July 2020

Our first stop on a drive to the West is usually a picnic or short hike in Pershing State Park, Missouri. This is a trail we often walk along during the stop.

This is the Locust Creek Boardwalk Trail in Pershing State Park; a fine trail for stretching legs after a few hours of driving from home.

There were many butterflies along the Locust Creek trail, and this Red-Spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis, a brush-foot butterfly) was very busy around the prairie view observation platform.

These Elderberries were growing right along the trail, but seem to have been picked over by birds or other hikers. The water from an earlier rain shower glistening under the berries caught our attention.

The Locust Creek Trail begins at the Cambria iron bridge, which gives visitors a good view of Locust Creek. It was low on July 20th.

This barn in Pershing State Park caught my attention. It seems very old.

Wind Turbine in Northwestern Missouri. We saw many such wind power generators in Missouri and Kansas.

Grand River near Chillicothe. The rivers of Northern Missouri and northeastern Kansas tend to look like this.

I appreciate what Jordan Reilly did with his house at 1219 Felix Street in Saint Joseph, Missouri; transforming a derelict wreck into a lovely jewel of a home.

The Dome (in Saint Joseph) was built as a Christian Science church in 1899, but now this marvelous example of Beaux Arts design is rented out as an event space.

The home at 123 S 12th Street in St. Joeseph was constructed in 1885. After picking up food at the Chinese restaurant in the mall, we drove into the Museum Hill historic district, parked the car, and ate our dinner sitting on 12th street.

The Boteler Flats (115 S 13th Street) were constructed by Edmond Eckel in 1887. They appear to need significant investment and rennovation, but I hope someone will take the challenge and do this.

This brick Queen Anne style home at 1121 Edmond Street was constructed in 1889. The Museum Hill neighborhood in Saint Joseph has many grand examples of late 19th century domestic architecture, and the blocks I walked around did not have any of the most notable homes.

We took our food from the Chinese restaurant at the mall into the historic Museum Hill neighborhood in St. Joseph, parking on 12th street. This was a more scenic and socially isolated place to enjoy our meal, compared to the mall food court or the mall parking lot.

When we arrived in Bellville, Kansas, we checked out the park and campground before setting up our tent. We saw this Blue Heron on the north end of Rocky Pond in the park.

When I first came out of our tent after a night of comfort during thunderstorms and rain, the rain had ceased and I looked over to the east where I saw the sun's light sparkling on Rocky Pond, and the Blue Heron was there.

We used Highway 36 between Hannibal, Missouri and Byers, Colorado. It's shorter and faster than taking I-55 and I-70 from Springfield. Also along US-36, you can see wind turbines right near the road.

Belleville, Kansas was our first night. There is a park in Belleville where tent campers who don't use electricity are allowed to stay without paying any fee. The town of Belleville has a museum and a grocery store, and the Republic County courthouse, and some Midwestern Main Street commercial architecture, like the Spanish Eclectic style Blair Theater, constructed in the late 1920s. You can also seen some of the KanCycle bike sharing bikes in front of the bowling alley. Republic County has a rural bike sharing program.

This was our campsite at Rocky Pond Park. You can see our tent, which is still in great shape after eleven years of use

Jeri in our tent on our first evening. Our tent is spacious when just the two of us were using it. You can see our sleeping pads, as we did not bring cots on this trip.

After setting up our tent, I admired some clouds in the south. As the night grew dark, we could see lots of electrical storm activity to the north and south. There were very strong storms around us, but I think we had only mild thunderstorms in Bellville that came after we had fallen asleep.

Evening sunlight on Cumulonimbus calvus clouds. It is always a treat to see these sorts of clouds at sunset.

Once it got dark, I set out to photograph the Neowise comet. The image above was my second attempt. You can see Neowise as the brightest object near the center of the image, with a bit of a smudge of a tail pointing up toward Ursa Major (the Big Dipper).

Looking south at night in Rocky Pond City Park. The park has lights illluminating the campground and the dog fenced dog park, and lightning was creating a big of a glow in teh clouds in this long-exposure shot. Where there weren't clouds, the stars shone brightly.

We stopped in Smith Center, Kansas for lunch. There is a fine little park (Wagner Park) with some lovely flower gardens and an old 19th century European-style windmill built by a German immigrant and moved to Smith Center during the Depression.

