Departure: Rockville, IN - May 10, 6:47am EDT

Arrival: Aurora, CO - May 10, 11:00pm MST

Miles: ~1,088 miles

Cities: Terre Haute, Kansas City, Topeka, Lucas, Colby, Denver

See the Photos

Mini motorers everywhere would be proud. I drove ~1,088 miles on our first day. Kind of incredible. We started in western Indiana, drove through Illinois & Kansas, and ended up in Denver. It was kind of incredible. It wasn’t until the final 200 miles after the sun went down that I began to lose energy.

Adam has most the photos, but we have a lot of video, so there will be a trip video in the coming weeks hopefully.

We hit one patch of heavy rain and had cloudy skies for a bit, but most the trip was beautiful blue skies. Not much to say about IN & IL. Missouri was gorgeous, especially the western side. Rolling hills, lots of wild flowers, and cool bridges.

Now, Kansas. Everyone had told me it was a bunch of nothing. Well, the eastern side of the state looks like IN. The mid-section could have almost passed for Ireland with rolling green hills and large rocks jutting up through the top soil. It was just cattle instead of sheep. It was a beautiful area. Western Kansas was beautiful in an entirely different way. It gradually went from rolling hills to flat plains that stretched as far as you could see. The wind through this part was horrible. Going around semi’s sort of required some prayer. Holiday held up well, though. We passed along miles of wind turbines. It was surreal. They were massive and seemed to go on forever. Luckily, all my gawking didn’t take us off the road…only almost. We later found out that at last count, there were about 150 of them in the spot we drove by.

We passed signs for “Garden of Eden” which I *thought* was a place I’d seen on Sunday Morning on CBS with Bill Geist. It was only 16 miles north of the interstate, so we decided to check it out. Finally, we had a winding & curvy road to play on (with a 65mph speed limit…I love the west). We passed by Wilson Dam. The water looked like the ocean, being pushed around like crazy by the wind. We ended up in Lucas, KS, a smalltown reminiscent of towns near where I grew up. The Garden of Eden was not at all what I’d thought, but it still made for an interesting site, especially in the context of existing in a town that seemed to barely exist. On our way back to the interstate, we stopped to take pics of the dam. You’ll have to see the video to fully appreciate it, but the wind was so strong, I could barely stand, let alone hold the camera steady. It was a cold wind, too. Brutal. It’s no wonder Kansas barely has trees. If the winter didn’t kill them, the wind surely would.

We stopped in Colby, KS for dinner, after noting a restored train depot restaurant in the AAA book called Bourquin’s Old Depot. I had doubts when we pulled up since a huge Wal-mart had been built next to this tiny structure. The wind about sucked us away. The door to the depot swung open as we approached the steps. We were greeted by a middle-aged man who welcomed us inside.

We joined another family in a small dining room full of antiques, a piano, burning stove, and a seemingly out of place large LCD TV. A woman waited on the other table, waiting until they had everything before taking our order. Life was moving at a different pace inside these walls.  She greeted us with a smile, asking where we had traveled from. She asked me if I was from the area as if she recognized me. There were only about 5 dishes to choose from on the menu. Adam went for the grilled chicken and me for the BBQ ribs. We started with hot homemade wheat rolls (made from Kansas wheat), then a salad (which I made attempts to eat…go me), and finally our delicious entrees. They were boneless ribs in a flavorful bbq and I had a side of “chef’s potatoes” which seemed to be like a loaded baked potato that had been mashed. Yum. We opted for dessert, having felt we earned it after a day of crackers, granola bar, and trail mix. Adam had a scrumptious brownie cheesecake delight and I had a cinnamon pecan roll. It was a hearty meal that we devoured instantly. The man return saying that we were welcome to stay as long as we liked and just to come to the counter when we were ready. A different pace, indeed.

He eventually returned, chatting with us about his life and the going-on’s in Kansas. He was an interesting man. He had hoped to one day live in San Francisco, but never made it. Some things he spoke of made me feel sad, but it’s rare anymore to encounter such kind people. We asked him about other dining areas we’d considered before stopping here, one of which was called “Dorothy Stevens.” His face twisted a bit at the mention of her name. He’d never heard of such a place. The Dorothy he knew was 70 years old and suffering from Alzheimer’s but he had been good friends with her brother. It was a lovely conversation, all with the Crossroads Guitar Festival playing on the TV behind us. It was refreshing and an encouraging stop along the way. And so, if you’re ever passing near Colby, KS, I recommend you stop in and let some time go by with Dan & Shirley.

The final stretch to Denver was the longest part of the trip. We were quickly losing sun and we were dependent on the views of the changing landscape for encouragement to keep driving.  It was basically dark when we made it in to Colorado. I couldn’t see any mountains, but I was definitely a fan of the 75mph speed limit. It was quite late when we arrived to Denver, but after making it through some heavy traffic, we found our way to Chip’s apartment. There wasn’t much that could happen at this point, as Adam & I were exhausted but ready for to explore Denver in the morning.

A pleasant start to our trip. We survived the longest day.

FIrst day notes:

• Regret over not keeping a tally of adult superstores and their names
• A man almost clipped me changing lanes, yielding Holiday’s first honk, and the prompt arrival of a police car that escorted the swerving gentlemen off the road.
• We got our first wave from a car full of Mini motorers because we turned the Garmin volume down and missed an exit. Waving excitement level: intense.
• Several failed attempts to wave/flash lights at other Mini’s…got a big wave from folks in a Volvo. At least someone knew the custom.