ANOTHER DAY OF NOTHING BUT DRIVING

Thursday, September 5 – Fifty miles east of Denver we spotted the Rocky Mountains.

We decided to stay on I-70 and go straight through the city. Not too bad. Lots of traffic but we kept in our lane and cruised along without any trouble. Once west of the city we began our climb (6% grade for 10 miles) up our first mountain pass. The truck hauled the 5^th wheel up but the turbo was screaming. We were down to 35-40 MPH. I don't even want to speculate fuel mileage....YIKES!

We stopped just west of Denver in Evergreen, CO, for the night. Walmart docking again tonight. We have a great spot out back all by ourselves.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day climbing over the Rockies. We're praying for no mechanical problems and a safe trip through Colorado.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

ON OUR WAY TO UTAH

Tuesday, September 3 – We are leaving our good friends today. We had soooooo much fun. Thank you, Barry and Jan, for the wonderful dinners. Barry used his smoker and made us hamburgers and chicken…delicious.

We had a fire last night and talked way into the night.

Thanks so much Barry and Jan for letting us mooch dock, all the laughs and a wonderful time.

We left the farm in Tipton, IN, this morning and hit I-70 heading West. We slipped around St. Louis on the North by-pass and continued on to Boonville, Missouri, where we parked at the Walmart.
Free parking but of course we purchased groceries making it an expensive one-night stop. Very uneventful night.

 

Wednesday, September 4 – Today we drove through corn country (Kansas) stopping in Russell, KS, at the Triple “J” RV Park. It was so windy, Marsha forgot to take any pictures of our campsite. It was a decent park for an overnight stop. PPA…$17.50 FHU.

If you have never driven through Kansas, here is what you are missing.

Bet now y'all will reroute and add Kansas to your travel plans.

Well, we continue westward ho.....and have to conquer the Rockies in Colorado to reach our first extended stop in Moab, UT, where we will hike around Arches National Park and Capitol Reef National Park.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

MOUNDS STATE PARK

Monday, September 2 - We did some hiking today at the 252 acres Mounds State Park.

The Mounds contains some of the finest examples of earthwork and mound buildings in Indiana. The Park features Native American heritage, and 10 ceremonial mounds built by the prehistoric Adena culture around 160 BC and also used centuries later by Hopewell culture inhabitants.

The ten mounds within the park were used primarily for ceremony, celebration and observation of solstices, equinoxes and stellar events.

The Great Mound is a circular earth enclosure with an internal ditch. The earthworks measure 394 feet across from bank to bank. The 9-foot-tall  embankment is 63 feet wide at its base, and the ditch is 10.5 feet  deep and 60 feet  across at its top. The central platform is 138 feet  across and was occupied by a 4-foot-high central mound 30 feet  in diameter.

Embankment and ditch.

Entering the central platform.

What it might have looked like back in 160 BC.

Not quite as distinct as the Great mound is the Fiddleback mound.

No evidence has been found for homes of the Adena-Hopewill people in Mounds State Park. It is believed that people probably came to the site for short periods of time several times a year. They probably lived in the surrounding river valleys. No one knows what their dwellings looked like.

The Bronnenberg family recognized their responsibility to preserve the mounds. They guarded the mounds against artifact hunters. As the result of their vigilance, the mounds remain among the best examples in the state.

Their beautiful home.

The Park has six trails that circle and connect the mounds. They range from a half mile to 2.5 miles in length. Most are rated easy to moderate in difficulty, although we would rank them all as easy. We walked three of the trails totally about three to four miles.

One trail runs besides the White River. 

There was some steep areas.

Trail master

It was a very interesting day and enjoyable refresher for hikes in the near future in Utah.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!