Sunday, September 6, 2020

THE MIDWEST – August 21, 2020


Leaving Topeka, we were on the highway in minutes and headed on the less than confusing route straight down I-70 with no turns in sight until our arrival tomorrow in Palmer Lake!  We had about 3 ½ plotted hours to go but travel at 10 miles less than the posted highway speed here so ended up with over four in store.

One doesn’t get ones expectations up for much excitement when traveling in Kansas and the destination we found for the night was last recorded place to camp before the front range!  The town of Ellis, KS created a campground on the sight of their little river boasting 25 sites with water and power, something many smaller campgrounds don’t offer.  Again, we didn’t expect much and were quite surprised to find a quaint campground right on a quiet, lazy river and all the amenities of some of the better campgrounds we’ve been to! 

There were only two other campers there when we arrived so we had our choice of the whole place and got ourselves settled with everything we needed for our final night on the long stretch to Colorado.  We wandered the very small town which had barely any commerce left with Covid’s fallout.  Nonetheless, the town had a good spirit and everyone we met was friendly and kind.

We took the chance with our longer than usual time to set up our chairs by the river with a cocktail and watch the world go by.  A bus full of kids showed up ready to fish and swim who provided for some good entertainment.  We came to find out that they were a group hosted by a healthcare organization supporting children from foster homes and broken families.  It was especially heartening to see the amount of fun they were having and the decency that they all treated each other with.

Dinner was grilled tuna over a fresh salad and leftover peach cobbler for Rob while I cheated on a bowl of ice cream with decadent brandied cherries!  It was a night for pleasure!  The sun set with quiet and grace as the campground filled with a nice combination of local folks finding a place to safely gather and onroad passers through.  Another pleasant night on our crazy journey!


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