Settled in at La Junta

Our good friends, Jackie and Dennis, once asked us - how do we find the places we go to?  Our ultimate goal in the next 2 weeks is to head into Texas's panhandle, the area right below Oklahoma's panhandle and around cities like Amarillo and Lubbock.  Will we get to those cities?  Not sure.  We need to get the RV and car inspected and saw where a small town called Dalhart will fit our needs.  Even called them to see if there is a place in town for inspections.

So, knowing that we are heading to Dalhart, Texas, we looked on the map to see routes to take.  The main drag through southeastern Colorado is US Route 50.  Looked for campgrounds along the way and found that La Junta had a KOA and made reservations.  The ah-hah factor is Route 50 is the Old Santa Fe Trail from the mid 1800's.  And, there is a national park right in town, Bent's Old Fort, which we will definitely go see.  La Junta (lah who-nta) is Spanish for the junction.  Late 1800s many railroads came through this town, a large rail yard existed with turntables.  That's all gone but railroad tracks which are used still.

Pretty Colorado elevation here was 7258

The ride was very uneventful.  We passed through Colorado Springs, taking Interstate 25 all the way from Larkspur.  Saw the Air Force Academy nestled in the mountains, saw Pike's Peak looming over the city, lots of people live in Colorado Springs.  Home of the US Olympic Team Headquarters, Fort Carson Army base, Peterson Air Force Base.

First glimpse of Pike's Peak

Haven't a clue what this was!

Air Force Academy

Their football field

Continued south to Pueblo and turned east on Route 50.  Very calming drive once we left the interstate.  Small little towns, flat prairie grasslands, lots of horses grazing out in their pastures, small farms and ranches.  Nothing unique.  Was what I thought we would see.  And the old Montana joke - if your dog ran away, you could see him running away from you for a week.  Flat prairie Colorado.

We followed the Arkansas River all the way from Pueblo

Small towns USA

Very cute, bustling small towns

There are a couple of things we want to see while here.  This area was Kit Carson's last home he lived in the last years of his life.  Pioneer museums are here, national grasslands with hiking trails, of course Bent's Fort, and who knows what else, not sure how long we will stay.