West bound again, for Colorado. The rest of Kansas and into the first bit of Colorado was more of the same. Corn, Wheat and Soybeans as far as the eye could see. Shortly after crossing into Colorado, we made a stop for gas and grub at a gas station in the middle of nothing but farmland. As I stood waiting on the food, an older gentleman with a cowboy hat, flannel and spurs on his boots called me over to his table. He wanted to ask about my camper and "how the hell that Lincoln Town Car is able to pull that thing". I told him about the rig and how we were headed west to the Rocky Mountains to which he suggested a more Northern route. "We've been dryer than ever this year" it was the perfect "movie" type thing to hear an old rancher say to me. "Colorado will be a lot more brown than you're expecting right now, fires down south all over the place. Careless people startin' these damn fires every summer." i thanked him for his advice and expressed how glad I was to finally be past the drive of Kansas farmland. He replied to me with "Yeah, not much to see out there, but I'm a rancher and i can't ever seem to get enough of it." He and his friend wished us the best of luck and we got back on the road for Colorado Springs.
The road on the way was where the landscape finally made its change. Beginning with a sign that stated " 70 miles till next services" the landscape surrounded us. Open land cattle farms on either side of the beat up road for about the first 50 miles. Rolling hills and a desert like appearance made for a very western feel.
As we slowly gained elevation, we could see further and further into the distance until we could finally see what we had driven so far to see. The Rocky Mountains. Standing bold and beautiful in the sky like nothing else east of that point. We drove another 20 miles until we finally reached Colorado Springs where we were ready to fill up on gas again. "Gas and Grass" gas station which doubled as a marijuana dispensary was where we stopped to search for a place to sleep for the night. Our search led us to a Bass Pro Shops where you're allowed to stay in the parking lot for a night just about anywhere in the country. We pulled in, got cozy and walked across the street to a "Brass Tap" bar where we cheers'd to Colorado to end the night.