Wagner Park in Smith Center, Kansas has some fine flowers, a picnic area, clean restrooms, and older trees offering shade on hot summer days.

This is the old windmill in Smith Center, Kansas. The Old Dutch Mill was constructed by Charles G. Schwarz (an immigrant from Germany) in 1879-1882. It stood at Reamsville, and then was moved to Smith Center in 1938.

Interior of the Old Dutch Mill. The citizens of Smith Center, Kansas has this space available for special events.

The scenery of northern Kansas shifts from cornfields to cattle pasture as one moves from east to west. In the western parts of the state the pasture land can have a pale green aspect in late July, but the areas along rivers and creeks support trees and darker green vegetation.

Here is a barn I noticed as we drove by, not far from Oberlin, Kansas. Grain elevators, barns, and farms dot the landscape of northern Kansas.

The high plains of northwestern Kansas look like this. You can see one cow (probably an Angus, as that is the most common meat cattle in the Midwest). The windmill probably powers a water pump to bring up water for cattle and ranchers.

US-36 in northwestern Kansas. Much of the route on US-36 is flatter than a fritter, but there are some areas in Kansas with rolling hills or shallow creek or river valleys. Mixed in with the cattle ranches there are some fields of corn or soybeans or wheat, irrigated with water drawn from the dwindling aquifiers deep underground.

Grain elevators in Bird City, Kansas. Bird City is not too far from a down across the border in Nebraska where my aunt and uncle lived for many years, and my cousins grew up. The main feature of Bird City seems to be an assortment of grain elevators of various shapes and sizes, and several religious signs encouraging the spiritual well-being of persons passing through.

US-36 stretches toward Colorado in northwestern Kansas, and the power lines or telephone lines run along the road, creating a visual rhythm of vertical lines.

US-36 west of Last Chance, Colorado. A rain storm was forming off to the southwest as we approached Byers, Colorado and the connection to I-70. The sky became interesting.

Horses along I-70 between Wolcott and Eagle, Colorado. Mostly we saw cattle, but there were occasional horses to break the monotony of cattle. We saw possibly one antelope (a Pronghorn, which isn't technically an antelope), a deer or two, one bison ranch near Byers, Colorado, and a few sheep. Mostly, however, it was cattle; cattle and some horses.

Tenmile Peak seen as we descend I-70 westbound from Eisenhower Tunnel. This is a shot with a telephoto lens; the mountain is not really so close or so easily seen from I-70 as you descend from the tunnel whie heading west.

Colorado mountains (Tenmile Peak) seen from I-70 coming down Straight Creek canyon. I-70 has two high points between Denver and Vail: the Loveland Pass is avoided by driving through the Eisenhower Tunnel, which is at 11,158 feet (3,401 m) at the western end, and then the Vail Pass at 10,666 feet (3,251 m). There is about a hundred miles of driving through high forests and mountains on I-70, and then one gets to central and western Colorado, where the landscape is dry and more like a desert.

Jacque Peak (13,211 ft / 4025 meters) is noticeable as one gazes south from the Vail Pass rest area on I-70 with a prominence over 2000 feet / 600 meters. The Colorado Rockies have lots of alpine meadow above the treeline, and in winter people can sky on such areas, although not on Jacque Peak (off limits for skiers).

A typical view of the Colorado Rockies near Loveland Pass. Even on July 21st we could see snow down at the level of I-70 as we drove near the sky resort areas.

In Colorado we saw this Wyoming Ground Squirrel at Vail Pass Rest Stop. I noticed and photographed this one as it basked in the sun on a rock near the restrooms.

Vail Pass Wyoming Ground Squirrel. On our return, we had a picnic lunch at the rest area, and the ground squirrels (barbecue bandits / cookout crashers) appeared in great numbers, eagerly seeking anything we might give them from our picnic. The one pictured above seemed to be approaching us to see what we were doing.

Lyons Gulch chipmunk, specifically a least chipmunk. The Lyons Gulch campground has a high density of rodents living around the campsites, and at night the little creatures made a lot of noise as they scurried around.

Lyon’s Gulch campground Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel. This one was much larger than the least chipmunks and the mice I saw at night while photographing Neowise Comet and the Milky Way.

Cute Least Chipmunk at Lyon’s Gulch

This Least Chipmunk is nibbling on something it found.

