Day 92: Clear Mornings, Stormy Afternoons

Well, the plains are exactly that – plain. I guess it was asking a bit much for them to match the grandeur of the mountains and all they hold. The plains have their own unique beauty and I’m sure in the next 1500 miles I’ll find it. The terrain today turned from flat irrigated farm fields to gentle rolling hills. It reminds me a little of the western part of the state I walked on my way to Craig, except there are no mountains in the distance in front of me. Also, so far I haven’t seen any antelope or deer in the area I’m now in.

The last couple of days have started out very sunny and clear but in the afternoon, the clouds build up over the eastern edge of the Rockies and swoop eastward toward where I am walking, bringing lightning and wind and rain. It usually goes past us, but tonight we had rain until 8:00 or so. I’m sure tomorrow will be more of the same.

Chris is here and tomorrow we plan on taking a day off from walking and going to Rocky Mountain National Park. We were there with Chris in 1980, so it will be fun to see it again and to see the infamous Trail Ridge Road that I was going to walk before I changed my plans. We also plan to visit a dude ranch in the Ft. Collins area where Valda spent several summers as a youth. Her grandparents owned it (William and Frances Roberson) and she visited there with her family from 1955 to 1965. It is the Rockin’ ER on Buckhorn Mountain and is now owned by the United Methodist Church.

US 34 toward Brush, CO is a pretty decent road and ranks right up there with truck traffic. I want to thank Mike Peters of the Greeley Tribune for a nice article in that paper this morning. It always helps to get our cause and website out there. Many thanks to them. Personal to Maureen F. of Greeley for her cash donation to Gateway. It is much appreciated. Personal also to Doug & Joyce O. of Princeton, KY for their matching my ‘Money Found’ up to $250.00 in memory of Doug’s brother Nick O. It too is much appreciated!