We Have Arrived In Colorado

(Pueblo, Colorado) 53 degrees, overcast, sleet, and snow flurries

The only cowboys we have seen so far

We are a few days away from arriving to our workamping site.  Along the way we have been through all kinds of weather - tornado's, floods, high winds, and today it is snowing.  It has been quite an adventure but we are safe and sound now in Colorado. 

Wyatt Earp Statue

We spent two nights in Dodge City Kansas which was once considered a very lawless town.  We stopped at the Visitors Center and purchased a CD auto tour that told us all about their history.  Gunslingers, can-can girls, saloons, and gambling were very prevalent from 1872-1878.  It was a real cow town where thousands of cattle came into the stockyards.  For a few years it was a very wild town and the famous lawman Wyatt Earp was once their Marshall. 

One of the stops on the CD tour is the Boot Hill Museum.  It is a very interesting place and has a famous cemetery where some folks were buried in haste with their boots on. Most have been relocated but a small part of the cemetary remains.  . 

There is a replica of how the town would have looked at the time.  Most of the shops have store keepers inside and there is even a saloon where you can have a beer. 

Part of the tour included driving by the many stockyards and processing plants.  Meatpacking is the primary industry now in Dodge City.  Over 20,000 cattle are processed here each day.  That is a lot of beef. You could see over the hills thousands of  cattle grazing in the stockyards. 

We stayed at the Gunsmoke Trav L-Park ($35/night).  It is a small campground on the edge of town.  It was rather barren, however, that was the case for most of this area since it rains only about 20 inches a year.   

Gunsmoke RV site

Registration area

Later in the day we drove out to where there are tracks from the many covered wagons that traveled the Santa Fe trails.  This was a trail which ran from Santa Fe New Mexico to almost St. Louis Missouri.  We could not find the tracks but the displays were very interesting and the prairie land was beautiful. 

Late that night the winds started to howl and our RV shook back in forth with the winds.  It was unnerving and we decided to pull the slides in.  It was hard to sleep with all the gusts and creaking of our rig.  The next morning John asked the front desk about the winds.  They did not seem the least bit concerned and said it just happens from time to time.  We read later that the gusts were about 45mph.  One thing about living in RV...you are much more aware of weather and certainly feel more vulnerable. 

Now that is a big tumbleweed

After such a sleepless night we decided to "get the heck out of Dodge" and headed for  Colorado.  The terrain is still rather bleak.  We stayed at a KOA in La Junta for one night.  I forgot to take a picture but it was not very memorable.  Today we are at a KOA in Pueblo.  Here is a picture of the desert outside our RV window.  Pikes Peak is in the distance but it cannot be seen.  It snowed today as we were arriving and the skies are very hazy.  Maybe we will be able to see it tomorrow. 

We stopped here because of a Nature and Rapture Center.  It is basically a rehabilitation hospital for injured birds and specialize in birds of prey.  The goal is to return the birds to the wild if possible.  John loves birds and wanted to check out the center.   There are also 20 miles of hiking and biking trails and a nice restaurant.  It's located along the Arkansas River and we really enjoyed our visit despite the rather cold and snowy weather. 

Nature Center and Restaurant

Arkansas River

Western Screech Owl

Swainson Hawk

We enjoyed our visit.  Tomorrow we are heading to Colorado Springs for two days and then up to Cripple Creek. We will soon be at our destination.  Stop back soon for more details.