Yesterday, we drove from the Neegronda Reservoir north up to Brush, Colorado. No, it's true that the scenery is not fantastic. But there are still some interesting things to see along the way if you look for them!
Ruth noticed an attraction on her map. Yes, she still carries a paper map on her lap. Anyhow, the World's Wonder View Tower was only a slight detour. So we looked it up and decided to head there.
A bit of truck traffic because this road leads to Denver.
Our ten mile detour was on this road.
This is one of Colorado's Most Endangered Places.
Sherman, at the World's Wonder View Tower.
Nobody around but us.
Here's an interesting article I found, written in 2016...
Obviously, nothing has been done to it.
Hmm... looks like people up there...
Nope. Just dummies.
Interesting.
Inside.
The tower is kind of falling apart.
The story was that you could see six states from this, the highest point between New York City and Denver. (Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Mexico, and South Dakota)
Ruth at the World's Wonder View Tower.
I found a photo online that showed the tower in it's heyday...
From there we went into the town of Limon and filled up with fuel for $2.50 a gallon USD. ($0.86 per liter CAD). The price is starting to creep higher as we go north. Also, I notice the price of crude oil hit a new 3 year high the other day, so I'm sure that's contributing to the increase. Sherman's trip to Yukon is going to be expensive in the fuel department.
And then, the fairly dull drive up to Brush, Colorado. No traffic though, since everybody is on the Interstate. Just fine with us!
Lots of wind turbines.
Just us and the open road!
The community of Last Chance, Colorado!
We made it to the Brush Municipal Campground where your first night is free, and any further night is $20. Nice little town, but not sure why anybody would hang around more than a day or two.
Sherman, at the Brush Municipal Campground.
We got parked up, and went for a walk.
Ruth, at the Brush Fishing Pond.
The town of Brush.
Not much happening on a Sunday afternoon.
Ah... I guess everyone is at the movie theater!
It turned into a beautiful sunny day yesterday. Just about perfect!
We went back to Sherman and played a few games of backgammon. Then, I opened one of the packages we picked up the other day. Figured I had better read the instructions to see what I was getting into...
Really impressed with how they've made the installation straightforward.
Read instructions, and then open box A.
Seems simple enough. The only thing is going to be running the wires, but we'll figure it out. Didn't do any installation yesterday, just opened the box and read the instructions. We'll update you more as we go along!
Another beautiful day today. Heading north to Kimball, NE. Not a very far drive, because we did a longer than normal drive yesterday!
Yesterday's drive, 179 miles (286 kms).
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Gets great reviews.
And in Canada...
We avoid Interstates when we can. Often, there's an old US highway going through small towns that the Interstate paralleled when it was built, bypassing the towns. When that happened, all the new development immediately went out to the Interstate, and development in town stopped, leaving the town centers as a 1950s time capsule. If you have time (We're Retired -- Go Around Us) those are far more interesting.
ReplyDeleteWe really hate the Interstates but sometimes you just can't avoid them! The back roads are just so much more interesting and you have a lot more opportunities to pull over and stop if you see something interesting or somewhere good to stay overnight. Yep, we sure have seen that "time capsule" effect in many of these little towns. Some are trying really hard to make the downtown area a happening thing again, quite a few little specialty shops, knick-knack/antique kind of places and little cafes. We really hope that they can make a go of it. So much history in these places but it seems that everyone is just in to much of a rush to notice them.
DeleteWhat an interesting old pic of the tower! So glad you took the time to find that and post it for us.
ReplyDeleteWe are glad we took the time to stop by too, it was an interesting diversion.
DeleteCool pictures of this abandoned amusement park, kind of spooky too...
ReplyDeleteIt's wasn't an amusement park, just an old roadside attraction with a tower, a small museum and a couple of shops that would have sold cheap little tourist souvenirs. It was an interesting stop though, glad we made the small detour.
DeletePretty simple to me... if people don't open their eyes long enough they surely won't find anything to see... every town has a story!
ReplyDeleteSo very true, John! And it seems that so many people are in a rush to get from point A to point B, they don't see what's in between and that is often where all the little hidden gems are. :-)
DeleteIt is too bad they let historical structures deteriorate like that. Was nice in its gayest. Yup gas is going up for sure it is $122.00 a liter here in Alberta. Drive safe!
ReplyDeleteIt really is! I hope they are able to raise enough money to be able to resurrect this old tower and bring it back to what it was in it's heyday.
DeleteNot looking forward to those higher gas prices but if we want to travel then it is the price we will have to pay.
We have just finished 3 1/2 months in Australia. Most of our time was in camper vans. Gas was similar price to Canada but at Uluru it worked out at $7:50 US a gallon. We are spoiled in the US. We also went through similar looking small towns. Go well.
ReplyDeleteWow, as you know that is definitely somewhere that we want to travel as well. So glad that you were able to do it and in an camper van to boot. That is certainly the way to see Australia.
DeleteYikes, $7.50 a gallon is a lot of money but at least it was only in one area that it was that bad.
I love that you travel the back roads. So do we. There are so many of these little towns that I can't wait to get to. What I've just started doing is rolling into these little towns and start asking who they think is the most interesting person in the town then seeing if they'd be interested in a video interview. We all travel through these towns but hardly ever get to know the people in them. That is the work I'm eager to take on. I always wanted to be Barbara Walters! I so enjoy your travel blog.
ReplyDeleteI guess there are still a few of us around that like taking the back roads judging from some of the comments that we have gotten. :-)
DeleteThat is a great idea, I am sure that you will get some very interesting interviews doing that. And you are right, even we are guilty of going into towns but not really taking the time to talk with some of the locals, sometimes we do but not always.
Back roads and country life - that’s why we love your blog - it’s right up our alley!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Connie and Barry, and you sure meet wonderful people by doing that. ;-)
DeleteYup....driving on secondary and back roads are our style of traveling too. But we’re still too chicken to be away from a regular campground. Heheh. We always carry a paper map as a back up to the Garmin. I love to see the entire area as opposed to the limited area a Garmin shows and that’s how we usually find those interesting places to detour to! Safe travels.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter that you stay in a regular campground, there are lots of them around on the back roads, at least you are seeing these little hidden gems.
DeleteI love having a paper map exactly for that reason, seeing the bigger picture. If I hadn't had that map, we would have missed the World's Wonder View Tower!