Southwest Road Trip (there's a little fishing)

[ness]

11 hours ago, ColdWaterFshr said:

Enjoyed reading that report, Ness.  Love all the pictures and your adventures about them.   Looking forward to our upcoming trip to Telluride.  And very much looking forward to seeing the Flint Hills if only for a 24 hour stay on our way back.  Thanks for the tips!

Thanks and you're welcome. Hope you'll share some of your adventure with us. Telluride is a cool little town, but we've only just passed through. 

Glad you'll get to spend some time in the Flint Hills! Definitely do the Tallgrass National Prairie Preserve, and see if you can get on one of the free Park Service bus tours out into it. They can get you away from everything for some spectacular views, and can also get you up close to the bison.

Hays House in Council Grove is a good stop for lunch. It's on Highway 56, which IS the Santa Fe Trail right there. 

[ColdWaterFshr]

On 7/8/2021 at 8:47 AM, ness said:

Thanks and you're welcome. Hope you'll share some of your adventure with us. Telluride is a cool little town, but we've only just passed through. 

Glad you'll get to spend some time in the Flint Hills! Definitely do the Tallgrass National Prairie Preserve, and see if you can get on one of the free Park Service bus tours out into it. They can get you away from everything for some spectacular views, and can also get you up close to the bison.

Hays House in Council Grove is a good stop for lunch. It's on Highway 56, which IS the Santa Fe Trail right there. 

That looks spectacular.  Tall Grass has my interest piqued and Santa Fe trail history is fascinating.  Trying to figure out a way to make it work.  We may just end up in Manhattan, KS instead.  Daughter wants to check out K-State campus.

[fshndoug]

Nice thread Ness ,enjoyed the pics.

[ness]

4 hours ago, ColdWaterFshr said:

That looks spectacular.  Tall Grass has my interest piqued and Santa Fe trail history is fascinating.  Trying to figure out a way to make it work.  We may just end up in Manhattan, KS instead.  Daughter wants to check out K-State campus.

Good luck! ness 2.1 loved K-State. I’ll never forget the first time she came home she told me guys would actually hold the door for the girls 😀

[Terrierman]

My Goodness.  Mr. Ness, you covered in one thread many of my favorite spots in the USA.  What a great read and wonderful photos that are the stuff of good dreams.  We are particularly fond of Northern New Mexico and the surrounding areas.  Arizona is quite something too.  How on earth did you miss Petrified Forest and The Painted Desert on your trip?

Colorado is so spectacular too.  But Kansas.  So many think it is boring country.  Not me.  I think and wonder of how it was when it was the frontier.  So vast.

Great thread sir.  Great.

[ness]

1 hour ago, Terrierman said:

My Goodness.  Mr. Ness, you covered in one thread many of my favorite spots in the USA.  What a great read and wonderful photos that are the stuff of good dreams.  We are particularly fond of Northern New Mexico and the surrounding areas.  Arizona is quite something too.  How on earth did you miss Petrified Forest and The Painted Desert on your trip?

Colorado is so spectacular too.  But Kansas.  So many think it is boring country.  Not me.  I think and wonder of how it was when it was the frontier.  So vast.

Great thread sir.  Great.

Wow, thanks for that!

Northern NM is pretty special. Beautiful country, desert and skiing within an hour’s drive. Mountains, snowmelt and trout. 

Sure, we missed some stuff along the way. There were some pretty long drives just to get to our destinations, so side trips weren’t always possible for these old folks. We’re pretty happy with what we did fit in though. 

Yes, KS is vast and I can’t help but think about the folks that toughed it out homesteading out there or just crossing it. 

Kinda cool that you can find shark’s teeth in the chalk bluffs in the area around Castle Rock. 

[Terrierman]

23 minutes ago, ness said:

Wow, thanks for that!

Northern NM is pretty special. Beautiful country, desert and skiing within an hour’s drive. Mountains, snowmelt and trout. 

Sure, we missed some stuff along the way. There were some pretty long drives just to get to our destinations, so side trips weren’t always possible for these old folks. We’re pretty happy with what we did fit in though. 

Yes, KS is vast and I can’t help but think about the folks that toughed it out homesteading out there or just crossing it. 

Kinda cool that you can find shark’s teeth in the chalk bluffs in the area around Castle Rock. 

When you go that way again, Mesa Verde should be on your do not miss list.  You can see a long way from up on the higher places there.  What amazes me is how the environment and population changed there.  

The greatest vanishing act in prehistoric America | Nature

[Johnsfolly]

7 hours ago, ness said:

 

Sure, we missed some stuff along the way. There were some pretty long drives just to get to our destinations, so side trips weren’t always possible for these old folks. We’re pretty happy with what we did fit in though. 

That's one of the great things about traveling is that you can do it again and see different places and have new experiences 🙂.

[Foghorn]

Thanks for sharing a great trip. Several years ago Susie and I headed out on a 17 day trip that included parts of the Southwest (San Juan River) on up into the Yellowstone region. A lot of fishing but side trips that included the Aztec Ruins , Salmon Ruins and eventually Mesa Verde. A later trip also included Hovenweep and Monument Valley. Your pictures brought back some wonderful memories.