ANIMALS -- CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THEM!

Monday August 1^st would have been my Dad’s 94^th birthday.  He was 87 when he passed away.  I’ve tried but my mental image of Dad is frozen at 87 and I can’t quite picture what he would look like (or be like!) at 94.  He died before I started traveling around in the camper and I sometimes wonder what he (and Mom) would think of my adventures and mishaps and all. 

Leaving Sidney, Nebraska on Monday I took I-80 W and then Rt. 19 S into Colorado and then continued on Routes 113 S – 138 W – 14 W – I-25 N to the Fort Collins North/Wellington KOA.  I’d had some problems with the internet connection at the RV Park in Sidney and was happy and relieved to be able to post my fifth blog and check my emails while here at the KOA.  I remained here on Tuesday the 2^nd to continue other online work (pay the bills!) and do my camper chores (dump the tanks!).  There’s just one problem with this KOA -- they’ve got a million flies!  Whoever invented the fly swatter, thank you!

If most folks are like me, we probably have the same image of Colorado – mountains, snow, skiing, white water rafting.  Names of towns such as Telluride, Durango, Silverton, Vail, Colorado Springs may be familiar to a lot of us.  Anybody heard of Burlington?  Las Animas?  Trinidad?  How about Sterling or La Junta?  Me neither.  The eastern half of Colorado – the region to the east of the Rockies – may not be as thrilling or as breathtaking or as famous as the western half.  We’ll see!

As I write this, it’s Wednesday, August 3^rd.  I accomplished everything I needed to do at the KOA the past two days and I’m all set to resume my trip and take a look around eastern Colorado.  After getting gas and groceries,  I got on I-25 S for about 45 miles and then got on a series of connecting roads (Routes 52 E – 79 S – I-70 E – 36 E – 59 S) through flat, wide-open farmland to the Shady Grove Wi-Fi Campground in Seibert, CO.  I’ve never seen a campground include “Wi-Fi” in its name, but if the intent was to catch RVers’ eyes, it sure worked! 

Seibert is just a small farm community but a good place to stop for the night.  I was taken aback a little bit by the middle-aged fella who handled my registration, mostly because of the way he was attired…or not attired.  He was wearing very loose workout shorts, flip-flops, and no shirt.  So, while I’m conducting a business transaction I’m also looking at a pot belly, some stray chest hair, and a pair of areola.  The guy’s unshaven face, however, radiated a nice smile and when I continued to have trouble lip-reading him, he was perfectly happy to use paper and pen.  He was also wearing a cast on his left arm and a brace strapped to his chest.  Just as we were finishing up, he wrote on the paper -- “I fell.”  I said “Ohhhhh…” and asked if he was doing alright.  He said yes and then wrote that he fell from a tree, broke his wrist and several vertebrae.  Thinking about the rocky climb I almost did at Toadstool Geologic Park last week, I told him we have to be careful, especially at our age, and he gave me a big smile at that!  

When I submitted my online request for materials last spring to the Colorado Bureau of Tourism, they sent me just one “Colorado” booklet.  That’s hardly enough so I decided I should go to one of the state’s Welcome Centers and get more statewide and local brochures, maps, state park information, etc.  The closest Welcome Center to Seibert is in Burlington, just west of the border with Kansas and off of I-70.  So, on Thursday morning, August 4^th I got right on I-70 E and headed for Burlington.    

After about 20 minutes of gathering a lot of material from the Welcome Center, I dumped everything in the truck and then walked over to the nearby Old Town Museum.  This museum is a “…recreated turn-of-the-century prairie town that features 21 fully restored, historical buildings, housed with authentic artifacts.”  I enjoyed going in all the different buildings and looking at all the old stuff, but after I’d visited my 5^th or 6^th building, I noticed that I was the only person walking around the town.  I started to feel like I was in that old “Twilight Zone” episode – the one with the man (or was it a woman?) running all over this deserted town looking for somebody, anybody.  It was weird, I thought, that there wasn’t at least a family of kids or something.  

From there I drove across town to the Kit Carson County Fairgrounds – to ride a horse.  The fair was last week, I think, but the fairgrounds is the home of a National Historic Landmark – the Kit Carson County Carousel.  Oh, my…I remember carousels from my childhood and this one just took my breath away.  Manufactured in 1905 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, all 45 wooden animals still “march” to the original music of a Wurlitzer Monster Military Band Organ.  The beautifully carved animals have been restored to their original colorful splendor and the panels of paintings all around the carousel have been restored as well.  The lady operating the carousel (she could sign a little bit!) told me that the restoration took about 25 years.  For 25 cents there are all sorts of animals to ride: Armored Horse, Dog, Donkey, Giraffes, Indian Pony, Tiger, Angel Pony, Zebras, Button Horse, Hippocampus, Rose Horse, Camels, Black and White Horse, Goats, Tassel Horse, Lion, and Deer.  I picked a horse, got on with no problem, and had to marvel at the fact I was sitting on a piece of antique that was made over a century ago!  And this treasure is in Burlington, eastern Colorado!

