May started in Nashville and then on to Memphis to see Elvis's 'Graceland'.
Then a brief dip into Mississippi (which has the cheapest fuel we found) before
travelling north in Arkansas to St Louis. We actually stayed in East St Louis
which is in Illinois. The detailed maps stop at the river which was no help at
all in finding the way to our campsite. We went up in the Arch and also to
Cahokia Mounds, a prehistoric site of man before the Indians. From St Louis we
went west but the traffic was so scary we came off the interstate and down
through the Ozarks to Wichita where we stayed with relations of our New York
hosts. We also met up with our laptop here since it had not arrived before we
departed Springville. A quick trip up to Hutchison to see the longest grain
elevator in the world before starting serious travel to the west across the flat
plains of Kansas. Along the way we passed through Dodge City, where the 'west'
was, it is actually in the eastern half of the country. Eventually we reached
Colorado Springs and the Rockies. We went up Pike's Peak, at 14000ft one of the
highest places we've been. To me the most spectacular view of the Rockies was on
the road to Cañon City as we joined US50
'The Loneliest Road'. It really is empty. Eventually we reached the red rock of
Moab and the start of the really spectacular sights. We visited Arches National
Park but missed on Canyonlands because I had back problems, and you really need
a four wheel drive vehicle to see most of it. Then down to Natural Bridges and
Capital Reef before turning north to Salt Lake City. There were places on this
leg where we doubted that there were a hundred people within a hundred miles of
us.
Slightly more mileage this month at 2500 miles, but it is farther between
places. |