Days 13 and 14: Mesa Verde National Park

View from Beaver Creek campsite

So after our unfortunate run in with Johnny Law in southwestern Colorado, we continued on, not phased, in our journey westward.  As we drove it was getting late and dark pretty quickly as we climbed into the mountains, so we decided to find a place to camp.  Well we stopped at about 3 or 4 campsites that were all closed for the winter season, so we decided to just drive into the Rio Grande National Forest and find a place in the forest to camp.   

We found an excellent spot right on Beaver Creek, between a mountain and a huge cliff-face, and set up camp for the night.  While setting up we came across some bear droppings, and after about 20-30 minutes at our campsite we actually heard bears roaring off in the distance…pretty wild stuff.   

Beaver Creek Campsite

Our campsite was at more than 8,400 ft. elevation, which (unbeknownst to us) meant that the temperatures at night would be below freezing.  So we woke up in the morning to find frozen dew all over the Rav4 and a cracked lens-cover on our FlipVideo camera...not fun.  Fortunately, the beauty of the natural landscape was enough to make us forget about these problems and get on the road.

On the road again

 2 hours of driving later we arrived at Mesa Verde National Park, set up camp, and IMMEDIATELY set out on a 2.5 mile hike to lookout point, which was absolutely phenomenal.  It was our first real hike, and the views at the top were absolutely incredible.  From the top we could see for miles and miles for almost 360 degrees.

After returning from our hike we headed down back to our campsite for some dinner and planning for the next few days. 

Look at the shadow in the bottom right. That's the Rav4. Yea.

Upon arrival here at the park, we received a newsletter with the programs going on in the park during the season and found a 6 hour long ranger guided hike through few of the different canyons and adding mesas at the park. After heading to the campground registration and shower, we tried to buy tickets for the hike only to find out that the tickets for the hike could only be purchased online. Knowing that the only accessible internet was 10 miles away, we headed down a pitch black road filled with switchback and deer running across the road to the Far View Lodge for a connection. All of this was for naught as the internet was very slow and we weren’t able to upload any pictures for our blog. To add insult to injury, we found out that we weren’t able to sign up for the hike that we were planning taking. Disappointed, both of us headed back to our campsite saying that we were going on this tour, no if’s, and’s or but’s about it.

On the top of Long Mesa

We woke up at 6 AM, had breakfast, packed lunches for the day and then headed out on the road down to the museum where the tour started at 7:45. We decided that they would let us come on the tour if we explain them our situation and how we were both college graduates on a cross country road trip and only in the park for one more day. Upon arriving at the museum and the beginning of the hike, we met the rest of the people waiting for our hike as well as Scott, our park ranger and guide for the day. Scott told us he would me more than happy to have us on the hike. 

Us and Caitlin at the Far View Lounge

The hike was ridiculous.  We were out there for 8 hours in fantastic weather.  Scott was an excellent guide, and we had an awesome time.  We can’t really describe this 8 hour hike through multiple canyons and mesas.  It was an incredible experience; trust us, and look at the pictures below.  Also, immediately afterwards, we went straight to the only bar at the National Park and hung out with Caitlin, the bartender from Chicago, with whom we discussed Chicago eats, Chicago nightlife, employment in the canyon, sports, libations, and the meaning of life.  Good times.

Now we’re headed back to the campsite for the night.  Next stop, north rim of the Grand Canyon.

Days 11 and 12: Dodge City, KS and Colorado

After a wild night in Wichita we hit the road, but before we could really get started, breakfast was needed. While at Club Rodeo, we were told by the MC of the rodeo that if we were to mention that we were at Club Rodeo the previous evening we would receive a 20% discount on our meal at America’s favorite breakfast destination. Joe and Corey headed into Denny’s, grand slammed our discounted food and hopped back into the RAV4 to head westrural Kansas through . 

 

Take a look at Kansas.

A burning field of corn. The most exciting thing in Kansas.

