QC03-11 The prairies and beyond

October 4, 2010 (Mon) Franktown, CO to Salina, KS 53/75° - We said good-buy to Jeremiah and Kim at about 8:20 and made our way to SR86 which would take us north to I-70. Thanks guys for the use of your driveway, the ride to Evergreen, the air, the bulbs and especially the good times hanging out and visiting.

 We stopped at the Safeway in Elizabeth for gas and groceries. The gas price at $2.52 per gal was by far the best we'd seen in the area. Most stations were advertising $2.69. And speaking of bargains, when we stopped again in Ellis, KS we got unleaded Plus for $2.60, 10¢ cheaper than their regular grade. We saw other people confused with this pricing too.

The long flat prairies west of the Rockies in Colorado and across Kansas were pretty much the same as when we came out a month ago. There was more harvesting going on, more activity in the fields but that's it. The scenery was far less spectacular than that west of the Rockies but interesting and fun none the less.

We pulled into the Salina, KS Walmart about 6:00 and made our way to where other RVs were parked for the night and settled in. 

Q069441 Camp Walmart Salina, KS

October 5, 2010 (Tue) Salina, KS to Sedalia, MO (295/8214 miles) 52/76° - Our first stop this morning was the Flying J for water. The rest stop where we dumped yesterday didn't have drinkable water. While the water at Flying J was accessible the sewer was padlocked - meaning either they are getting strict about charging to dump or there were sewer problems, probably the former.

We felt the need to get away from the interstate so we took exit 313 off I-70 and headed south on SR177 into the "Flint Hills". It looked pretty much like the Kansas we been seeing but there wasn't the traffic. The occasional small town slowed us down but otherwise we were able make the same time as if we had on the interstate. In Burlingame, one of those small towns, albeit a little larger, the main street was wide enough to have diagonal parking down the center of the street as well as at each curb. Even then then was enough room for two lanes each way, though it wasn't marked that way. Now that's a wide main street!

There were signs at many points along the way mentioning the Santa Fe Trail. We must have been following it but we could find no positive indication that we were - no historical markers, etc.

At one point in the middle of the prairie we saw a train caboose and three old passenger cars in the yard of a house up on wheels ready to be moved . We thought, now there's a garden railroad! - and a wife not too happy with her husband's hobby.

Q069736 Camp Walmart Sedalia, MO

October 5, 2010 (Wed) Sedalia, MO to Union, MO (137/8351 miles) 47/68° - We weren't completely comfortable at Sedalia Walmart. We can't figure out why. It was relatively quiet and there were a couple of other motor homes spending the night some distance away. There were no strange people hanging out or wandering around - well there was a fellow panhandling up on the highway for a while but he seemed harmless. Anyway we were up at 6:30 (47°) and off by 8:00 headed east on US50.

We found Joy's high school friend Jim and Lois'  house in Union, MO with no trouble - not nearly as difficult as trying to catch up on 50 years of experiences in a short few hours. After lunch Jim and Lois took us on a tour of Union and nearby Washington. We also took a short hike on the Katy Trail - a multipurpose trail constructed on an old railroad bed. After a delicious salmon dinner we mutually shared photo slide shows for our separate Alaska trips (ours by motor home in 2005 and theirs by small cruse ship this year).

Q069873 Jim and Lois' driveway

October 6, 2010 (Thu) Union, MO to Indianapolis, IN (302/8653 miles) 57/78° - After a wonderful breakfast and, of course, more discussion of family and old times we were again eastbound on US50. Thanks Jim and Lois for a great time. It was so good to meet you/see you again. We will be back.

Jim had suggested that we get gas in Missouri as the prices were higher in Illinois but we waited too long! As soon as we got on I-44 headed for I-70 the prices jumped 10¢. So we hunted up a Costco in St Louis that had gas. It was 7 miles off Hildene's proposed route but well worth the detour. The cost was 28¢ less than we were seeing on the highway - plus we got an additional 2% discount by using our Costco card. Joy resisted the temptation to go inside to shop.

I-70 was completely closed through Indianapolis so they could plant flowers and shrubbery. (Is that a good reason to close a busy interstate or not?) Fortunately Hildene directed us off onto I-465 just before the closure. We got to Lee and Frannie's at about 4:51.

We plan to be home Sunday night but the way this trip has gone, we are ready for anything.

Q070175 Lee and Frannie's driveway