About That Colorado Springs (August 14 - 20)

Dear Family and Friends,

We left the beautiful tall grass prairies and sunflower fields of Kansas for the hills of Colorado on Saturday.  Sunday found us in Limon, Colorado for one night with a 90 mile drive into Colorado Springs on Monday. We are staying at the Air Force Academy family camp for a month where Roger intends to have a better time playing in this area then he did as a cadet from 1966 until 1970.

Two paws on the wheel Bear, if you are going to drive the Tour.

Our RV is parked at the Family Camp that sits on the edge of the Rampart Range of the Rocky Mountains, among the pine trees. How wonderful it is to have cooler temps and the lovely smell of the pines. Summer rains happen in the late afternoon. The mornings are gorgeous with sunshine and a beautiful blue sky.

We are thrilled to be back on the bikes! Riding around the Academy gives us lots of hill practice at a much higher elevation.

This is our RV site for the month we are at the Academy! The stadium is across the street from us  and we intend to go to two football games.  GO FALCONS!!!

Wednesday found us going for an early morning cycling ride around the Academy. Later we took Bear and drove to Garden of the Gods for some easy hiking.  The rock formations are truly beautiful to see. Finally we drove to nearby Manitou Springs for lunch and a bit of shopping in the historic area.

After a bike ride on Thursday morning, we drove to Manitou Springs where we boarded the cog wheel train that took us to Pikes Peak. The peak is over 14,000 feet above Colorado Springs and the scenery is beautiful. 

Roger is ready to go!

The entire climb to the top had us in the pines and aspen trees.

A view from the top with Colorado Springs in the distance.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to see if I am dreaming these gorgeous views!

Friday was spent checking out Ft Carson. It is one of the largest Army posts in the country. We had lots of walks with Bear and just generally enjoyed our week in Colorado Springs. This coming Monday, we head downtown to watch the finish of the prologue (start)  of the Tour of Colorado. This is a bicycle race that is drawing cycling's elite riders from all over the world. This tour takes place over several days in different parts of Colorado.

Roger and I thank you for reading the blog and sharing your thoughts with us. Next week will find us into our second week here at the Air Force Academy. 

About That "On The Road Again" - (August 4 - 13)

Dear Family and Friends,

Whoo Hoo, we are on the road again!!! How we have dreamed of this during the last two months!!! We learned a lot about ourselves during this period and are most grateful to have such dear family and friends who shared their homes with us during the time our Tour spent getting repaired at Camping World.

We left Camping World and Springfield, Missouri, on Thursday, August 4. The technicians ably put our beautiful home back together so that it looks like new. We will miss their continually positive attitudes when working in the 100 plus degree humid heat this summer.

We travelled to Parsons, Kansas, where we again enjoyed the hospitality of Roger's aunt and uncle. Their daughter Kathryn, joined us as well. Roger loved seeing the sites of his family's farm and hearing more stories from his Uncle Jud.

On Sunday, we drove to Lake Melvern near Topeka, where we intended to stay for a week. At this Army Corps of Engineers park we tried several sites before determining that there was too much slope to level the Tour.  Happily we found an RV park in nearby Lyndon that had level sites. The park was surrounded by soybean and corn fields, making it a beautiful place to live for a week.

Bear says it is time to get on the road again!

What a pleasure to fill up before setting out on our trip to Lake Melvern!

The Carnegie Library in Lyndon.

Roger and Bear posing in front of the Lyndon Court House.

Our RV Park was surrounded by soybean fields.

Bear taking himself for a walk!!!

Our Tour in the RV Park.

Truly "home sweet home."

On Tuesday, Roger, Bear and I drove thirty miles to Topeka, for a day of sightseeing. We enjoyed visiting the capital of Kansas, the Governor's Mansion, Old Prairie Village at Warde Meade and the site of Brown vs. The Board of Education. The following pictures give you an idea of our day.

The Kansas State Capital

The restoration project will take many years.

                                     

Corinthian Columns
Can you name the other two types of Greek columns???

The Governor's Mansion

Old Prairie Town Village is a collection of buildings that give you the idea of what it was like to live in small towns on the prairie of Kansas pre Civil War. This is a typical one room school house.

