THE OVERLAND ROUTE TO COLORADO

 After Thursdays ice storm, school was canceled for Friday, which gave me the opportunity to get the car packed up for our Christmas adventure.


With another storm predicted to hit on Saturday, we wasted no time getting on the road. 

 Running just to the North and West of the storm our first stop was to visit my Aunt Virginia in Waterloo.  At 98 years old she is an inspiration to all of us.


"My eyes and ears aren't as good as they use to be but the mouth is the last thing to go on a Becker."

  Another four plus hours on the road finds us on the West coast of Iowa, in Sioux City.  Bo and I made a run to check out a VW bus while Susie and Cynthia caught up on girl stuff.

The bus deal never clicked but we'll see what 2014 brings.

 Jason, Rick, Frank and Ron joined us for a wonderful dinner which included Bo's great popovers.  Needless to say I was very impressed.

 

We couldn't have been happier with our night with our friends.













After leaving Sioux City we followed the overland route along the Platte river choosing to stay off of I 80 while enjoying the view.

 The first European Americans to explore the potential for the Road was in the 1810s.

In the years of 1849, 1850 and 1852 traffic was so heavy along the Road that virtually all feed was stripped from both sides of the river.


 We reached Denver Sunday evening and set Beau's Charlie Brown Christmas tree up and celebrated our family Christmas and the joy of being united again after several months.



Our family tradition has always been to do a Christmas Eve hike in the woods near our home before opening any gifts but the times have changed.



This year we hiked the Cherry Creek trail to the confluence of the Platte river for several hours before head to Susie's cousin Shilia's house for
 another Christmas celebration.

We actually did get a chance to see some interesting wild life on our urban hike.


 Along with all the Canadian geese and mallards, we saw several hooded mergansers diving for small fish.








And a pair of coyotes walked along the Platte looking for an inattentive duck or goose.

Susie photo  bombed this shot I was taking of a guy on his SUP board.


I must say we had a wonderful time visiting fiends and family in the on our Denver trip.  But, spending the Holiday's with our son in his new home away from home and seeing how well he has adjusted to life in the city in such a short time was the greatest gift for us. 

I think we'll be getting to know the Westward Overland Route very well over the next several years.