The drive through rural southern Kansas was covered in large scale industrial farms growing, you guessed it, corn. A whole lot of corn. The flat land provided us views of the farmland that made it seem like these farms lasted forever. Dotted across the landscape were tall silos for corn and grain that were built adjacent to the railroad, allowing corn to be transported by rail or truck. The road to Dodge City was a single lane highway providing the both of us with some tricky driving situations.  The best part of driving on this road (US-50 for all of those mapping out our route at home) were the straight shots of the road in from of us looking like some sort of mirage, as if we were driving into some sort of time warp. There were few towns on US-50 along the way but we stopped at the largest and most historically significant town on the road, Dodge City.

We checked our 6-shooters at the city line

The Boot Hill museum on historic Front Street has been one of the highlights of our trip so far. The museum was a re-creation of what Front Street looked like in the 1870’s at the height of Dodge City’s fame as a lawless frontier town filled with gamblers and outlaws. 

The Long Branch Saloon

We started out watching a short film on the history of the town. Then shortly after we walked over to the famous Boot Hill, a gravesite for many unlucky 19^th century residents of Dodge.    From there we stopped to have a cold one (sasparilla that is) in the classic Long Branch Saloon, where we chatted with the barkeep about our trip and Dodge City. Since we were visiting in the “winter” season many attractions weren’t running such as the show inside the Long Branch Saloon and of course, a classic gun fight on Front Street. 

Historic Front St.

From there we walked from the saloon into the shops, which were all connected into a museum that chronicled this life and times of Dodge City from its inception till modern times. The Jail and gun collection featuring classic rifles and pistols (many of them used by the famous lawmen that patrolled the town) were some of our favorite parts. There was also a house that was built in the late 19^th century that was moved in to preserve it during urban renewal in the 1970s. While we weren’t allowed to walk up stairs, the downstairs was set up to look as it would have during the late 19^th century.

Good ole fashioned home cookin'

We got the heck out of Dodge, jumped back on US-50 and passed more large farms and some massive CAFOs or feed lots where herds of cattle are concentrated for feeding. These lots are truly massive and stretched on for about a mile of just cattle and feeding operations.  While Corey has seen these on the before in his studies, it was remarkable for him to see them in person.  After searching for a campsite, we found one located in Deerfield. Oddly enough, it was called the Deerfield Beach campsite, named after the small man-made “fishing” pond located on the site’s west end. The site was cheap and had the amenities that we needed. This was another landmark event for our trip because this was the first night that we broke out the propane stove and cooked ourselves a hearty meal of chili and rice topped with shredded cheddar cheese. It was the perfect meal to end our day as we ate under the stars and waning crescent moon rise over the eastern horizon. 

We woke up this morning, packed up camp and headed west to our ninth state of the trip as well as our third time zone, Colorado.  We stopped on the side of the road to take picture of our boarded crossing as well and grabbing a picture with the “welcome to Kansas” sign that we missed upon our entry into the Sunflower State. We stopped at a local eatery in Holly and had arguably the best breakfast we have had this trip (other than Lou Mitchell’s in Chicago). As we were traveling along 160 passing through the town of Blanca, we were sniped in a ridiculous speed trap. We were pulled over and issued our first, and only, speed ticket of the road trip. As we speak to you know, we are in Alamosa, CO at a local coffee shop grabbing their free Wi-Fi  and a cup of joe before we head out to find a campsite for the evening.  

Day 10: Kansas City and Wichita

Kansas City Skyline

Waking up in St. Louis, we decided to get a quick oil change before we started the 4-5 hour trek to Kansas City for some world famous BBQ.  We drove all the way all the way across Missouri—passing by enough cornfields to feed a small African country—before we arrived in Kansas City.  

Our first stop was a restaurant called Jack Stack’s BBQ in downtown KC, which we chose based on a strong recommendation from Papa Metzl, who we chatted with during our stay in Chicago.  Turns out Mr. Metzl has pretty good taste in BBQ, because Jack Stack’s was excellent, complete with a waiter who walked us through our first Kansas City BBQ experience.  Immediately after finishing our food at Jack Stack’s we drove straight down the road about 5 miles to Arthur Bryant’s famous BBQ shack (open since 1931), which was definitely off the beaten path in a less than stellar neighborhood.   