On our drive home on the last day (July 28th), we stopped at the Prairie Dog State Park in Kansas to see these black-tailed prairie dogs and have a sort of brunch in the picnic area by the prairie dog town. I also took a very brief swim in the reservoir, but the prairie dogs were more interesting than the lake.

Californian brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani) in California Botanical Gardens in Claremont. We saw several of these hopping around the trails as we wandered through the garden.

This Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) perched on a branch of the tree by our tent at the Lyons Gulch campground.

This nuthatch was exploring the cracks in the bark of the cottonwood tree sheltering our tent in the Lyons Gulch campground. It seemed to have stored many things, and I suppose it was checking out the seeds it had hidden away.

The scrub jay kept on eye on us as we set up our tent and ate our food, and as soon as we dropped some bread, the jay grabbed a sample and took it away to enjoy it.

Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) in the California Botanical Garden. We saw many of these birds in the gardens.

Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis) in St. Francis, Kansas. During the sunset a small flock of these kingbirds were chirping in the trees near our tent.

Prionus, a Longhorn Beetle we found on our groundcloth when we took down our tent at the Lyons Gulch campground.

Starburst Anemone, a solitary anemone Anthopleura sola, which are abundant in the tidepools of Laguna Beach and southern California, but finds the waters too cold to live in the tidepools of Oregon or Washington.

Striped Shore Crab Laguna Beach Pachygrapsus crassipes. I put my phone underwater to photograph the crabs and small fish in the tidepools.

An old barn with with a truck parked by it in Western Kansas near the Colorado border.

We stopped in Lebanon, Kansas, which is the town in the geographic center of the lower 48 states. We had lunch in a city park, and from our picnic bench this old home attracted our attention.

Ruined silo in eastern Kansas; There was an old silo a bit like this on Georgetown Road near the home where we lived for a couple years when we first moved from California to the Midwest (to Indianapolis), and so I associate such old silos with that time of my childhood when we relocated to Indiana. This silo is interesting for its wooden, rather than metal, roof, and the exterior surface.

Windmill and ruined home with tree. There are many such ruins along US-36. Back in the 1930s and 1940s rural America was far more densely populated, but as farming became more automated and jobs opened up in industry and service in cities and towns, rural America experienced a depopulation, and many old homes were abandoned. As a child on the northern end of Indianapolis, I knew of three such abandoned homes I could explore after a modest hike or bike ride from my home.

Here is a forlorn shack in eastern Colorado standing all by itself upon the open land.

Another shack in eastern Colorado seen from US-36. I wonder what this looked like when it was new.

A shack stands in a ruinous state surrounded by a bare landscape. This is Eastern Colorado, near the hamlet of Last Chance, Colorado.

This ruined house in eastern Colorado looks as if it might have been a nice home fifty years ago.

This ruin in northern Kansas was not far from an occupied home, and I wonder if the structure might still be used for storage space.

Unimpressive building in Cope, Colorado. Such bare and functional buildings dotted the landscape in the tiny villages along US-36 in Eastern Colorado.

Ruin of a brick building in Beaver, Utah. The brick structure seems to be in fairly good condition, but the roof proves this home has been abandoned for many years.

This gutted brick house welcomes visitors to Beaver, Utah

Here is the Colorado River near Lyon’s Gulch, and twenty meters from where we set up our tent in the campground.

Colorado River north of Dotsero. We got off I-70 at Dotsero and drove north on an extremely scenic road along the Colorado River to reach Lyons Gulch boat ramp and campground.

Approaching Lyons Gulch from Dotsero. Many people seem to float down the Colorado River in this area, probably taking out at Dotsero.

Colorado River in Western Colorado. The river starts out as a lovely stream in Rocky Mountain National Park (we walked along it up there back in 2013), and through most of Colorado it isn’t an especially large river.

A freight train on the other side of the Colorado River at Lyons Gulch. We only saw two trains pass by during our stay in the campground.

Campsite 1 at Lyons Gulch Campground and River Access. This is where we decided to put our tent. We were the only persons tent camping at Lyons Gulch on July 21st. I think some other people were sleeping in an RV on the other side of the road (not in the campground).

Time for dinner at our campsite at Lyons Gulch in Colorado.

Jeri with drink in Lyons Gulch. We were taking a break, not having finished setting up the tent.

