Day 3: June 4th, Reaching Lebanon

After an excellent egg, sausage, biscuit breakfast Sophia, Snoopy and I got on the road.  We took US350 to La junta.  This was an amazing ride through the Colorado country.  There were hills, not Rocky Mountains, as this is the east part of the state.  Everything is green, fresh air, farms, ranches, great beauty.  But I bet it is hell in the winter J.

Along the way we passed the Commanche National Grasslands.  Pretty cool looking area….need to stop and visit there next time when I’m not on a schedule.

We then connected to CO71 which took us to I70 heading into KS.  At Colby we jumped off I70 and took US24 to US83 then KS383 which hypotenuesed us to US36.  many miles later I almost missed the exit for KS181 which takes us into Lebanon.  This town is a very small old town.  Not much here as there is a very small population. 

The gas station is on 181 and while I was tanking up I couldn’t contain my curiosity about some kind of massive farming equipment being towed by a huge tractor sitting at the station.  This is when I met Chuck Warner and his daughter Alayna.  They own and operate a farm and were getting ready to plant soybean onto 1600 acres well into midnight.  They took the time to explain the equipment to me and how they now plant their fields using GPS .  To me, these folks are the true Americans, still producing agriculture for the rest of us Americans who I feel often take our food source for granted.  But I diverse, as usual…..

When I went to get my receipt, I was too late to hit the “Yes” button so I went to  the station door to get a copy when OOPS!, the station was closed!

This is where Chuck and Alayna showed what being a Kansas Farmer is all about.  They knew where Bill Befort was (he has the key) and went to get him so he could open the store and get me a needed receipt.  How about them apples!  Or rather, how about them soybeans! 

With receipt in hand, photos taken at the Marker, Blaine WA dialed into the Zumo, it was

backtracking on 36 to get onto US183 to connect with I80 west.  The only problem was….it got dark real quick.  Riding the country road at night with blinking oncoming headlights was not fun.   Fortunately we came upon Alma NE and a nice motel to turn in for the night.  The day amounted to only 569 miles.

Ahhh, this 4 Corners stuff can get exciting !

C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
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