The Road to Denver

State of Kansas, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain,
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet, When the wind comes right behind the rain
Actually, it should be Oklahoma, but this could also be said about Kansas.
The early white migrants likened the rolling plains of Kansas like the ocean waves, a sea of grass. The covered wagons were likened to great masted ships and were called prairie schooners. When we look back at our time in Kansas, it is the wind that we will remember. They call the western part of Kansas the high plains. There are 600 miles of high plains from Kansas City to Devner. It would take 6 weeks by covered wagon to cover that much territory.
We had the luxury of time on our side this morning - we only had 549km to cover - so we spent some time exploring Historic Fort Hays. We had expected to see a wooden fort but this is the plains and wood was a very rare commodity. Instead, the fort was a group of buildings constructed from limestone that had been quarried a few miles away. They have a few wooden houses that have been preserved and depict the commanding officer's quarters. It is open to the wide-open winds of the prairies and it is not hard to imagine the soldiers and their families going about their daily routines. Across the road from the fort is a herd of bison. There were only 5adults and 4 calves. It is hard to believe to not too long ago hundreds of this huge, magnificant animals roamed all over the land.
We did our usual stop at the Subway to get our lunch for the road and then it was on to Denver. The temperature is up to 32.5C when we stopped to have our lunch at the rest stop on the Interstate. The wind was as welcome as air conditioning. Our car is handling the heat very well. We saw 4 cars pulled off to the side of the road today with their hoods up. Whether it was from heat or mechanical problems it is hard to say.
We arrived in Denver shortly after 6pm (it helped that we have are now in Mountain Time). We were very warmly greeted by Ed's cousin, Krystyna and her husband Andrew. They have gone out of their way to make us welcome. They gave us a very western dinner - bbq bison and a delicious fresh salad. They live in an area with wonderful views of the mountains. Looking toward the skyline, you would almost think that you were in Vancouver looking toward the North Shore.
The evening had cooled down to a very comfortble 80F. We took a much needed walk around their neighbourhood. Ed and I have been on the road for 2 weeks.
We have now completed over 8000 kilometers on our Odyssey. We are still one week away from home and there is still so much more to discover. Tomorrow we are headed to Colorado Springs.