The Fastest Road to Denver and Boulder Too!

The next morning, Megan and I were sitting outside the motel room on a bench eating cereal when Michaela came out and stood next to us. I asked her to stand still and be very quiet and listen to the sounds she can hear. She stopped and listened for a few seconds and looked at me like I was crazy and said, “I don’t hear anything, Grampi!” I replied, “That’s right, cause this is Kansas!” Soon after Meg put Mick's hair up for her and we loaded in and began the move.
We finished our light breakfasts’ and while the kids took showers, Meg and I packed the car for the very last car leg of the trip that would take place today as we head to Boulder, CO. It took us 7+ days to make this trip leaving from Middletown, CT last Tuesday at about 12 noon and we should arrive in Boulder this late afternoon. As you saw in yesterday’s entry, we took our pictures of the illustrious Midwest Motel and headed down the road towards Boulder still another, at least, 7 hours away.
After grabbing a coffee at the local convenience store and stopping at the post office to mail postcards for Michaela to home, we made once last roll by photo of a locomotive mural painted on the side of a building in downtown Stockton and then hit two lane highway 183 north for a short while to join us with Rt. 36 west that would lead us into Denver and the freeway 70. Route 36 by the way is touted and has been for 150 plus years as the fastest route from Indianapolis to the Denver gold fields. It is just a grand undulating road with beautiful scenes from every hill crest. I am not sure why everyone says Kansas is so flat, we never found the flatness as we cut across Rt. 24 from Missouri and connected with Rt. 36 all we found was rolling low hills and beautiful fields of corn of different variety, hay grass, soy, Huge fields of blooming sunflowers and sunshine and plenty of summer heat. The only obstacle we ran into on the entire crossing of the state was one area of road repaving which had turned the two lane into one and had us stopped for 20 minutes or so while we waited for the oncoming traffic to pass by. The temp was a balmy 104 at that time and sitting in the air conditioned car waiting beat the living shit out of being the person standing on the highway holding the infamous two sided slow/stop sign. She did not look happy!
After a few minutes on the road I got a call form Steve S. back home who had called to ask if he could borrow a piece of equipment that I have. I answered with my usual hello and heard his voice on the other end saying, “Hey, how’s it going?” I replied, “Ah, Alright!” Steve retorted, “Uh Oh! What’s up?” I said, “Nothing….., I am in Kansas.” We both laughed out loud for a while knowing that we could not have planned the conversational lead up to yet another Kansas joke. We talked for a bit longer before cell service got weak and he had to head off to do another task at hand. AS we hung up I was glad for cell phones and for friends to talk and laugh with.
About 25 miles up the road, we came to the intersection of routes 183 and 36. THE four corners in the town of Phillipsburg, KS. The traffic on 36 West does not have stop signs only the traffic heading north or south on 183 does. We were held at our stop sign for about 5 minutes for something you just don’t see back East, three massive tractor trailer trucks that were coming from the west and turning south onto 183. Now the trucks themselves were not the spectacle to us but their cargo of three back new huge, and I mean huge, brightly painted yellow Combines heading to some sales yard somewhere in Kansas. These tractors tires stood two Prius’ high without exaggeration. They looked like space ships someone had found in the middle of a corn field somewhere and probably cost about as much. We have come along way from hometown organic gardening!
We continued down the western path, about another 30 miles, to the town of Norton. I needed a pee break from the earlier extra large coffee so I pulled into the local Micky D’s. To our good fortune this one also had a Red Box machine so we were also able to return the movie we had rented the day before, all in one stop. While standing at the machine, returning the Red Box movie, a man, a McDonald’s employee was unfortunately sitting right next to the machine on the low, seat level brick ledge smoking a cigarette or two. It was only unfortunate because he was smoking. I had said Hi to him on the way into the buildings restrooms and now, standing this close to him, he began a conversation about the heat. We talked for a few minutes while the kids looked to find a film they wanted to watch. T was pleasant and I learned a bit about his world view and how he couched his life’s philosophy. He was a nice guy from Middle America who at this point told us of a personal movie recommendation. He suggested, “The Bucket List” with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. I asked him if he thought it was kid appropriate and he responded with, “Well I haven’t seen it but, people tell me its good. And Red Box doesn’t usually put movies in that aren’t good for the family.” As you can see I learned a lot about what he believes to be true in every sentence he spoke. I thanked him. Had the kids choose Nim's Island and I got The Bucket List for us to watch. It was good, a little predictable but touching just the same.
Our breaks on this trip, having two kids now, have been considerably longer then when just the three of us are traveling together. (Only, I believe, because Jazz has been previously outnumbered. Now that the numbers are two adults, two kids, they win every time and we stay at each resting place lots longer) And really this is all good. They have been in the car for 2000+ miles so far with very little in the way of discomfort, complaints or issues and the way that and what they do is a lesson to me each and every time we stop. There happened to be a subway store next to the McDonalds and upon sighting it Mick asked if she could get a sandwich (Lesson: eat when you are hungry) So we got a couple and shared them for lunch. All in the car, I began heading out of town but heard the little voice of wisdom saying maybe you should get fuel before you leave town. Learning to listen to this voice of intuition has proven wise so, I turned around and went to the gas station closest to us and filled up ($3.69).
As we pulled out of the station, Megan saw a small stone building across the street that she had previously looked up and knew as “Station 15”. (In early times, the Leavenworth and Pikes Peak Stagecoach Line ran through the site of Norton. Stations along the route provided food, lodging, and fresh teams of horses. New York Times publisher Horace Greeley spent the night of May 24, 1859 at Station 15 near Norton. Other famous travelers of the old west also stopped here, including Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and Roy Bean.) This was cool and all for us history buffs but more importantly for the kids, there was a playground located on the same grounds. The played on the See Saw and then the siwings for about ½ hour until it was time for us to hit the road. (Lesson: Play whenever you have the opportunity. It really makes a significant difference in your life. Oh and by the way, let the adults in the crowd see you playing because it makes a difference in their lives to if they are paying attention) Lesson: Pay attention to what the kids know intrinsically about life and get back to that stage as often as you can) Humm.. Lesson inside the lesson, I like that one!
Also at this stop in Norton, as well as at every other stop we have had, Megan cleans up and organizes the car to the point that it looks as if we have not even been traveling in it. This is so awesome! (Lesson: Allow your partner the opportunity to do what she loves whenever she wants to… and you will benefit too!
At 2:30 Central Time we left Kansas. Entered Yuma County, Colorado and Mountain Time simultaneously. Now it was 1:30 again and we just gained some daylight (with the exception of the large thunder and lightening storm we were driving into and could see from some 180 miles away because of the unobstructed viability of this part of the country.
I read the kids the latest blog entry and told them that I was keeping track of all of these days and events so that I could put them all into a book when we are complete. Jazz loved this idea and began singing one of his infamous little ditties’s that he comes up with all of the time. He sang, “Oh yeah, this is going to be an awesome book and I’m gonna get 50/50 of all the sales.” I told him that I could write another book on how Jasper has tolerated his parents on this entire trip. He replied in song, “ 50/50 makes me tolerate them really easy.” So far there is only a book and no publisher so as the old song line said, “Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.”

Read the "Flight Of The Cheyennes" sign to the right and you will lnow how the white people felt about the Indians back in the day and probably still today or at least when they made this signage"