Day 84 -- Hays KS -- Monday, Sept. 20, 2010

On our walk with Jake this morning we explore our surroundings at Terry Bison Ranch RV Park, which has an Old West theme, complete with real animals, and much of it geared toward kids.  I enjoy seeing it so much that I wonder, " When will I grow up?"


The office is located in Terry Trading Post, a building whose sides are facades of stores and businesses in a Western town.

The train houses a dining room for Sunday lunch for Ranch guests and townspeople alike.

In the playground we delight to see the train made of 55 gallon drums, but no attendant is available at this early hour to give us a ride.


There are enough cars for Herb, Jake and myself to each have a car, but we move on.

For those who wish to practice their roping skills, we find steers and rope, but we must wait for the horses to come to give us a ride.  

Now we come upon the cutest part of the whole park -- the ponies!  Jake makes friends with a little fellow whose name is "Whatchamacallit."  He was born July 15 of this year.

In the pen next to him we see Gidget, born June 28, telling her mother, Summer, that it is breakfast time.  


She has just nudged Momma to make her get up from her nap, and is not interested in Jake.

What a great start to the day!








It is a bit anticlimactic, but we do see real bison in the pasture as we leave Terry Bison Ranch and travel toward Colorado.

We avoid the traffic in Denver and take the loop, where far in the distance we see the Denver Intl. Airport, which is famous for its architecture. 

 Its peaked canopies suggest both the Rocky Mountains and the rugged covered wagons that opened the Colorado frontier.  (ref:  Wikipedia)


When we get to Kansas, I look for wheat, as we had seen on a motorcycle trip years ago, but what I see is corn.  What?  Well, maybe it has been harvested.

What I am most aware of it the wind.  Twenty-five to  30 mph sustained.  And I mean sustained!  Well, it could be sustained gusts!  Most of the day Herb is fighting the crosswind, which causes the motor home and other vehicles we observe to be hard to steer.  

It is a strong crosswind (as evidenced in the photograph showing the grass falling over), and causing the locked roof vents to try to lift a bit.  This is a noisy ride, and I get my exercise walking up and down the aisle in the coach checking to see if anything is loose.


We are happy to get to our Wally World RV Park in Hays KS for the night.  The breeze allows us to open the windows  for a cool evening, but we make the decision not to put out the slides because of the gusts and noise.  


Can you imagine stepping gingerly over and around a 78 lb. Golden Retriever, who makes himself at home on the floor available for walking? 
Willie of Walldog, Willie and Jake