View from our bed in the tent at Lyons Gulch. This was the view when we woke up.

Lyons Gulch has several good campsites, but only this one had a fire ring surrounded by chairs made of large stones.

View of our tent at Lyons Gulch. The cottonwood tree offered us some shade, but it was not very hot.

Morning, and we were putting things away and getting ready to take down the tent.

Evening, and we were drying out the rain fly because we had put away the tent when it was still a bit wet earlier that morning, as the pervious night in Bellville, Kansas we had experienced some light thundershowers.

View of Neowise from Lyons Gulch. I only had a few minutes to photograph the comet between the time it became dark enough to see it and the moment it went behind the ridge looming up to the west of the campsite. So, this image of the the comet just above the ridge was about the best one I took on the 21st of July, although it is blurry.

After Neowise went behind the ridge, I turned my attention to the Milky Way, and attempted some shots with the Colorado River, like this one.

Here is the Milky Way looking south from Lyons Gulch.

Milky Way with Jupiter shining extremely brightly, having recently been in opposition (with the Earth between Jupiter and the Sun).

After dark a few cars passed by, and I took a long exposure shot looking to the northwest from our campsite as a car drove past, so you can see some of the landscape as illuminated by the car’s headlights. There was no light pollution and we were at high elevation with low humidity, so the stars were especially bright and numerous.

Flowers blooming around the Lyons Gulch campsite. These gave off a pleasant perfume, and they were plentiful around the area.

Glenwood Hot Springs pool. I had wanted very much to go swimming at this hot spring pool, but it seemed too crowded, and with the Pandemic a real concern, and our time limited, we passed by without swimming. My older son Sebastian swam a distance by himself for the first time in this pool back in January of 2003.

Here is Jeri preparing our table for our lunch at Fruita, Colorado. We stopped at the rest area and welcome center, as there isn't much else to the west of Fruita until you get to Green River, Utah, and then it is another hundred miles or so before you get to much of anything in Utah.

My lunch in Fruita, from the Ginger Oriental restaurant in Grand Junction. I had Szechuan Tofu and Vegetables, which I enjoyed. Later that day I heated up the leftover for dinner when we got to campground in Utah. Due to the pandemic, we mainly ate take-out food at picnic sites or made our own meals from groceries we bought along the way.

Boxcars observed from I-70 in eastern Utah. On I-70 there is a long stretch from the Colorado border to central Utah (US-50 and Salina) where there is almost nothing except the town of Green River and many miles of gorgeous scenery (with scenic waysides).

Approaching the San Rafael Swell View Area on I-70 in Utah. This rocky ridge looms up after a long drive across a relatively flat landscape.

Eric at the Black Dragon Canyon View area on I-70 in Utah. It is well worthwhile to stop along I-70 and admire some of the stunning views at the scenic waysides.

Plant we noticed at the Black Canyon View Area on I-70

This little lawn was designated for setting up tents in the Red Ledge RV Park in Kanarraville, Utah. The grass felt like a soft carpet after the ground at Lyons Gulch, and we felt very comfortable here.

Our tent in Red Ledge RV Park in Kanarraville, Utah. The recreation vehicles were clustered close together, but most people were staying inside.

Here is some water from a sprinkler catching evening sun and glittering in the light (Kanarraville, Utah). Jeri and I walked around Kanarraville, and determined that it is an excessively tiny little town. The most exciting thing we saw was this sprinkler catching the last evening sunlight so that drops of water sparkled invitingly, but I didn't run through the sprinkler water.

Here we have a view of the of red rocks to the east of Kanarraville, with an American flag proudly fluttering in the wind.

During our walk, we hoped to find a shop in Kanarraville just like this one, but when we came across this place, it was closed. This was the only retail food source we found in the town. There may be others beyond walking distance from where we were camping.

Here is an old barn in Kanarraville. The barn enjoys a scenic setting.

Common area at Red Ledge RV Park. I sat in this area reading a novel for an hour or so. The campground / RV Park has good bathrooms, laundry facilities, and these lovely common areas.

View of Neowise comet on July 22nd in Kanarraville. Astronomers predicted this to be the brightest night for comet observation, and Kanarraville offered only modest light pollution (compared to the total absence of light in Colorado where we can camped the previous evening). So, it was a good evening for celestial observation, except that we had some clouds forming right in the northwest, and sometimes the comet was obscured.

