First off today I have to wish my baby a happy birthday.   We love you Gregory.  Hope you have a wonderful day.    Sorry we aren’t there to share it with you.   I’m sure the kids will have something special for you and be so excited.   Happy 28th sweetheart!

We are still at the rest area.  Load of kegs of beer won’t be ready until 11.   I wish I could go back to sleep but too used to getting up before dawn now.

Got to our 11 am appointment.  It’s supposed to be a drop and hook.  Drop ours.  Hook up a loaded one.  But it’s not ready. They can live load us, which is where we back the truck up to the dock and load while we wait, so we say ok.  Well, 5 1/2 hours later we are finally loaded and able to go.   This really ate up Greg’s clock so we probably aren’t getting to Dodge City on time but will try.   I hate to leave Colorado.  I think just what I’ve seen this has to be the prettiest place so far.    Wow doesn’t describe it.

Leaving the Budweiser plant I saw a bird in the grass with a bright yellow belly.  Never seen it before so I tried to get a picture of its belly but all I got was its back and it flew off.  Turns out it was a Western Meadowlark.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_meadowlark

Didn’t get any good pictures of the mountains today.   Low cloud cover.   Couldn’t even see the taller peaks that I was able to get pictures of yesterday.

One of the guys at the travel center had just moved from Lake City, Colorado to Fort Collins, where we were.  He said it was to be closer to doctors.   He looked about 70ish I would think so he or his wife must be ill.   He really loved Lake City and talked about it quite a bit.  He said it was nothing unusual to wake up and have breakfast with deer, elk and moose in the yard.   You could walk right out of the house and go hiking in the mountains.  I looked up Lake City in google and I dont know if I would have moved.   I would probably make the 2 hour trip to the doctor if I needed to.

http://www.lakecity.com/

We passed a huge motorcross track.   I just got a little bit of it but it was huge and motorcycles all over it.

DG here: well I had to tie Annie up to get her back in the truck. It wasn’t pretty. Kicking and screaming, yelling, “I don’t want to go. Leave me here. I love Colorado.” Wailing and gnashing of teeth. It was awful. Finally got her calmed down enough to where I could drive so I untied her. Swerved a little when she went up side my head with her big 64 oz diet coke jug, glad it was empty, but I’m feeling better now.

She will probably pout for several days especially since we will be retracing previous paths for the next couple of days. Just kidding.    (ANNIE HERE – I could live here.  No doubt in my mind.   Yes with the snow and the bears!   I was so excited to be heading toward Denver when we left the Budweiser place only to get within 20 miles of it and the GPS on the truck sent us around it.    I so wanted to see it and get pictures.  I will next time! )

Colorado is beautiful though. At least the part we saw. They had a visitor center next to the rest area and we spent some time in there. I bought a book on past and present Colorado. I like those kinds of books where they show you what it looked like way back when and how it has changed. Annie and I are in agreement, the Indians should have stopped the Europeans at the beach.

Okay, that’s all for me. Good night and God bless. Oh, almost forgot, Happy Birthday son. We love you very much.