Day Four, Seibert CO
Bunny! Bunny! This was this morning in Walsenburg, Colorado at the truck stop, before I left.
Well, I was supposed to be staying at a wildlife preserve in Flagler Colorado, but it seems that one detail was left out of the site’s description. That would be that the entire parking area has a wicked tilt to it, so I had to give up on it and press on. No amount of boards I had as levelers could compensate.
Well, Bunny didn’t mind me getting up to get the camera, and just decided to take it easy for awhile!
Just a few miles down the road in Seibert, there was a Conoco travel stop with a huge dirt parking lot for semis to stay overnight. However, there was also a place called Shady Grove RV Park, an improvised overnight place in someone’s large yard that still manages to have hookups for sewer, water and 20/30/50 amp electrical service, TV with a million channels, plus free WiFi that I haven’t been able to log onto successfully, and the nice lady in the office is away for 4-1/2 hours to pick up her husband at an airport, probably Denver. I could use some WiFi to be able to let the iMac update its software, but this day is not going according to plan.
The same snow-capped pair as in earlier shots, but I didn’t mention that they were what I always saw right out my dining window, despite the semi-trailer parked next to me!
All of today’s drive was on open grazing land that rolled a bit here and there, but the distances you can see in all directions are incredible. 95% of it was on good two-lane county roads, and just the last bit on I-70. Good thing I had topped up on fuel, and also had a pretty reliable rig, because breaking down on these roads would put a crimp in the nonstop gawking. There are no shoulders, ever, and ranch entrances to pull in are few and far between. Unless you care to roll it over into a ditch, you may as well just stop on the roadway. It’s okay though – traffic is sparse. Towns are few and far between too, and business-bare groups of houses appear now and then. You can do 45-65 without getting in anyone’s way, and see some great stuff. Just don’t break down or run out of gas. Even if your cellphone worked, you’d likely have trouble describing where you were.
Roads as nature intended them, unobtrusive ribbons of transport and adventure that follows the terrain.
But, as you look around, you may not care. No camera can capture the scope of this part of Colorado, and the proof is that while these snapshots might look okay but far from compelling, along the way I passed one land parcel entry after another that had posted prominently, “NOT for sale”.
In some areas vegetation was plentiful and in some, not.
Many ranchhouses are within sight of the road, which can mean quite some distance away. Seldom are they close. Most are out of sight down long gravel trails that wind over distant rises and disappear. Here, a 40-acre farm would feel very confined.
These were scattered about here and there, but not commonly, which made them stand out.
Roadside telephone poles are not a given out here. Many times, they simply criss-cross the distant landscape, if at all.
This is far from the longest view I had out there, but still, imagine turning your head slowly to see this all ’round you. No cell towers, no high tension lines, and in many places, no telephone poles.
At last, the Interstate. Not much song-inspiring romance or sense of adventure, but that’s the point. Broad-shouldered, engineered for uninterrupted 80 MPH speeds, and usually smooth as glass. They’re the best choice to make good time over long distances. Those poles are wind generators, spread out over miles in the biggest grouping I’ve ever seen.
When you see this vision of wretched excess rising up out of Flagler, Colorado, you know it’s time for a stop.
It’s the I-70 Diner! Not the cleverest name, but it works for them. How is it that the architecture has such a siren call?
And inside, just as rewarding. This was a fun place, the food and service were great, and the prices only mildly horrifying using 1972 lenses. Very good fish sandwich (with malt vinegar) with choice of side and bottomless lemonade, $10. The interior was clean, pristine, and busy.
Just one more component of why this place really “works”.
On the way out to the unsuitable wildlife preserve, this sagging building and windmill caught my attention.
Towns out west tend to be named after whatever mogul brought the railroad in, and Flagler is no exception. And how and why these towns get their hands on obsolete military equipment like this is a head-scratcher for me. This thing has no canopy, so it might be a drone (expensive target for missile testing). Just a wild guess. Why, doesn’t YOUR town have one of these???
This is downtown Seibert, which has seen better days, but not perhaps not much better. These are all abandoned, and right across the street from the active post office. Me, I love the Seibert Hotel, and wouldn’t I love a quick tour inside! Makes me curious as to what this little town’s version of heyday was like, and when. The owner of the block, Jan Presley has a stunning $6 million dream to restore the downtown to become a 1920’s-era draw for tourists, but needs an angel investor. Like the I-70 Diner just down the road, it could work, technically. There’s a huge difference between her vision of stylish 1920s Art Deco and the hardscrabble reality of rural small-towns in that period, but more power to her!
Ahhh, west and wewaxation at wast! If you’ve ever wanted to run your own RV park into the ground, here’s your chance. The park and home on it are for sale.
Strolling Amok 
I saw an RV park for sale in Rockport Texas too.
Yep Rob, they’re out there, if you want to own the pain!