This is another view of the Neowise comet, from a photograph I took in the Red Ledge RV Park in the middle of the town of Kanarraville.

On the morning of the 23rd, we found that the Kolob Canyons area of Zion National Park was closed, and so we were unable to hike there, and instead, we headed for Los Angeles, hoping to get there early enough to enjoy an outdoor activity such as a visit to the California Botanical Garden. Along the way we passed through the Virgin River Canyon in Arizona, where I-15 passes through a few miles of glorious landscapes like this.

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System greets travellers who journey west on I-15 just after they cross over from Nevada into California.

We did stop in the California Botanical Gardens in Claremont. Here is Jeri on a trail.

On July 24th, after helping move Hsiao-Chi’s belongings into our van and her car, Jeri and I had a few free hours, so we went to Laguna Beach. Jeri took this pjhotograph of me walking away from some rocks I was inspecting (at Aliso Point south of Aliso Beach). Until a month before my 6th birthday I lived in Orange County, not far from Laguna Beach, and my mom would bring me (and, later, my baby sister) to Laguna Beach almost daily in the summer. I grew up playing in the sand and exploring the tidepools, and returning to the Laguna Beach area always makes me feel happy.

I placed my phone in a tide pool at Aliso Point, and got some photographs of fish and other tidepool creatures.

Jeri and I stood together to watch the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean at Aliso Point, Laguna Beach. I had always wanted to watch a sunset with my wife at Laguna Beach, and was grateful for the opportunity to do this.

The sun is setting next to Catalina Island seen from Aliso Beach in Laguna Beach, California; a gull flies by in the foreground.

One of the most beautiful sights in nature (for me) is the golden light of a setting sun illuminating the spray of ocean waves crashing on shore rocks. There is something about the ephemeral nature of waves and splashing water in contrast to the ancient solid rocks and the even more ancient and enduring nature of the water that makes up the ocean and the sun itself that lends a poetic or metaphysical beauty to the play of colors and sparkle of the sunlight in the splashing drops.

Eric and Jeri at Aliso Beach. The whole adventure was a welcome opportunity to spend lots of quality time together. Although we have been socially isolating alone toether in our home since March, we each have many projects and activities, and so camping and travelling together offered a delightful change to our routines.

Driving past Las Vegas, I noticed the signs for the LOVE show at the Mirage. I would like to see the Cirque du Soleil acrobats and hear the new arrangements of the Beatles music, but I will wait until the pandemic is over before attending any indoor shows.

The Mohave Desert landscape. The drive on I-15 across California and southern Nevada offers many hours of landscapes like this.

Looking south from I-15 in Nevada around the 109 mile marker eastbound, I noticed several Joshua Trees in the plain.

This Vortac (VOR radio navigational aid for aircraft) lies south of I-15 just west of Bunkerville, Nevada. It is mixed in with the Joshua Trees. Both the atificial and natural objects direct attention heavenward, toward the Celestial Concourse (the Joshua Trees are named after the Old Testament prophet Joshua) and modern aircraft (which are guided along by the VOR).

Approaching Mesquite, Nevada from the west. We stopped in Mesquite to purchase gas, and experienced 41 degrees Celsius (about 106 F).

Jeri and Hsiao-Chi and I took a short walk on Jenny’s Trail in Snow Canyon State Park. There is a slot canyon at the end of the trail, which we experienced as the sun was sinking behind the canyon’s western sides.

Here are the three of us posing in a slot canyon at end of Jenny’s Trail in Snow Canyon State Park, Utah.

This was a dry slot canyon in Snow Canyon State Park, near Saint George, Utah.

Jenny’s Canyon in Snow Canyon State Park, Utah

Posing above the slot canyon (Jenny’s Canyon Trail, Snow Canyon State Park): Eric, Jeri, and Hsiao-Chi

Jeri, Eric, Hsiao-Chi, and Greek at our campsite in Snow Canyon. You must click on the image to see all four of us in the larger group selfie photograph. When we arrived and first set up the tent the temperatures were still close to 38 (100F), so we spent some time relaxing in the shade and drinking water and root beer.

In normal conditions, tent campers are asked to set up their tents on the tent pads, but with the temperature around 38, we figured it was okay to set up in the shade of the one tree growing in our campsite in Snow Canyon State Park campground.

