All the Pages Are My Days - the first 12 years
the (archived) online world of Mike Rodriquez 2002-2012
Three weeks, 5000 miles and 1200 photos later, we’re back from our visit to Kansas, where we had a great time! As reflected in this journal, we took our time both coming and going, exploring the vast and rugged Southwest United States. Our time in Kansas was very satisfying as we got to spend a … Read more
We started home about 3:30pm Monday, leaving due west on US 56 out of McPherson. We had an uneventful drive, arriving in Lamar Colorado, around 8pm; well in time for the sunset: The next day, on Colorado highway 10, we spied a most marvelous site; mile after mile of sunflowers, visible on both sides of … Read more
The Faris Caves are man-made caves hand-carved into a sandstone cliff near the Smokey Hill River in North Central Kansas near Kanopolis Lake. We visited there after a day of geocaching, though we didn’t pursue the cache located at the site. Other caches found that day included Potato Hill and Soldier’s Cap.
One of the things I love about this area is the Smokey Hill River. It used to be that many of the bridges in the area were of the old iron design depicted in these photos. Sadly, most of them have been replaced by more modern designs. While safer, the new bridges certainly lack the … Read more
The wheat harvest in Kansas is turning out to be the best one in 3 years. The impact on a small town is chronicled in this story which helps underscore how important agriculture is to the overall Kansas economy. Here are some photos of the wheat harvest north of Lindsborg, taken over the past few … Read more
Here’s a view of the Smokey Hill River, taken near the Old Mill in Lindsborg, Kansas: Another view of Lindsborg from Coronado Heights: Nice sunset from Coronado Heights:
On Wednesday, our journey continued. We spent most of the day in far western Kansas before heading to Lindsborg, where we arrived a bit after 9pm. Mount Sunflower, located just east of the Colorado border, is the highest point in Kansas, but a mountain it isn’t. Only barely higher than the surrounding prairie, it does … Read more
We drove down to Mesa Verde on Monday, first stopping by Hovenweep, a collection of 5 prehistoric, Puebloan-era villages. Once we reached Mesa Verde we were able to get good views of many of the ancient cliff dwellings found at this remarkable site where ancient cultures thrived from about 600AD to 1300AD. Contemplating life along … Read more
Sunday we paused on our journey east to spend some time at the Arches National Park. While in the area we also drove up to the Canyon Lands National Park and visited the Utah State Park known as Dead Horse Point.
After starting with a relatively serene view of Yosemite’s Half Dome, our journey through the desert revealed some elements of the untamed west. In eastern Nevada we drove past many “dust devils”, and a bit later spied this intense gateway arch that was completely covered with deer antlers, a sight quite unlike any we’ve seen … Read more