The scenery has changed. Above is the view from early this morning in northwestern Nebraska. Happily, the roads were clear by late morning as I made my way toward the Black Hills of South Dakota. But it will be a few days before the backroads in the area are dry enough to explore.
Evening on the plains of Colorado.
Morning on the plains of Colorado.
She placed her ring on the sill
Dishes piled high
She’s on the front porch step
And the air smells like snow
She’s thinking of the siege to come
And how she’ll miss those weekends
In the park with the sun on her face
And her book by her side and that
Lingering taste that he left on her tongue
“Ring on the Sill”
Cowboy Junkies
To the grass, to the cows, and to various parts of my car. Fortunately, not to the road. And it switched back over to rain once I hit the Baca County line. Visibility was dicey for a while in that howling north wind.
Trying to dodge the recent bad weather, I ended up making a great big loop and now I’m back in the same Kansas town where I was three days ago. I’ll try to follow the sun and the drier air northward again starting tomorrow.
Eight days on the road and I’ve yet to see the moon or the stars.
Comanche National Grassland, Colorado
Other than two very hot days last week, this year’s trip is already ahead of previous adventures in miles driven with the top up, due to plenty of cold, wet and foggy weather in the Great Plains. As this morning’s first 100 miles revealed more of the same, I decided to rewind a good portion of the miles I gained yesterday by turning back to the southwest. Just past Haswell, Colorado, the fog and the rain finally lifted and I caught a welcome glimpse of sun and blue sky. Time to drop the top.
I continued south into Colorado’s Comanche National Grassland (the third grassland of the trip thus far; at least three more grasslands to come in the weeks ahead).
This is a truly beautiful and peaceful area. And today, I had it all to myself…except for about two dozen pronghorns, which ran across the road as I approached, and this tarantula, which was intent on crawling under my car. I waited until she emerged from the other side before driving off.
A spectacular view of the best part of my Sunday. The only sounds I heard while in the grassland came from insects, birds and the wind.
You can watch a short video recorded from this vantage point by following this link to Vimeo.
A cold day in northern Texas.
Rita Blanca National Grassland
