Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, & Louisiana

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Hey ya'll! Sorry again for the delay, but we've been a bit lazy lately 😊

So we left Glenwood Springs and headed to Aspen & the Rocky Mountains. We drove straight into Aspen, where both Ang and I decided we could live. Such a quaint little village, obviously a bit yuppy, but very beautiful and quite cool. If we only had a million plus to spend on a house, we would have been set. The trees were at their peak there, with all of the aspens a gorgeous deep yellow, which stood out among all the pines.This is also the place where Stevie Nicks was inspired to write the song "Landslide", so of coure we had to listen to it. We also listened to John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" and a few others, to set the mood. We traveled into the Rockies along another twisty turny mountain road, looking out at all of the gorgeous fall scenery. We traveled higher and higher, into mountains ranging around 14,000 feet. When we got to the top of the road, at the Continental Divide (Independence Pass), it started to snow. We got out, took some pictures of us in the snow and had a small snowball fight. Quite a change from the deserts of the previous days. We headed down and got some pictures of Mount Elbert, the tallest mountain in Colorado, and the second tallest mountain in the contiguous US. In the lower elevations were more lakes and rivers, surrounded again by the bright foliage.

We continued on to stop in a place called Lamar, where we found ourselves deep in cow country again. We leaned what feed lots were (giant pens of cows where they are prepped for slaughter) and more about cow consumption, in all forms. On our way in, Ang ran over a tarantula crossing the highway, which has certainly never happened before. We met people at a restaurant there from Oklahoma, who showed us how to two step, and leaned more about a more country style life. We had a blast with these folks, and will hopefully see them again. They were all very laid back and lots of fun.

We left Lamar the next day and headed into Kansas. We found that Sand Creek was pretty close to us, so we decided to go show our respects. I'll give you a piece of the Wikipedia entry on this too, which will probably give you a more concise description.

The Sand Creek Massacre (also known as the Chivington Massacre, the Battle of Sand Creek or the Massacre of Cheyenne Indians) was an atrocity in the Indian Wars of the United States that occurred on November 29, 1864, when a 700-man force of Colorado Territory militia attacked and destroyed a village of friendly Cheyenne and Arapaho encamped in southeastern Colorado Territory, killing and mutilating an estimated 70–163 Indians, about two-thirds of whom were women and children.



This was the most sad place we have been yet, and the place is solemn beyond words. The horrors of what happened here seem to echo through the place. When we went back to the car when we were ready to leave, the car had been filled with flies. Probably at least a hundred. Ang said she thought the souls of those who had died here now filled the car. It took a long time to get them out, and seemed that quite a few stayed with us all the way into Dodge City, Kansas. We didn't drive too long that day, and ended up in Dodge before sunset. Dodge is dirty and smells like cow poop. It may be the historial ending spot for cattle drives and the destruction of the buffalo, but the smell and the flies were all I can remember from it. We got some Pizza Hut and settled in for the night. Needless to say, we were happy to get the hell out of Dodge!

We got up early the next day and headed through the rest of Kansas. Nothing but cows and fields. As we got closer to Missouri, we started seeing more trees and the place seemed to cheer up a bit. We took a detour into Oklahoma, just to say we'd been there and then made our way into Joplin, Missouri. We wanted to see how the town had changed and the aftermath of the F5 tornado that killed about 100 people there about a year ago. We were pleasantly surprised to see how much of the area had been rebuilt. There were new houses mixed in among foundations and ruins. There were a lot of people already back in new homes, and it was heartening to say the least. The destruction from a year ago seems to have been wiped away for the most part, but I'm sure the wounds from what happened are still quite fresh to those who live here.

We left Joplin and decided to make a long day of it. We traveled probably around 12 hours that day, and found a motel in Clarksville, right over the border in Arkansas. We ended up with some fried chicken from a gas station, and stayed the night at a Budget Inn run by a very nice Indian couple who found it strange to have some sisters from Massachusetts walking into their motel at 9pm. We tried to get as much rest as possible, as our 9 hour push into New Orleans began in the morning.

We actually set an alarm for the next morning and we on the road by 9:15, trying to meet cousin Kim at 6:30. The scenery here changed from similar to New England into bayou. After several hours we made it through Arkansas into Louisiana. We crossed Lake Pontchartrain and got (my) first glimpse of the Superdome. We sat in a bit of traffic, but made it to meet Cuz Kim and her husband Brian at Handsome Willy's, where Brian was deejaying for the evening. We caught up with our cousins for a while before leaving Brian behind to work and heading for Bourbon Street. New Orleans is a fantastic place. We went into a ton of little bars and clubs, and danced. We got to see a drag show by Chris Owens that was hilarious and an absolute blast. I went up on stage and danced with marraccas and him/her since Ang wouldn't. We even got some birthday cake from an older gentleman sitting across from us. We saw a number of historical, and not so historical places. Kim was an excellent tour guide and it was so nice spending some time catching up. I'd list all of what we got to see, but that would take up more space in this blog than anything else yet 😊. We made it back to their apartment and slept a long while.

Kim and Brian had to work (without getting paid) a wedding for most of the afternoon and night yesterday, so Ang and I spent a lazy day catching up on Season 3 of Arrested Development. Kim made us a map on how to get to a good restaurant in the area, so after we got ready, we took off on foot for some dinner. After an hour and a half, we knew we weren't finding the place Kim had been trying to send us to, so we back tracked and found a restaurant close to their apartment. We had some really good steaks, but to me, anything would have tasted great since I was starving. We walked back to their apartment afterwards and called it a night. Today Kim brought us out for some Po'Boys in the pouring rain, which were fantastic. We stopped and walked around Lake Pontchartrain and looked at all the birds. Then we went to Whole Foods, to get what we need for the ice cream sundaes we'll be having after a friend of Kim and Brian's makes us dinner tonight. I'm looking forward to having someone make me dinner! This should be a lot of fun. More updates on that after it happens. Thanks again for following along.

A happy birthday to Uncle Jeff and a big thank you to everyone who has been providing us with score updates for the Patriots games. Big win today!

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Comments

[Cuz Kim]

Great to see you!
We loved having you both hear, and I'm glad you got a little rest and Arrested Development in! See you soon (hopefully) and drive safe. Ang, you should turn your lights on so you are more visible to the tarantulas and other drivers.... love, kim