An Unscheduled Adventure

We are on the road heading west to see our son in Colorado.  Have made the run from the Illinois to Denver more times than I can remember.  First run was in 1969 with my parents.  Passed thur on the way to see bears in Yellowstone eventually to be dropped off in Idaho for a misspent period of time at the U of ID. Go Vandals!   Back on track……

An approaching blizzard with wind gusts over 60 mph forced the closure of the interstate so we stopped early in the day in Goodland, KS.  Where upon Sherrie, always on the lookout for opportunities to bring a little culture into my life, immediately consulted TripAdvisor for attractions to help us embrace the fun of an unexpected overnight stay.

Entrance to I-70 west at Goodland, KS

She found that there was a giant reproduction of a Van Gogh painting created by Canadian artist, Cameron Cross.  The Carnegie Arts Center in one of the famous libraries that has been repurposed and the High Plains Museum, home of “America’s First Patented Helicopter” (I looked that fact up later.)  No surprise here, I became distracted and did not actually see any of those places.

I wanted to make a quick stop to round out our provisions before the cultural tour began. With the help and advice of our hotel desk clerk we were provided a map to the liquor store that has the best selection of bourbon in town.  An interesting brand of bourbon labeled “Little Dog” called out to us but we went for something a little more certain.  Given our harrowing drive, we were not interested in taking any chances with something this important.  While making our selection the sales person told us about Crazy R’s.  The High Plains Museum visit would be delayed once again.   Crazy R’s was only a couple of blocks away if we followed instructions and turned left out of the gravel lot.  We didn’t, we turned to the other left and wandered around more than one would expect in a town this size.

For a town 4400 people there were very few on Main Street or any street for that matter.  We later learned that most of the people went home ahead of the looming blizzard.  Even the school was closed for the day.

Eventually we stumbled across Crazy R’s just to the left around the corner from our earlier stop. Crazy R it turns out is named after its owner, Rob, imagine that. Rob’s wife, be Michelle, behind the bar was friendly and kept our glasses appropriately filled. Rob is a collector of stuff and has an amazing collection of antique tricycles hanging from the ceiling.  I know no one expected this but we ended up spending the afternoon talking to the other patrons.  Never did make to the High Plains Museum. Life is good.

Dennis