Silver Cliche' here (why Silver Cliche', you ask? We started with that explanation I think... but just in case... we are two retired folks from Florida traveling the US with a small dog pack in an Airstream. The Airstream is the silver part. The rest is an American cliche')
So, we didn't move the trailer today. It was a day off... a stay put respite. I you have a burning desire to see where we are at this moment, look at last night's blog. See the pic of the truck and trailer? They are still there.
What we did accomplish today was a trip into Hays, Kansas. I hadn't heard of it either. However, according to one source we read, Hays is the economic center of Western Kansas. Let me explain the implication of that statement. It is 160 miles west to Kanorado, Kansas on the Colorado state line (Kanorado... get it? Cute huh? Yea... me neither.) It is about the same to the south to Oklahoma and probably 100 miles north to Nebraska. Hays is a city of 21,000 people and the area of Kansas to the West, North and South of Hays is roughly 42,000 square miles. That is slightly smaller than the entire state of Pennsylvania. The same as Virginia or Tennessee and 3 1/2 times the size of Maryland. That's just the western third of Kansas. Now, if Hays (pop 21,000) is the economic hub of that wheel, there isn't a whole lot of economy spinning out there!
If you've heard anyone talk recently about how the earth is overcrowded and there's nowhere left to put people and stuff, send them to Kansas... trust me, there's plenty of room!
Anyhow, back to Hays... despite my disbelief about the economic clout of little Hays, the town was just what one might expect from very small town, rural America. Two grocery stores, lots of churches, plenty of old buildings (many empty) and some restaurants. We saw a surprising number of very large, very well cared for homes. Maybe that argument about the economic center of things has some merit after all.
While we are talking history, I mentioned Kevin Costner and Dances with Wolves last night. I was inspired by the geography here and it reminded me of the movie. It turns out that in the movie, Costner's character was sent to the frontier to... wait for it... Fort Hays! Well, Old Fort Hays is an attraction right there in Hays. I did a bit of research to learn that the esteemed Mr, Costner decided that Hays didn't look enough like Hays to suit him so he pretended to be in Hays when he shot the scenes of Fort Hays near Rapid City South Dakota. Hollywood... geez.
We turned to Trip Advisor to ask "What's the best restaurant in Hays?" and learned the answer, far and away, by popular acclaim was Gella's... so we went. This area was settled by Volga Germans. These people are ethnic Germans who lived along the Volga River in Russia. The Russians encouraged them to move there in the 1700's and later the Volga German's decided to leave. First in the 1800's (that's the wave that hit Kansas) and in droves as WW II began (I can't imagine why ethnic Germans in Russia felt unwelcome... I'll have to go and reread my 20th century Europen history.... oh, that's right.... people who looked like, talked like and carried the same names as the Volge Germans were maurading across Europe. I'm guessing the Volga-folk felt the heat from their neighbors). That has nothing to do with lunch at Gella's in Hays except that on the menu was Bierock... specifically identified as "smothered Bierock". Mrs. C' pondered other menu options while I pulled out the Android, dialed up Google and asked the logical question: What's a Bierock? Answer: A pastry crust filled with meat and cabbage and baked. It was a Volga German traditional food. I thought of it as a Volga German calzone. I'm guessing you've never had a Bierock. As of today, that's something that makes you and me different. Here's a shot of my lunch:
We will hit the road in the morning for Colorado. Just in time too since it was 99 degrees here today. We had a hard time keeping the trailer cool even with the AC on all day. Something about sitting in direct sun that overwhelmed man and machine. Our plan was to head to Jackson Lake State Park northeast of Denver. However the heat that hit here today is going to be there tomorrow and their campsites have anemic electric service an won't run the AC. We could hook up the generators, but as an option we have a space at a commercial campground (ugh... parking lot for RV's with people living in them... we just don't do that except in an emergency) just off I-70 east of Denver. Then on to Steamboat Springs the day after that, then into Wyoming. We expect to see overnight lows in the 40s within two days.
For each of the days at this part of our trip we double our altitude. Yesterday we went from 1200 to 2400 feet, Tomorrow to 4800 and Monday over 8,000 in the Rockies. I might even feed the Tundra some extra oats for that service!
One last shot from Kansas for you. Today's panorama is from the shore of the Cedar Bluff Reservoir, That's the water around which this state park is formed, yesterday's pic was from the dam that forms the lake, Today's is from the damn lake itself.
I'm thinking they have room for a couple of cubic miles more water than they have right now. It seems the closer we get to California the less water there is. Maybe they can call Kevin Costner and tell him to pretend California is somewhere where there is water.
Later...
SC
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