Denver, Colorado - Kansas City, Missouri

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We're still in the land of the living, just without any phone or internet reception so sorry if you haven't heard from us.

First off, I'm not at my job anymore (surprise, surprise I can hear you say over the Pacific). I survived 2 days which is pretty good I think 😊 The trainer advised us that she is going to spend $10k training each and everyone one of us and then proceeded to ask us where we want to go within the company. Now, it's quite obvious that I'm not going to stick around so I parted ways. I must say though, it is the first job induction that I've ever been too where they warn you not to bring a gun to work with you!!!

Russ and I decided that we both weren't ready to settle down without seeing a bit more of the country so we left Denver and the Delux RV Park yesterday (4/11) at about 4pm. We took the RV to get the wheels aligned first though as I refuse to drive the RV as it is just plain scary. You have to constantly move the wheel to keep it going straight so Russ rang ALOT of places and managed to find one that can accommodate a 27' (8.2m) RV. We dropped it off at 1pm for a 1.30 appt and did all the things that we wanted to but hadn't due to snow.

First stop was to see Buffalo Bills grave. He's buried just outside of Denver up in the middle of nowhere. The site provides great views to the city though so I took a few photos of that for you. I was very cold so I'm wearing Russell's gloves.

Next, we checked out Red Rocks ampitheatre which is where they have concerts in Denver. It's an amazing venue and is meant to have great acoustics. The Beatles even played there in 1964. We then jumped back in our Durango and made our way across the road to Dinosaur Ridge. Now I must say, this place didn't live up to it's expectations. There were some signs on the side of the road and it told you what you were meant to be looking at but anyone could have looked at it and made something up. We did see some supposed dinosaur footprints though. I've attached some photos of it so you be the judge.

We made our way back to the wheel alignment place and picked up Puffy (named due to number plate). The alignment was apparently a bit out but wouldn't have been causing the problem and they did something else so we paid $100 and was on our merry way. Russ says it's fixed it a bit but I still don't think I'll be able to drive it. They said it is something to do with some steering thing but it will cost $600 so we said, forget about it. I'd ask Russ but he is sleeping but it would just be words that probably wouldn't make a lot of sense.

So, we left Denver just after 4 as previously mentioned and made our way east to the Colorado/Kansas border. Was a nice drive out on the I-70 (Interstate 70 will take us all the way east to Washington DC if we stayed on it!) and it was completely dark by 1730, completely sux not having Daylight savings anymore. Had a few breaks along the way and then stayed at a State restop 1mile east of WaKeeney, KS. I went to sleep pretty much as soon as my head hit the pillow just after midnight which was when we stopped driving. We have jumped forward another hour again so we are now 16 hours behind again, being on Central Standard time. It's been getting confusing I tell you!! I woke up bright and early just before 9 (which is pretty good considering that was 8am in Denver). It was great to see what Kansas looked like during the day. Kansas is alot of nothing really but it was a beautiful day. I haven't seen the sun shine like it did today since we left Vegas. Not having the Rocky's nearby really makes a difference. Russ got up about an hour later (He did such a good job driving the night before) and we were on the road again. Once again, I've attached some photos of us before we left the rest stop. Russ just had to pose with a picture of a tumbleweed. If you look really carefully you can see the window cleaner bottle behind it as we were cleaning the windows of our RV.

Whilst looking at the map Russ discovered a town on the 70 called Russell so of course, we just had to stop there. I had to walk around with my camera taking pictures of him with his 'Russell' signs. The one with the Russell, Kansas and the Russell City Limit one are both outside a MacDonalds/BP and the intersection into town so I felt like a proper clown but take a look at Russ with the city limit one and the pose he's doing and you tell me who's the bigger clown!!! Now, we just have to find a town named 'Debra' 😊

The rest of the journey was uneventful, we were quite shocked after leaving Topeka, KS to discover that the road into Kansas City becomes a toll road! It's a good thing that we got some money out the night before as we haven't been carrying alot of cash on us.

Kansas City is right on the border of Kansas/Missouri, most of the city is actually in Missouri. It's amazing how much different the cities are here. Kansas City seems a lot older and there are so many more freeways, it's crazy! I haven't seen freeways overlapping each other like this since leaving LA. I got a bit dizzy making our way through town as it's really windy and you have to keep changing lanes. Kudos to Russ though, he did an excellent job. The colours are also very different. You can really see the autumn colours which is just beautiful.

We hadn't had any reception at all since leaving Denver so we didn't have anywhere to stay when we got here. Most of the places we have passed through have parks scattered off the interstate but Kansas City seems to be the exception to the rule. I jumped online and found one at a theme park just outside of town, 'Worlds of Fun Village'. I wasn't able to access the prices online so we figured we would go there and find out. Well, we got there and it was deserted! The website said the themepark was open until the 19th of the month but I guess they were wrong so there was nobody staying there. I was getting excited thinking we would have the whole park to ourselves as it was really pretty, definitely the prettiest one we had been to and a 100000% improvement since leaving Denvers 'Delux' park. We ended up finding out that it was $40/night excluding tax so we told them, 'thanks but no thanks'. What a bummer, so pretty and it had cabins too. I took a photo anyway to prove to Mum that I'm not living in 'Trailer Parks' and that I won't be appearing on Jerry Springer anytime soon 😊

We decided to head on out to the KOA campground which was a bit further on and we knew that it would be nice but managed to find one at about the next exit so here we are. $22/night including tax and we're as snug as a bug. It's not too bad either. We'll be staying tomorrow night and then back on the road again. We really just want to check the place out and see what it's all about. Our next stop is St Louis which is right on the Missouri/Illinois border. I read recently that it is the most dangerous city in the US so I think that will only be a 2 day stop as well. I want to check out the Gateway Arch and have a look around. I'm 95% certain that our destination will be Chicago, The Windy City.

Russ, the poor guy, fell dead asleep about an hour after we got here. He stayed awake long enough to set up the RV (pipes and all) and he's been catching zzz's ever since. It's good for me as it's meant that I've been able to write this without him wanting to use it. I didn't intend for this to be so long but it's turned out to be quite the novel.

Ok, that is all from me for now. Now for some pictures. I'm sure you'll figure them all out.

Ooh, I forgot to mention, Halloween. Well, we didn't get any knocks on our door on the 31st but Russ and I went to a shopping centre on Halloween and parents dress up their children and walk them around to the shops and the kids go in and ask for lollies. This was during the day as well. I thought that was a bit weird. I'm glad it's over, now I just have to get through Thanksgiving.

(Taken from 'Guess where we are' email sent 5/11/06)

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Photos

Buffalo Bill's Grave
Denver, CO - 4/11/06

WaKeeney, KS
Just before leaving the rest stop in Wakeeney, KS - 5/11/06

Tumbleweed Man
Russ and his beloved Tumbleweed, WaKeeney, KS

Russell in Russell, KS
What more needs to be said?

RV Park
The beautiful, deserted RV park in Kansas City, MO. I so wanted to stay there and have the whole park to our ourselves. It is right beside a theme park which was closed for the season, hence why no one was there.

Stadiums Galore!
Russ and myself and the Kansas City Chiefs football stadium. There is also a baseball stadium right beside it - 6/11/06