Kansas

 I stayed off I70 for half the day today. Started with a detour to Mushroom Rocks and Kanopolis State Parks. The first is small but pretty interesting. Lots of standing rocks and multiple mushroom rocks. These are 60 - 100 million years old. I got there before sunrise so it was a good time to check them out as the sun came up. Kanopolis is a large man made lake with multiple campgrounds around it. A good place to camp some day?

Maybe 250 miles from Colorado Springs I cut down on 40 and other roads. Pretty uninhabited area. There was a sign at one point that said no services for 90 miles. Rolling straight road with prairie on both sides and the occasional tumble weed crossing the road. The middle of Kansas on I70 was a combination of old style oil pumps and wind mills. 

Another long trip out West. It worked out well. Some snow at the start but mostly good weather. Colorado Springs is getting a significant snow storm tonight into tomorrow. Good that I made it ahead of that. Some of the roads today had signs that said they only plowed from 7AM to 7PM and they also had closure gates.

Mushroom Rocks:

Kanopolis:

Driving in Kansas:

Colorado Springs:

The next morning (Thu). Glad I am not driving today:

VT -> Colorado Springs

 Vermont to Colorado Springs. At least that is the plan. Skiing in Colorado and Utah and hiking in Colorado and Utah. 

Travel day 1: I started out in a snow storm. Maybe 2-3 inches the night before and snowing consistently for the first hour. The storm was moving out and I was driving South so the driving got fairly good in the second hour. Strong winds most of the day. It did turn sunny and was 50 degrees in Ohio. A fairly uneventful day once I got out of the snow. Made it to Springfield OH. The same truck stop as last year. Kind of like home away from home? No, it's not!

Travel day 2:

There were three cities today where I70 got too close. In Indianapolis there are a number of turns and you are right in the city. One false move and you are downtown. Lots of traffic but I made it through. I remember last year didn't work so well. Kansas City and Topeka are similar with I70 turning into a city visit. Luckily Topeka is small.

Another long day today so I didn't see a lot. Highway driving. Kansas started to get interesting. One rest area I stopped at had a nice short hike up a hill where you could look out over the prairie. 

Did I mention I saw an alien space craft in Kansas?

Two Spring Days

 Skiing at Stowe felt like the end of March. Temperatures around 40-45 and not going below freezing at night. Good Spring snow making most anything skiable. Cloud banks both days. Sometimes at the top of the mountain and sometimes down low like today. Mountains peaking out of the clouds. 

Neighborhood woods: