Day 44: Colorado Springs, CO to North Platte, NE

It rained all day as predicted -- but not heavily so I was still able to shoot. Very quickly and with much wiping off of the camera. Hopefully, I won't have too many blurred or streaky photos. I made it through all my CO stops and feel good about that. The weather looks like it will be much nicer tomorrow, alas, when I'm on the interstate.

The dogs were pretty rambunctious in the van -- constant playing between Nik and Grem -- which means constant barking of Grip and Fix. Well, it kept me from getting drowsy. Because of the rain, the only one who got any true exercise -- though never enough -- was Nik. He would chase his ball in a field of fire I think. There are no dog parks in the plans for the rest of the trip so I'll just look for abandoned lots or deserted parks off the interstate.

Here's the plan: I've barely entered NE and am a good 24 hours of straight driving from home with two days to do it in. So I'll do the rest of my NE stops tomorrow (Saturday) -- there aren't many. Then I'll blow off the IA, IL, and IN stops I had planned. Those will have to wait until next summer's big Midwest trip. I'll drive as far East as I humanly can tomorrow night and skip the Flickr uploads and this blog in favor of sleep. I'll catch up on Monday morning when I'm home.

These photos are from Colorado Springs unless noted. I was surprised to see this sign still there with development going on all around it and a terrible location next to the highway. The cowboy is painted rather strangely -- it's not the blurriness of the rain in this case:



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This motel, the Dun Rovin' (love the name!) looks like it's been closed awhile. Sadly, the doors are all boarded up and there's a big dumpster under the porte cochere (I love using that name but really, it just means carport). Even though it's closed, the neon for "office" and fittingly "sorry" are still lit, even during the day. From the remaining concrete posts, it looks like the rooms had long rows with these midcentury legs as well.



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This plastic sign is not all that special but the cowboy detail is nice:





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I've driven by a lot of chainsaw art on this trip but I've never seen a gnome before. This guy was in Manitou Springs, CO:



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I like the way the artist cleverly merged the "K" with a spatula. This sign is from Holyoke, CO.



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And lastely, this giant cheery flower was a nice break from the rain and gloom. This was south of (possibly in) Julesburg, CO. The photo was taken near dusk and came out so dark that I had to pump up the brightness considerably. It makes the photo look a little surreal but so be it.