Overnight, I had to contend with the time change - and, for some reason, I woke up in middle of night. Fortunately, I was able to go back to sleep and finally was ready to get out of bed at the (the new) 0630. As I typically do on weekend mornings, I did some reading, puzzles and Duolingo. At about 0745, I went to breakfast in the lobby of the Mid-Town Motel (La Junta) - they had a pretty good spread for such a small room! Looking out the window, I started to wonder if it had rained overnight. This morning's weather was cloudy with 50 F temps. At that point, I hoped I'd just be able to avoid rain later in the day... Back in my room, I did some preparation (AI mapping of routes) for visiting three local National Park Service locations and do some birding in new counties (for me) of Colorado. At 0835, I left the motel. I initially used US-50 to reach CO-107 and then turned north until I could get on CO-194. This road took me east and I arrived at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Park by 0855. A five minute walk took me to a the fort that used to stand in the area back in the 1830s and 1840s. A lot of the building was closed due to "structural concerns" but I still learned a lot about life on the Arkansas River frontier. There were a few other guests but I was able to get away from them by taking a longer walk (it ended up being 1.5 miles before I reached my car) along the river and did some birding. During this part of the day, I got my first sighting of a Scaled Quail - the area was filled with a LOT of loud Western Meadowlarks. After getting my fill of this first park stop of my day (0955), I departed to the east on CO-194. Within five minutes, I'd crossed into Bent County 1000 - strangely, the Western Meadowlarks in the prairie were so loud that I could hear them while driving! When I reached the junction with US-50, I turned "west" (south on the map) and crossed the Arkansas River into the town of Las Animas. I'd earlier seen that gas cost about $0.20 less than it had been in La Junta and I found a good example (price was just over $4) at the local Sinclair station. When checking the quality of my fuel conservation efforts, I was pleased to find that I’d driven almost 600 miles (over multiple days) on the same tank of 85 octane - result was 34.8 mpg! Done pumping at 1015, I turned back east on US-50 and made me way north. Along the way, I listened to audiobook and enjoyed the wide, four-lane highway. To reach my next stop, the Sand Creek Massacre National Historical Site, I turned north on CR-14 and made my way (using CR-19 and CO-96) into Kiowa County, which I reached just before entering the little (population 71) town of Haswell (1055). Beyond that, I finally started seeing green crops again. At 1120, I reached the town of Eads and turned north on US-287. The reason I was doing this was because I wanted to do some birding in Cheyenne County. Google AI had come up with a long, elaborate route to the town of Kit Carson but I had no intention of driving that far. Speaking of Kit Carson, I have been thinking about him for most of the last few weeks. In addition to being the namesake for several locations I've visited, I just remembered that he was the part I played in a school pageant back in the mid 1970s. I can still remember the lines... Intrigued (and, frankly, tempted), I struggled with making the decision about what to do. When I reached the border of Cheyenne County (1130), I immediately saw some birds. With that reason for entering the area completed, I checked with Google Maps and learned that there was a route directly to the east (from my current location) to the NHS. That settled it... Striking out on a dirt road (CR-BB), I crossed a huge Open Range with no road signs or any other landmarks. The day had turned windy and the temps had crept up to 54 F. At some point, I entered Kiowa County again. Meanwhile, I used CR-Y, CR-50 and CR-W to cross a series of cattle ranches. At 1205, I arrived at Sand Creek Massacre NHS and found that I was one of the few people in the area. I never went inside the (makeshift) Visitor Center but, instead, started walking out into the stiff wind. The park unit was really more of a memorial to the fallen of the the terrible 1864 murder of peaceful women and children. At every historical marker, my heart sank to read about yet another terrible crime that probably set back Native American relations with the US Government. The signs had been modified (by the Park Service?) to redact all references to the word “squaw” and it was clear that the wounds have not healed. Definitely not a good moment in American History... I was the only guest at the park for most of my visit and walked the entire length of the Monument Hill Trail and then hiked a bit of the Bluff Trail (got another 1.5 miles along the way). My visit was completed by 1250, just as a group of cars arrived. Very glad I got to be there and experience the memorial alone. From the NPS unit, I headed towards the south on CR-W, CR-59 and CO-96. Along the way, I encountered a LOT of prairie dogs, oil rigs and tumbleweeds. The seemingly endless prairie was rather forbidding... Eventually, I reached US-385 and made my way into Prowers County (1325). Along the way, I kept thinking about the movie called "The Magic of Ordinary Days”, which is set in the area. I've been reminded of this film several times, both in La Junta and during my drive across the farms nearby. My next destination, Amache National Historical Site, was also a part of that movie - it is also known as the Granada Relocation Center, used as an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II. To reach it, I turned west on US-50 just after I passed through Granada (1340). I found the entrance less than 10 minutes later but never found any kind of official infrastructure (i.e., Visitor Center). There was a reference on a bulletin board inside the park that guests could get more information at the "Amache Museum" but I never found that. My visit, therefore, consisted of driving around the "skeleton" grid of the old road map of the historic camp. Just after I arrived (1350), I did get out of the car for a little bit of walking but mostly just stayed in my car as I made my way through some areas where I found reconstructions of barracks, administrative buildings, guard shacks etc. There were enough signs to explain almost everything but I would have liked to find an actual building with exhibits. Oh well... As a result of this, I departed after only 20 minutes on site and made my way back to US-50. Continuing west, I soon (1425) arrived in the larger town of Lamar, where I encountered a major (at least for the area) traffic jam due to a long train crossing through town. Eventually, I was able to cross the tracks and continued following US-50 towards La Junta. Along the way, I got a call from Mollie and she helped me to pass the time (almost an hour) on this otherwise unremarkable drive. I reached my motel by 1535 - by them, I'd driven about 225 miles during the day (which was actually less than Google AI had predicted). I spent time entering all my observations on the eBird site and worked some more on my travel blog (almost completely caught up!). At 1650, I left the motel and walked east to Boss Hogg’s Saloon & Restaurant. The sign outside talked about an "Early Bird Special" (only before 1800) of filet mignon and I eagerly put in my order with Adrienne (bartender from last night). She informed me that the steak came with two sides and I was convinced to try the salad bar (pretty extensive) and some french fries, which I requested be smothered in white gravy (following the example of the rancher I met the night before). During my dinner, which turned out to be exceptionally good (they even gave me a slice of Texas Toast), I enjoyed two new beers (only one was new to me) and watched the last quarter of the Broncos versus Chiefs football game. It turned out to be very good and everyone in the bar cheered when the Broncos came back to win. Later, the Eagles and Commanders started playing but they were much less entertaining... Surprisingly, there were not many people in the restaurant - I'd seen a lot the night before and I thought more would want to watch football on a big TV... Towards the end of my evening, I was joined by Larry (the retired railroad employee from last night) and we had another nice talk about life in Southeastern Colorado, Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Adrienne and her colleagues were very interested in my Nomad Life and kept asking me questions throughout the evening. For good reason - by the time I left (1910), there wasn't a single customer in the bar/restaurant... Overall, I really liked the vibe of Boss Hogg's! When I walked back to my motel, I reached four miles for the day - that felt good because I didn't really find a good place to get a lot of steps. In my room again (1930), I spent the rest of the night watching movies and streaming service series episodes. Bed time (AKA the end of my weekend) was at 2310. It took a lot of driving but I'm glad I ventured out to see all the history and natural beauty of the High Plains today!
