Previously on Mr. K and I Roam the Country, we finished out our stay in Orlando in a funk due to the election results. We spent our last night in our rental condo driving to and then back from a concert in Clearwater. The next morning, due to parking lot work, we had to drag all our luggage a block down the sidewalk instead of being able to load the car right out front where we’d been able to park the whole rest of the trip. I was glad to be going.

That first night on the road we made it to Stockbridge, Georgia, about which I recall pretty much nothing. This might have been the place that there was a group of high school students mobbing the breakfast room, especially the pancake machine, the next morning, but that might have been somewhere else. They weren’t unruly, just young and numerous.
From Georgia, we drove and drove, through Tennessee (where we saw some smoke from forest fires) and Kentucky and Illinois, ending up in O’Fallon, Missouri for the night.

The day after that, we took a bit more leisurely approach, stopping in Topeka to play tourist. We toured the capitol, then ventured out to Burnett’s Mound to do some hiking, find the spot where Kansas, the band, posed for a couple iconic photos decades apart, and watch the sunset. We eventually bedded down for the night a few hours down the road in Hays, Kansas.

 

 

 

 
We spent more quality time in Kansas the following day, stopping in Colby to explore the downtown, including a cafe with a very limited menu that changes every day, and also take in the Prarie Museum of Art and History, which was small and charming, with both indoor and outdoor exhibits.

 

 
Then it was on to Colorado, where we visited with our niece and her family for the evening. This is where Simon the cat, who lived with my mom, now resides; it was nice to see him thriving in his new home.

Our second to last day on the road dawned in Fort Collins, Colorado. We chose to take a slightly longer route toward home so as to see some new parts of Wyoming and Idaho (and Montana; it’s just not possible to avoid Montana).

 

 
We spent our last night on the road in Idaho Falls, Idaho, then made our way home, with one stop near Spokane to pick up our truck and have dinner with our friend Mary. It was good to be back.

 

*****
On this date in 2015: Cat Portraits are Hard
2014: Rest in Peace, Daddy Dale
2013: No entry
2012: Candy Is Dandy
2011: Flaky
2010: Now I Know My ABCs
2009: No Vaccine for This
2008: It Was Okay
2007: Contrast
2006: Run Like the Dickens
2005: Winter Count—March
2004: Stressed
2003: TP
2002: No entry