is in.


I was a little worried when we crossed the state line. I thought I might start seeing some evidence of mountains soon.

Wait, I think I see something hill like in the distance.

And oh, there it is! A butte. I think thats what those are called anyway.

About half an hour later we were on base. And finally done driving!

Day 3 - Up, Up, and Away

We were only in Iowa for an hour or so before crossing into Nebraska this morning. This sign is on the bridge crossing the Missouri River.

Omaha is right over the state line

Scarlet found a new comfy spot today. She spent the entire ride down there and would jump right back to her spot after we stopped. If only we had figured this out 2 days ago.

The clouds were just amazing.

We were making good time so we took a short side trip to Buffalo Bill's ranch. This is his house. It cost $3900 to construct in 1886 or so. The back part was added on in 1909.

Here's the stables.

We didn't stay long because it started to rain, but caught a rainbow on our way out of town. Its actually a double rainbow, but its a bit hard to see here.

The plains.

Look very carefully at the asphalt between the Arby's sign and the green post - its a tumbleweed! The first one I'd ever seen - it was in the parking lot of our hotel.

The Cabela's in Sidney, NE. We've passed 4 along Rt 80, but Sidney is headquarters and this is the original.

The bobcat says "What'd you do with my deer, Fred?"

So we're now at an elevation of just under 6000 feet. At home on top of our little mountain we're only at 950 feet. I can feel my red blood cells increasing as we speak.

Day 2 - The I's Have It

Today's title refers to the fact that we spent today in states that begin with the letter "I". We started in Indiana, drove through Illinois, and stopped in Iowa.

Scarlet decided the hour or so it took us to get from Warsaw, IN to the highway this morning would be best spent under my seat. We ended up having to stop to rescue her.

This is one of the speed limit signs in Indiana. It just amused me that trucks had to go slower than cars and there was a minimum speed. Brilliant!

Entering Illinois. We mainly saw concrete and construction, so this is the only picture.

Crossing the mighty Mississippi. I expected it to be wider. It didn't look any bigger than the Potomac here.

And on the other side we entered Iowa. And we're still here. Its a wide state.

The World's Largest Truck Stop. We didn't stop. Kevin was afraid they would also have the world largest trucker.

And this is what happens after two days in the car - random self portraits!

We are fairly certain these are what one would call "amber waves of grain".
Our hotel room for Night Two in Stuart, Iowa. We pulled into town at 3pm Central time. Which felt like 5 pm to out very confused bodies.

The town of Stuart happens to be where Bonnie and Clyde committed their last robbery. This is the bank building where it happened. It happens to be the police station now.

These signs on the window cracked us up though. You would have thought the whole Bonnie and Clyde thing would have taught them a lesson. If we had been in the South, I would have looked for Deputy Fife.

We also stopped in a bar where the bartender didn't know what bourbon was. But that was too sad for pictures. These midwesterners have thing or two to learn!