Lots and lots of driving and lots of Wal-Mart parking lots. I am feeling a little like George Washington with all the places I can say I "slept here!" This "stop" begins the first action item, the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo, CO. You know, the place you write to to get all the Government publications! Lots of side trips along the way.
Here's the details for the first major stop.
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DAY |
FROM - TO |
NOTES |
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Starting info |
Depart at 5:30pm, odometer reading of 2624 miles. Stop 1 on map. |
I just couldn't wait anymore. Minnie was restless. So, what the hey, we hit the highway. |
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Mon |
Richmond to Nitro, WV, 330 miles. Camp at Nitro Wal-Mart Stop 2 on map. |
Drove for several hours into the night, it's all West "by God" Virginia hills anyway. But it sure was "purdy" before it got too dark. I check out the Rand McNally (Wal-Mart version for only $5) for the nearest Wal-Mart and it is in the explosive town of Nitro! Very hilly in WV and nice if you ignore the run down buildings. Radio advertisement announcing the availability of "repossesed homes, land included" was quite humorous. Little traffic even in downtown Charleston. |
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Tue |
Nitro, WV to Columbia Missouri, 620 miles. Camp at Columbia Wal-Mart Stop 3 on map. |
Indiana geography looks just like Shenandoah Valley with the rolling hills and farms. In Indiana on I64 at the I164/57 (mm 29) is a yard on the north side of the highway that is full of huge (8-10 foot) model airplanes of all sorts, I couldn't stop in time to get a picture. Southern Illinois is flat farmland. I passed Effingham, where a very large printing plant is located - one of my stop with my last employer. Passed the St. Louis arch right at dark-fall which is the gateway to the west! Here I come! |
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Wed |
Columbia, Missouri to Goodland, KS, 550 miles. Camp at Goodland Wal-Mart Stop 4 on map. |
I awake to the sight of an RV towing a mobile climbing wall. Minnie sure would look kewel towing the Challenge Discovery mobile wall eh? Missouri looks like west of Richmond, light rolling hills, some farms but sparsely populated. More and more RVs as I head further west along the Lewis & Clark trail. This stretch of interstate in MO is porno alley with porn shops all along the way. Radio advertising seems heavy with bad debt counseling. Ate at Biffles Smokehouse (a real BBQ joint) in the megalopolis of Concordia – excellent. Once in KS the terrain becomes almost treeless with the same scrub brush rolling hills. Oil well pumps are reasonably frequent. |
Thur |
Goodland, KS to Pueblo, CO, 230 miles. Camp at Pueblo Wal-Mart Stop 5 on map. |
A few stops along the Kansas highway. Lawrenceville is the home of the 2,000lbs spider and other associated "art". Rolling through the front plains of Colorado and the the treeless scrub brush country goes on and on. I pass a roadside place just outside Pueblo where a 1952 bright yellow Cadillac was parked, this was my very first car! Once into Pueblo at the foot of the front range it is clear this is mountain country. Visited the State Fair which was in full swing. |