Jeri relaxing in the shade. When Hsiao-Chi and Greek and I went horseback riding, Jeri remained at the campsite, and had to spend a few hours in the shade with Hsiao-Chi’s cat.

Greek and Hsiao-Chi are sitting down for a picnic meal in Snow Canyon. We mainly ate food from grocery stores or else take-out food from restaurants, sitting down at picnic tables. In campgrounds we set up our tent far from anyone else (when there was anyone else there, so we didn't wear masks much while outdoors)

As we were returning to our campsite from the Jenny’s Canyon trail, we saw a photography session on sand dunes in Snow Canyon.

Snow Canyon has fairly dark skies, although there is some glow from St. George, Utah and its suburbs. Here is our campsite at night, with the tent illuminated from within by an LED lantern.

Saturday the 25th of July was my last view of the Neowise comet, which seemed to have significantly dimmed since my last viewing of it on the 22nd. This is an image of the sky with Neowise taken from Snow Canyon on July 25th.

One thing I like about camping is getting up at dawn to see the early morning light (and then, sometimes, goign back to my sleeping bag to sleep for another hour or so). This is a view of the morning in Snow Canyon.

Dawn in Snow Canyon, looking north from the campground.

More of the early morning sunlight in Snow Canyon.

Looking southwest from the campground shortly after dawn in Snow Canyon.

The dawn light on the clouds seems to reflect the warm colors of the Jurrasic (formed 180 million years ago) Navajo Sandstone rocks and cliffs.

Hsiao-Chi in tent at Snow Canyon. Greek and Susan (Hsiao-Chi’s parents, with Susan being Jeri’s first cousin on her mother’s side of the family) often took their five children camping in Taiwan when they were all younger, but this was the first experience for Greek or Hsiao-Chi to go tent camping in the United States.

Hsiao-Chi’s cute cat seemed content to hang out in our tent.

Our breakfast in Snow Canyon.

Jeri at the breakfast table in Snow Canyon. The Chocolates are from the Ethel M. Chocolate factory in Las Vegas, where we stopped on the way to California to admire the desert graden.

This photograph captures the feeling of camping in scenic Utah.

We went horseback riding at Snow Canyon. As you can see, the ride took us to some places of outstanding scenic beauty.

Greek and Hsiao-Chi seemed to have a good time on the horseback ride, despite all the dust. The trail was rugged in places, with some tricky bits with steep ascents and descents on rocky ground. The horses were good, and there were no accidents, but it was still a challenge.

Looking down on Snow Canyon from above on the Red Mountain Trail during our horseback trek. We spent almost three hours on the ride, so that was a fine way to spend the morning.

While the three of us were on the horseback ride, Jeri was back at camp with the cat. She took down the tent by herself and packed away almost all our gear, and then took a rest in the shade, where she saw this lizard.

Chocolates from Ethel Mars Chocolates (Las Vegas). It had been 22 years since our last visit to Ethel M, and I was glad to get a box of good chocolates.

View southeast from the Sand Bench View Area on east-bound I-70 in central Utah.

Bridge over Colorado River between Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs

Colorado River between Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs.

Eric and Hsiao-Chi at Rifle Falls. Getting from Grand Junction to St. Francis, Kansas involved a long day of driving, but we stopped for about an hour at Rifle Falls State Park to enjoy the scenic waterfalls.

Rifle Falls in Colorado. This may be my favorite photograph of the whole trip in terms of scenic beauty.

Looking up at one of the falls, Rifle Falls State Park. It’s possible to get right up close under the falls, if you are so inclined, and do not care if you get wet.

There are some caves in the bluffs behind Rifle Falls, and here we have Hsiao-Chi and Chun-Chih in one of the caves.

Hsiao-Chi and Chun-Chih standing in one of the caves in Rifle Falls State Park, Colorado.

Most of the caves do not go far back into the hillside, so most of the places where a visitor can stand are near the entrances, as in this scene of Chun-Chih and Hsiao-Chi standing near the mouth of one of the Rifle Falls caves.

Hsiao-Chi stands behind one of the waterfalls at Rifle Falls.

Driving back to I-70 from Rifle Falls, we passed through the Elk Creek Valley near New Castle, Colorado.

Here is a view of the Colorado River a few miles east of New Castle, Colorado.

