North to Alaska, Part 5, Fort Morgan, Colorado

Thursday, May 17th, we rolled out of Kansas to cross the southwest corner of Nebraska,

Then on to colorful Colorado.

Where we passed this little US Land Office,

And several aromatic cattle feed lots.

And then there were 5. We met up with Birdie at Riverside Park in Fort Morgan.

Birdie fixed us all dinner.

And we ate very well.

Left to right: Me, Birdie, Mitch, Tina, Nan

This is a pretty City Park with lots of geese and ducks. Free camping for 5 days with electric hook-ups.

Our mascot Belle enjoyed the goat cheese dip that Sarah gave us.

We learned a bit about Fort Morgan while looking for Geocaches. The Fort was located on the Overland Trail which was used to travel to the gold fields west of Denver. Troops from the fort were to protect the stagecoaches and freight wagons. It closed after the railroad was completed. The fort, and subsequently the town was named for Civil War hero, Col. Christopher Morgan, who never came west of the Mississippi River.

This is the historic Rainbow Bridge, built in 1922. It is 1110 feet long, 19 feet wide and has 11 spans, making it the longest bridge of its type in the world. 

It has survived two major floods, in 1935 and 1965, but was closed to motorized traffic due to its size and age. It is used for foot and bicycle traffic today.

Birdie and I watched these Cliff Swallows? fly in and out from under the bridge.

 They swooped down to skim the surface of the water.

 Cliff Swallow

 Brown Thrasher and Mourning Dove on the bank of the river.

 And also in the river...

 Guess I won't kayak here.

 Wild roses are fragrant. 

Fort Morgan is known as the "Dinky Capital of the World. There are three of these little engines on display around the city. These lowly industrial locomotives were called Dinkies.

They were used by the Great Western Sugar Company Refineries to move railroad cars filled with sugar beets.

 Belle came with us to see the Dinky.

And in a nearby tree, these other birds were seen. Of course it was Birdie who spotted them first.

On Friday afternoon, Carol arrived making our caravan complete! Her RV is the new black one in the middle.

 Mitch made fajitas for dinner, but she wouldn't let me take her picture.

 There was too much laughter, causing Tina to run away.

Herschel says, "Don't look at me. I didn't do it." 

Oh Tina, don't look so embarrassed...it's only water, right?

The mayor of Fort Morgan hasn't been to visit us, so we've decided to stay another day here to give him more time. Perhaps he hasn't heard we're here yet.