Vroom, vroom!
We crossed 1500 miles of American heartland in two and a half days. It had to be done, as we had a lot of people and history to see. Eastern Colorado and Kansas were much more varied and rolling than we expected. We detoured south from I-70 to visit the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Flint Hills. The Nature Conservancy and the Park Service have jointly protected about 10,000 acres of the remaining prairie, of which only about 4% survives of the original 140 million acres that existed before Europeans arrived. We had a nice walk to an overlook where we could admire the grassland to the horizon, sniff the hot, fragrant air, and listen to the birds. Sublime.
The sight of the huge 250 megawatt Smoky Hills wind farm stretching for miles along I-70 was inspiring in its own way. The 120 farmers and other landowners participating in the project get $3000-5000 in annual royalties for each windmill. The footprint of each site is about .25 acre, so farmers get quite a boost in income. Their income from agricultural products from the same area would be about $15 for beef or $120 for grain. Seeing about 250 of the mighty turbines in action was a glimpse of the future. Here's a good graphic of the growth of wind production in the US since 1998:
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/images/windmaps/installed_wind_capacity_561.gif
For the rest of the trip to Boone we watched the gradual transformation of the West to the East. The flooded Missouri and Mississippi rivers were awesome, but there was no flooding of the Interstate. As we crossed the spine of the Appalachians from Tennessee into North Carolina we fell in love with that country. It's a combination of Vermont and Pennsylvania with higher mountains. It's a paradise for outdoor activities.
Boone is home to Appalachian State University where Doug's nephew Joe is a professor. Joe and his wife Holly and their two children Zachary and Greta moved there last year. They're settling in very well and loving all that the mountains have to offer. We hiked up Grandfather Mountain until we were turned back by a serious thunderstorm. The kids held up amazingly in the relentless cold rain that poured down on us for the entire 3.5 mile descent. Holly broke away for a three-day 60-mile trail run near Chattanooga. She's a dedicated runner and it would be fun to host her for the Hawai'i Ironman if and when she decides to tackle something like that.
Off we went to Raleigh-Durham to visit Doug's cousin Sherri, her husband Bob and their four little blond wonders, Cassie, Parker, Bailey and Bryce. Once again it was fun to catch up, play with great kids, and to see some of the surrounding area. We visited Doug's aunt Peggy in a nearby assisted living center. She's dealing with severe osteoporosis and arthritis, so it was a bittersweet visit. Aunt Peggy is one of the inspirations for our trip. She has traveled widely and always told us to travel when we could because You. Never. Know! So. True. One of the highlights of our visit was riding bikes on a nearby rail-to-trail project that had converted the old American Tobacco Trail rail line into a well-used bike and walking path through beautiful forest. The kids were far more interested in a frog pond they found than in biking. Their dad is a very, very patient man.
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