Glenwood Canyon is a spectacular canyon carved by the Colorado River just east of Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

We saw many kayaks and rafts like this one floating down the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon.

Glenwood Canyon in Colorado.

Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) at the Vail Pass rest area along I-70.

Our tent set up in the city park in Saint Francis, Kansas. This was the third campsite where we stayed on this trip available without any fee to tent campers. There are free camping sites in some Bureau of Land Management and National Forest Service campgrounds, but they typically have no services beyond pit latrines. A few small towns like St. Francis and Belleville in Kansas have nicer parks with showers and running water that are free for campers.

This was the sunset from the city park in Saint Francis where we camped during our last night before getting home.

Hsiao-Chi’s Cat seemed to enjoy camping in Saint Francis, Kansas. When we woke up the park was enshrouded in a fog. The high humidity was a shocking contrast after the low humidity of southwestern Utah and Grand Junction, Colorado.

We picked up some drinks and snacks at Fresh Seven Coffee in St Francis, Kansas. Customers were not wearing masks (but we were). This was an unexpected find, and it is on the main commercial street, which is about half-a-mile north of US-36, so you must drive through some of the town to get to this place.

Here is the monument at the geographic center of the lower 48 states. I think I possibly visited this place with my sister Jennell in 1988, but my memory of that trip is hazy. I know we visited the Willa Cather museum in Red Cloud, which is the next town north from here, just accross the Nebraska border.

Here I am at the center of the 48 states. There were lovely sounds of birds singing in the little park and the neighboring fields. This was not far from US-36, and I only wish we had purchased our lunch in Lebanon on the way here so we could have had a picnic lunch in this place (there are shaded picnic tables).

Greek and Hsiao-Chi are standing in front of the chapel at the geographic center of the 48 continental states. It is satisfying to know that a place dedicated to worship is here in the middle of our country; I was inspired to say a prayer for America at the monument.

Greek and Hsiao-Chi. The father seems so happy, and his daughter does not. This was just a moment of expression captured in a photograph, and not representative of the experience Hsiao-Chi had on the trip.

This is a black squirrel statue at the Marysville Lee Dam Center for Fine Art. Such squirrel statues are placed all around Marysville, but not all of them were wearing pandemic masks, nor did all of htem have such colorful tails.

This is the Pony Express station in Marysville, Kansas. The Pony Express delivered mail between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California for 19 months in 1860-1861 until the Western Union telegraph line to California was completed in late October of 1861. During its brief life, the company was capable of getting letters from Missouri to Sacramento in about ten days, which was less than half the time required by stagecoach routes.

Windmills in eastern Kansas; such windmills are an iconic aspect of the landscape in the high plains, where surface water is scarce, but the High Plains Aquifer System supplies huge reserves of water. The largest aquifer, the Ogallala Aquifer lies between 100 and 400 feet below the ground, but in western Kansas and the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles this aquifer is being depleted, threatening local water supplies and irrigation of crops (Nebraska is not having the same problem).

The landscape of northeastern Kansas presents a traveller with scenes of cornfields, wheatfields, cattle pasture, and scattered wood lots and wind turbines.

Grain elevators along the Missouri River at St. Joseph, Missouri.

The Buchanan County Courthouse’s glass and tin dome (built in 1873) in St Joseph, Missouri

As we were driving east on US-36 and approaching Hannibal, the sky to our east toward Hannibal transformed with the pink and orange colors of the sunset, although the sunset was mainly behind us in the west.

Here Greek and Hsiao-Chi stand at Mark Twain’s childhood home in Hannibal, Missouri. The white fence was supposedly the inspiration for the story about Tom Sawyer convincing his friends to pay him for the opportunity to help him whitewash the fence.

Greek and Hsiao-Chi at Mark Twain’s home, and just as they posed earlier in the day at the chapel in the geographic center of the continental United States, Hsiao-Chi looks serious and Greek looks very happy.

Here is the main street in Hannibal, Missouri. This is a lovely river town merely 90 minutes’ drive from our home in Springfield.

Hsiao-Chi and Greek at Mississippi River in Hannibal, and again Greek shows his tendency to smile for the camera while his daughter wears a more serious expression.

The Mississippi River after sunset with Greek and Hsiao-Chi, and Hsiao-Chi’s expression really makes me laugh.