Roger and Bear on the front porch of an inn on the stagecoach route.

Topeka's Botanical Garden

Ionic Columns
Other than Corinthian and Ionic, can you name the third type of column?

Railroad Station

Monroe Elementary which played an important part in the 1954 landmark decision of the Supreme Court, allowing schools to be integrated and paving the way for the civil rights movement of the 1960's. The school houses a museum.

On Wednesday we journeyed to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve located in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Bear decided to take a break from sightseeing and stay in the Tour. Today less than 4% of North America's tall grass prairie (think 8 - 10 feet high blue stem grass) is preserved with the help of the Nature Conservancy and National Park Service. This National Preserve is headquartered in the Spring Hill Ranch which was a working cattle ranch in the 1880s. 

We also visited the nearby town of Cottonwood Falls where we met KJ, Carolyn and their children, Ian and Kathryn for lunch. KJ is the grandson of Roger's aunt and uncle from Parsons. KJ is actually Father Lackey, an Episcopalian priest, whose parish is located in Emporia. It has been most gratifying to watch him grow from a baby to a very inspiring young man who with his family, makes a difference to many people.

Original barn at Spring Hill Ranch

Tallgrass Prairie (lack of rain finds the grass not as tall as usual)

Spring Hill Ranch

Cottonwood Falls Court House

Father Lackey, Ian, Kathryn is hiding, Carolyn and Roger

Thursday and Friday found us riding our bikes in the surrounding area. For us, it was such a thrill to get back on those bikes and see local areas at a slower pace. 

Cycling in Eisenhower State Park gets a two thumbs up from me.

Saturday begins our two day trip to Colorado Springs. We have had such a great time in this area of Kansas. Bear, Roger and I thank you for reading our blog.

About That Peaceable Kingdom: Part Two (July 24 - August 3)

Dear Family and Friends,

Apologies to all avid blog readers! I am tardy in getting the blog out this week and you will find out why
in the last paragraph. It is good news!  I will resume the typical Saturday posting on August 13th.

Hopefully all of you are staying cool and surviving this summer of extremely hot temperatures and little rain. Roger, Bear and I finished our second week at Peaceable Kingdom aka Mary and Kathryn's home in Stockton, Missouri. Mary and Kathryn have hosted us for more than three weeks total as we worked our way through the issues of repair work on the Tour. They are relatives, but also true friends in every sense of the word. We can never thank them enough for their incredible hospitality.

 Our days in Stockton, were lazy to say the least. Between Mary, Kathryn and their friends we had a built in social network of activities. Thank you to Joe and Bunny for hosting a wonderful cocktail party at their lovely home overlooking Lake Stockton. An avid sailor and gifted wood worker, Joe has restored an early fifties, CrisCraft motorboat that is truly a work of art. Roger definitely had boat envy. Thank you to Jan and Marcia for the drinks party. What fun to see your beautiful home. Now a bit about Lake Stockton.

Lake Stockton is an Army Corps of Engineering project that began with damming the Sac River in 1963 and completing it in 1969. This beautiful lake has 298 miles of shoreline and 24,900 acres of water surface, making it a paradise for sailors, motor boaters, and fishermen. Imagine a lake without any private docks, very few marinas and you have Lake Stockton. It is truly one of the most beautiful lakes that I have ever seen. As mentioned before in another blog, our family in Stockton takes advantage of this pristeen lake with sailing, pontooning and motor boating.

Now for the best news of all!!!  WE ARE BACK IN THE TOUR!!!  After two months to the day, we drove in to Springfield and Camping World and found the most beautiful sight.  Our gorgeous Tour is back together.  We moved back into the Tour on Tuesday afternoon.  We intend to head out on Thursday for Parsons, Kansas, where we will see Roger's aunt and uncle before heading to Melvern Lake in Kansas. Then it is on to Colorado Springs for a month.

Thank you for your continued interest in our travels.  We have appreciated your thoughts and prayers these past two months.

Roger helps Kathryn tune her bike.

Roger is helping Marcia and Jan make buttons for the upcoming Cause For Paws.

Roger shows that making buttons is hard work on the hands!

Suzanne, with Jan's help, makes a button.

Glorious Day, we are back in the Tour!!!