July 1, 2018

Albuquerque, New Mexico to Dodge City, Kansas

We woke up thinking, “Happy Canada Day!” to our Canadian friends and relatives. We know with the hot weather, some celebrations may be canceled. We cheered them on anyway.

This morning started with the routine of getting up, having breakfast and a cup of coffee for Patti, and packing up. By the time you get to the third day of a road trip, the patterns and routines start to jell.   We enjoyed a peek at some hot air balloons as we were driving out of town.  It reminded us that at some point we want to go to the Balloon Festival in Albuquerque.  Not this year.  Maybe in the next couple.

We've already traveled over 900 miles since June 28. We're getting into our groove.

Today we drove over 500 miles through New Mexico, the southeastern corner of Colorado (Hello beautiful, colorful Colorado!), and a ways into the state of Kansas. As we left Albuequerque, we spotted several of the hot air baloons the city is known for. Continuing our drive, we watched the landscape changed we went from plains to foothills, to glimpses of higher mountains, to vast dried up grasslands. Much of the day was spent driving on smaller roads, and watching the countryside move along.

We made a short stop in Trinidad Colorado to see one of our first “roadside attractions”. This was a large statue of a canary in the cage, talking about how miners used to bring canaries or even mice in cages into the mines to be able to keep track of unsafe gas there. Because they are more sensitive, they would collapse if there were gas or other dangerous things in there. This canary look perky and happy. We also took photos with a couple of mules states, because, we could.  Who wouldn’t want to have their photo take with these? We are pleased to use the Roadside America app on Patti's phone. You never know what amazing attraction might be just around the next bend. Patti’s brother is always eager to hear if we found a new giant ball of string.  Not so far this trip, but we are looking. 

We've also been experimenting this time with listening to some podcasts as we drive. We often listen to music or CDs audiobooks, but this time Patti found some fascinating podcasts. This helps when you have some long stretches without much to look at. We enjoyed listening to the podcasts and talking about interesting topics.

Dinner-time brought us to checking into our hotel in Dodge City, Kansas. For those of you who are American and old enough to remember that Dodge City was, among other things, the place that the TV western Gunsmoke was set. We took a chance after supper to stroll around the town and see some of the sculptures and Hollywood walk of fame type medallions on the sidewalk. Dick was pleased to meet Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke fame. We also enjoyed some very fine metal sculptures that highlighted the history of the town. This town was part of the Santa Fe Trail, on a stagecoach route, and a major site for cattle drives. We certainly saw some large feedlots as we drove into town, and smelled of them!

We’ll have a good night sleep and then a little bit more exploring in the Boot Hill Museum of the Wild West. You never know where Patti and Dick's grand adventure might take you. Today it took us to Dodge City.