From the mountains…🎶🎵to the prairies🎶…

A scenic drive through canyons edged by the Colorado River led us out of Utah. The red rocks changed to whitish mounds then to farmland and finally looming Rocky Mountains.

At the Colorado side of the state line we passed a sign for the Trail Through Time, so we off we went. This unshaded and rather steep hike is a dinosaur fossil field. The interpretative signs clearly mark and describe the fossils of more than eight types of dinosaurs.

The hot, unshaded climbs of Colorado came to an abrupt end as our ascent through the Rockies began. We passed through many of the most famous ski resort towns including Aspen, Vail and Breckenridge. All had a foot or more of fresh snow from last week. It was a beautiful site. We stopped for lunch in Idaho Springs (I don’t know why there is an Idaho Springs in Colorado) and then we headed to Boulder to enjoy the pedestrian plaza on Pearl Street.

After Boulder, the mountains dissolved into unending plains. Farms and ranges filled with crops and cows filled our view to the horizon. Nebraska definitely fits it’s Cornhusker motto. We stopped in Minden after multiple signs directed us to Pioneer Village. This was the passion project of Harold Warp, a local businessman. There are many buildings, all filled with Americana collectibles. It represents the progress of mankind. For example, there are a series of kitchen settings that span each decade from the late 1800s to the 1950s, each with their latest appliances. There is a lot to explore.

Hastings. Nebraska has a large municipal museum and we arrived near closing time so the exhibit we focused on was about Edwin Perkins, the inventor of Kool-Aid. It is a terrific success story about a local entrepreneur and a powdered drink that is world famous. “Oh Yeah”- they do not sell any Kool-Aid in the museum! Nebraska might be flat, but it did not leave us flat.