We kept our eyes on Pikes Peak in our rear view mirrors as long as we could...
Once again focusing east, we saw quite a contrast in landscape from what we had seen the past few days...
I will admit, I'm glad we had filled up our gas tank when we left Colorado Springs, because we saw nothing...nothing...for miles. I guess it's not fair to say we saw "nothing", but it was definitely barren!
Not long before we entered Kansas on Route 40, we stopped in Cheyenne Wells CO for a pit stop and pictures...
Our first tumbleweed...
We made our way into Sharon Springs, KS, and of course found the grain elevators...
We headed south of town for a few miles, and following my sister's directions, found our final destination for the day...
The Sommerfeld house...
We stayed with my brother-in-law's parents, who live in the very western part of Kansas, only a handful of miles from Colorado. We have visited with Stan and Jan when they have come to PA to visit family, but this was a first for us, to visit their home in Kansas. Jim had been through Sharon Springs on the wheat harvest over 30 years ago, but of course didn't know them then. They very graciously welcomed us, and Jan had a delicious lunch waiting for us when we arrived!
Stan and Jim...
After lunch, we hopped into their vehicle and got a grand tour of the area. We checked out one of Stan's center pivot irrigation units...
We saw lots of beautiful landscape, blue sky and cotton ball clouds! It was fun to see how things were beginning to turn green as we made our way across the county. Spring was definitely showing it's face...
Stan was acquainted with a neighboring farmer who has around 8,000 cows, and we got a personal tour of the facility. We got to watch them milk in their double-24 milking parlor, and this picture fascinated me. It spites me that I can't remember how many calves they have on milk, but it was either 300 or 500 bottle babies! It was fun to watch, but I certainly had no trouble leaving that job for someone else to do! :)
When we got back to the house, Jan prepared another wonderful
The next morning, Jim and I got up and took a walk. We kind of saw the sun came up...
Jim checked out the grain truck...
...and we enjoyed watching the horses...
Our visit wasn't very long,but we really enjoyed our time in Sharon Springs, and appreciated Stan and Jan's warm hospitality!
Of course we were sent off with a huge breakfast...strawberry french toast...homemade cinnamon rolls, and much much more...
And did I mention that we also got to take lots of food along for our trip that day?
Thank you so much, Stan and Jan, for taking the time to host us!
Our next set destination was Evanston IL to visit my sister and family, and we had a couple of days to get there, so we studied our map and considered our options. We decided to head north towards Nebraska, and then east, with a goal of getting to Fairbury Nebraska by late afternoon/evening. We were interested in seeing some historical Oregon Trail sights.
Off we went, with a few rabbit trails in between.
That will be saved for next time...
8000 cows are a lot of cows. I was just looking on youtube about the largest farm in Saudi Arabia desert where they milked 25000 cows. It was amazing to see how super clean the place was. They employed 648 men. The operation was top notch. Lots of Money.
ReplyDeleteYour host were super thoughtful. How nice of them to give you food for the trip. I'm just thinking how desolate the trip must be for truck drivers who travel that section every day.
I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your trip.
Have a great 4th of July. We are celebrating our long Canada Day weekend on July 1st. It's raining today so I'm staying inside.
Hugs, Julia
I hope your Sharon Springs family didn't get hit by the hailstorm that went through in late June. We had friends whose crops were devastated.
ReplyDeleteI'm always glad to feel like I "hear" from you via your blog. I hope things continue to go well in your life after cows.