Restored to their 1905 splendor!  Kit Carson County Carousel, Burlington, CO.

 

More restored animals and paintings around the Kit Carson County Carousel.

 

The carousel's Wurlitzer Monster Military Band Organ.



Taking Rt. 385 N for about 25 miles, I got on a dirt road and headed for the Bonny Lake State Park.  The area around the state park is also a wildlife area and as I was slowly driving along, two white-tail deer suddenly ran across the road, bouncing away at high speed as if they were running from something.   The beauty of their quick and graceful dash mesmerized me until they’d run out of view.  Looking towards where they had come from I didn’t see anything else.  Maybe it was my truck.  The diesel engine is loud, hearing people tell me.  If I want to catch sight of wildlife I will have to park somewhere with the engine off and use the truck as a blind.  I oughta do that one day.

Bonny Lake has dried out quite a bit and while people can still fish and go boating, there’s no swimming allowed due to mud.  I spent the late afternoon/early evening outside reading and reviewing my stash of materials.  I was also enjoying the breeze for a little while before it occurred to me to look up and around me.  Oh, dark clouds…and not a minute after I went back inside the camper, it started to rain!  We had quite the downpour, and lightning, that lasted for a few hours.

It was a beautiful morning when I woke up [on Friday, August 5^th] and I decided to get an early start and leave my site at 7:30 a.m. rather than my usual 9:00 a.m.  Who knows, I might see something on this dirt road back to Rt. 385.  Sighting #1: A big, black bull -- no horns (polled) but he sported a hefty sack of testicles -- grazing right next to a sign on the road that said “Cattle Xing – Next 2 Miles.”  Sighting #2: About five turkeys, or some such bird, scrambling across the road. 

Not quite wildlife, but one doesn't often see a bull just feet away from one's vehicle!  Dirt road outside Bonny Lake State Park, near Burlington, CO.

Returning to Burlington I continued on Rt. 385 going south on a two-lane road through more of the same flat farmland.  There were corn and other crop fields, there was a field of sunflowers, and there were other fields that were brown and barren.  There were birds and bugs and there was a bird of prey on a wooden fence post, staring intently at something. 

And then for a fleeting moment I saw an animal in the field, running in the opposite direction.  I wasn’t able to make out what it was but it certainly wasn’t deer or livestock.  As I wondered about it, I spotted several other animals in the field, running in the same direction I was going.  This time I stopped on the shoulder, stepped outside the truck, and looked through my binoculars.  They were dogs – a mid-size adult and three pups.  They were running, those pups were really going at it.  I looked to the left and there was a farmhouse.  Okay, so these dogs are running home.  Looking through the binocs again, the adult dog, obviously the mother of the pups, had stopped running.  She was looking at me!  The pups continued to run to the farm, she looked at them as if to check their progress, and then she came trotting over to me.  She was still far enough away I wasn’t concerned, but her face through the binocs was a study of inquisitiveness.  “Who the hell is this two-legged animal on my property?” was what her whole demeanor seemed to convey.  I got back in my truck and kept still.  We continued to look at each other, she looked again towards the running pups, took one more look at me, turned and took off towards the farm.  Just a day in the life of farm dogs, I thought.  And then I started to wonder – had they been chasing off that animal I first saw?  Lessons from Mom?  It’s possible.



A very flat Colorado landscape, green crops on one side, a barren field on the other.  Somewhere along Route 385.



At the town of Lamar, I turned west on Rt. 50 (the “Santa Fe Trail Scenic Byway”), got on another county road and arrived at the John Martin Reservoir State Park, near Hasty.  There’s a dam here and the Lake Hasty Campground is located below the dam.  I picked a site, one of eight that overlooks the lake, and was just about to get the camper all hooked up and prepped for the night when I remembered that I had better check the site post first.  Good thing I did because it was reserved for 8/5 – today!  I walked to the next site over, and the next two, and they were all reserved.  The fourth site is reserved for tomorrow so I moved the camper to that one.  On my walk to check these sites I spotted a 12-inch piece of snake skin, sloughed by, I’m guessing rattlesnake.  Whatever reptile it came from, it serves as a reminder I gotta watch where I step.    