Poor lighting, delicious BBQ

We walked in to find a huge line waiting to be served in this cafeteria style restaurant, which had pictures of famous patrons on the wall (Steven Spielberg, Jimmy Carter, Danny Glover, John McCain and Sarah Palin to name a few).  Despite the deliciousness we’d just experienced at Jack Stack’s, we asked a local gentleman (emphasis on the local) what his favorite dish was, then we both bit the bullet and ordered ourselves a heaping plate of his favorite.  It. Was. Fantastic.  Some of the best BBQ either of have ever tried.

With a serious thunderstorm moving in we decided against camping out that night and instead kept driving across Kansas, trying to make good time to Wichita, which we did.  After finding a room at a Motel 6 and resting up after the 470 miles we covered in the last 10 hours, we gave in to curiosity and decided to go to a local bar called “Club Rodeo,” where we were told that there was, in fact, live bullriding.  

No joke.

One angry bull

 Here we met a Wichita woman of about 50 who was quite drunk and insisted on teaching us the “Two Step,” which is apparently very different from a Square Dance—she was quite offended when Joe called it a square dance.  We realized that we should separate ourselves from her after she introduced us to her nephew as “Joe with a J and Craig with a C,” told him about how we were driving across the country for a veterans charity, and then proceeded to offer us cash donations for our cause.  Where she got the idea that we were on this trip for a charity we have no clue, but after insisting multiple times that we couldn’t accept her donations we opted to sneak off to a different part of the bar and wait for the rodeo to begin.

That's a cowboy on the right.  Flying through the air.

For the next few hours we watched 3 rounds of bullriding right there in the bar, which was quite a trip.  We got a few pictures, but the bulls were bucking so fast that Joe’s camera couldn’t get a quality picture, so we took some video of a few of the last riders getting bucked.  What a night in Wichita, Kansas.

Beautiful Wichita, KS

Day 9: St. Louis and the Budweiser Tour

Tornado Alley

We woke up early in Chicago and said our goodbyes.  After some confusion with TomTom we got on the road for St. Louis. The drive through rural Illinois was covered in massive corn and soybean farms but we had a few surprises. To the east of us on our travels down I-55, there was a wind farm that had more turbines than we could count. It was one of those moments where we both started to realize that we weren’t in New York (or anywhere close to it) anymore.

The Lou

 

The King of Beers

Once we arrived in St. Louis, we headed straight for the Budweiser Factory Tour. Upon arrival, the both of us quickly found out that for a small fee the two of us could take part in a beer school taught by one of the employees of the plant.  Seeing a great opportunity, we “enrolled” in the small class where we sampled different types of beer that Anheuser Busch produces in the plant. Our “professor”, Rob, was excellent and he walked us through how beer is made, what raw materials are used in each type of beer and how they create different types of the ales and lagers. Upon completion of our class and our beers, the two of us joined a larger group for the tour of the grounds.   

Breathtaking View.

Shlameil! Shlamazel!

We started out in the horse stables where the world famous Budweiser Clydesdales made famous by numerous television commercials are housed. From there, the tour took us to the beech wood aging facility, a climate controlled building that holds 66 large drums of fermenting beer with 1 ½ ft. of beechwood chips on the bottom of the tank.  The tour guide notified us that to drink the beer in just one tank, a person would have to drink one beer an hour for over one hundred years. The tour went on to the packaging facility which was not in operation due to the brewhouse (which was omitted from the tour) being fumigated.  

That's a lot of beer

What a day

 Unperturbed by the circumstances surrounding the shortening of the tour, we headed to the best part of the tour:  the hospitality room.   

The lonely RAV4 in the Budweiser parking lot

After finishing two delicious, freshly brewed (and free) beers, the two of us walked out into the parking lot to find that we indeed were the last two people to leave the tour. We departed the Bud grounds and headed to the only logical place one can go after the Budweiser tour; to drink more beer.

While walking out of the beer school, our teacher Rob noticed that we were “beer guys” and suggested the local craft brewery for some after-tour drinks and dinner. Our dinner at the tap room at the Schlafly Brewery that night was fantastic (as well as the beer sampler of their finest brews). After dinner, we headed to a local Motel 6 for some much needed rest and of course, some much needed HBO television.