CLIMBING THE ROCKIES AND ON TO KANSAS (Note: Sorry for the long delay in sending another blog post. Will try to catch up.)

Leaving Grand Junction, I headed east on I-70, the land began to turn green as we climbed up into the Rockies.  Where only the valleys with streams in them had enough rain to produce vegetation and the mountains were bare rock, slowly the green in the valleys began to climb up the slopes, until the mountains themselves were covered in forest.  Though I was fascinated by the dry lands and deserts,  amazed to see the ways plant and animal life has adapted to harsh conditions, and the awesome beauty of geology revealed in the rocks, canyons and mountains of the West, I can't tell you how much I had missed the green of forests.

Climbing up into the snowcapped Rockies -- forests!

The interstate climbed steeply up narrow valleys, with hardly any shoulder.  Here I was able to pull off into a scenic viewing area to take a picture.  The downgrades were also steep.  There were signs that the next X number of miles would be an 8% grade, to 7%, and then 6%!  Good thing Big Blue has a lower Engine Brake gear.

The area around Denver was unfriendly to RVers -- apparently the whole greater Denver area has ordinances against overnight camping.   Every Walmart, Costco, etc. I called said they were sorry but I couldn't stay overnight.  So I drove right through and stopped at the first truckstop east of Denver.

Big Blue and Turtle parked at a Love's truckstop for the night in Bennett CO.

I found a lovely park to take a walk in while camped at a truckstop in Ellis CO.  On days when I'm driving all day, I try to take a big walk before bed, even if it's just laps around a Walmart parking lot.  This was much better.

And on to Kansas.  Western Kansas is pretty flat, with miles of agricultural fields - corn until you're tired of looking at it, then soybeans until you're tired of them, too.  But then you come to the Flint Hills, where the land is rolling, green pastures.  This was once the bottom of an ancient ocean, and since has been carved by streams into hills that always remind me of the shapes of a woman's body.  

Every time I"d see a beautiful stretch of hills to photograph, the shoulder was too narrow to pull over.  Next time I'm there, I'll get some pictures that do it justice.  

I was in a little bit of a hurry because I had arranged to stay in my friend Steve's driveway in Topeka for a few days and needed to get there in time to do my Tuesday nurse visits.  

It rained a lot while I was there.  

I've known Steve for over 30 years, and it was great to see him.  We went for beautiful walks at the Governor's Mansion, which is just down the street from Steve's house.  

Two families of Canada geese were raising babies in the pond there.  

Steve is a very warm host and it was hard to convince him it wouldn't be safe for me to come into his house.  He really didn't feel good about me staying in my little camper in his driveway.  He wanted me to stay in a guest room in his house and eat meals at his dining table.  However, I had decided that, traveling as I was, it would be safest for everyone if I visited friends outside, maintaining 6' distance, wore a mask if we couldn't stay that far apart, and not go into anyone's house.  I did go into his basement to do laundry. When it was rainy, this was more difficult, but he had a nice front porch area where we could meet if it was raining.  He did insist on fixing me breakfast, and it was yummy:  gluten free pancakes and freshly made blueberry sauce.