I enjoyed my spot at Lake Hasty but I wanted to see the reservoir, too, on the other side of the dam.  Setting out the next morning [Saturday, August 6th] I drove across the dam, turned back around and parked at a parking spot.  The vantage point up there provided great views of the reservoir and the lake from both sides of the dam.  There were a couple of boats on the reservoir and people were fishing along the shoreline.  Sections of the sand and gravel shoreline are fenced off to protect two species of birds, both of which are currently nesting on the reservoir -- the threatened Piping Plover and the endangered Interior Least Tern.  Protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, there were warning signs everywhere. 

The state park has another campground called Point Lookout.  Although no hookups are available at this campground, I thought of staying here last night because the views from this location are described as being excellent.  It became a moot point, however, when I found out from the Visitor’s Center yesterday that this campground was closed due to budget cuts.  Wanting to see the area anyway, I drove over there from the dam.  The paved road became dirt and a sign pointed towards a wildlife area.  So, not only did I miss out on some fantastic views of the reservoir, I also missed out on the possibility of seeing some wildlife, especially at dusk and at sunrise. 

After walking around the edge of the rocky bluffs for a little while – and spotting a heron in the meantime – I then drove over to check out a marker for the Santa Fe Trail.  At the time the wagon trains came through on this trail, the settlers were walking along the Arkansas River.  The concrete and earthen dam, which was built [and completed in 1948, after WWII] to protect the Arkansas River Valley from potential flooding, has certainly changed the topography of the landscape from that time.

View of Lake Hasty from my blue chair outside my camper, cocktail in one hand and a book in the other.  John Martin Reservoir State Park, near Hasty.



The John Martin Reservoir, as seen from one side of the dam.

 

The view from the other side of the dam.  The water in the foreground is the spillway.  Lake Hasty and the campground are in the background.

 

John Martin Reservoir, as seen from Point Lookout.


 Thinking I’d stop for the night in Trinidad, a town near the border with New Mexico, I changed my mind after visiting Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, located near La Junta.  From Rt. 50 W I got on Rt. 194 W for about 15 miles and there it was.  Rather than take the short concrete path to the fort, I took the long way – a loop trail.  It was a hot day and I’m really glad I heeded the suggestion to bring water.  Looping around prairie grass, part of the trail also followed the banks of the Arkansas River.  I learned from this visit that the Arkansas River was the border between the United States and Mexico and this is one of the reasons the Bent Brothers built their fort here. 

The fort today is an exact reconstruction of the original fort.  Built in 1833 by Charles and William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain, the fort was a significant fur trade post on the Santa Fe Trail.  With limited timber in the area, the fort was built with a brick mixture of clay, water, and sand, bound by straw or wool, and covered by adobe plaster.  The workers who built the fort came from across the river – Mexico – and many remained to do other work within the fort.    

The fort was a cultural center of sorts.  The weary travelers on the trail found the fort an oasis where they could rest, eat a meal around a real table, and repair their wagons.  Trappers, hunters, and Indians came here to trade their furs for goods such as tobacco, cloth, blankets, tool, dried foods, and gunpowder.  Trading thrived here and the fort was often crowded with people speaking as many as seven different languages.  In due time, as history as taught us, the buffalo became nearly extinct, the Indians were forced to live on reservations, and other incidents and conflicts led to the fort’s decline as a trading center.  Abandoned around 1850, the fort crumbled over the years from lack of upkeep.  Reconstructed in 1975-76, based on detailed drawings and archaeological findings, the fort today is an impressive place to visit.  There were guides walking around in clothing of the time and out in the corral there was an ox, a horse, a mule, and several peacocks.

By the time I left this historical site, it was nearly 3:00 p.m. and I was hot and tired and in no mood to drive the 85 miles to Trinidad.  Walking back to my truck, I thought to myself – if I feel this way, knowing however that there’s a cold bottle of water in my camper, and I can make the convenient decision to not drive any further, even for a couple more hours, imagine what it was like, on a hot day like today, for the long-ago pioneers.

Consulting my RV directory, I was happy to discover that there’s a KOA in La Junta and so I went there.  As soon as I got the camper set up, I made a beeline for the pool.  I didn’t have to think twice about it – I’ll stay here tomorrow (Sunday), too!     



The Arkansas River, along the trail near Bent's Old Fort, Bent's Old Fort National Historical Site, La Junta, CO.