Tourism on I-80 (such as it is)

Posted on May 12, 2018 by Roger

On my way back from Illinois, I made two stops.

I’ve driven past Iowa 80 many times and figured I’d stop sometime. On Friday, my tire pressure light was on, giving me the excuse I needed. (The light meant nothing — just needed to be reset.)

There are three huge rooms inside. The first is a standard gift shop with standard gift shop stuff. The second a store where you can by any truck accoutrements you can think of, and a lot I bet you never have.

The third is a full-size food court with a variety of fast-food options.

I made it as far as York, Nebraska, on Friday.

I stopped in Kearney to see the Archway, an ugly brown structure built over the interstate as the “Gateway to the Platte River Road.”

It cost me $12 to get in. I was handed headphones and a device so I could listen to spiels whenever I reached numbered locations. I actually did this at the first stop, then decided it was wasting my time. Inside the door, I was confronted with what I’ve heard is the tallest escalator in Nebraska.

The arch contains two levels of diorama on western history that take up maybe a third of the space. The rest is empty.

There’s a window onto the interstate with a radar camera pointed a traffic.

While in Kearney, I drove into town proper and bought two mediocre donuts at the only donut place in town.

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Bird #492 — Chestnut-collared Longspur

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Roger

calcarius (spur) ornatus (adorned)

Monday, May 7, 2018 —  11:13 am

Pawnee National Grasslands, Colorado — Weld County Road 69

After I saw the McCown’s Longspurs, I continued driving along the dirt road into the grasslands. I heard a Grasshopper Sparrow singing off in a section of prairie with taller grass. I pulled over to get a better look. Another birder drove up as I was putting my scope back in my car. We exchanged sightings. He said the longspurs had eluded him so far. I told him where I’d seen the McCown’s. We headed off in opposite directions.

I pulled onto another dirt road heading north. After a couple hundred yards, I saw a black spot on top of a prairie plant about 30 yards ahead of me. I angled my car across the road and took a look. The black was the belly of a Chestnut-collared Longspur, my other target bird for the morning.

After 30 seconds or so, it hopped down into the grass and foraged. I could follow it for about a minute before it disappeared.

I drove on and soon saw two birds fly across the road into the grass. Both of them were appearing and disappearing in the grass. I was settling in to watch for a while when I heard a rumble behind me. A semi with a load wrapped in blue plastic was headed my way. It was somewhat surprising since I was on a tiny dirt road in the middle of nowhere. I pulled over as far as I could and let him by. When he’d passed, the birds were gone. I didn’t see any more, but since I’d gotten good looks at my two lifers, I didn’t hang around long.

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Bird #491 — McCown’s Longspur

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Roger

calcarius (spur) mccownii (named for J.P. McCown, U.S. Army captain who discovered the bird)

Monday, May 7, 2018 — 9:14 am

Pawnee National Grassland, Colorado — Weld County Road 96

This one was pretty easy. I knew where other birders had been seeing McCown’s Longspurs on the Birding Tour in the western section of Pawnee National Grasslands. I pulled onto the dirt road and drove very slowly — stopping to check out every bird I saw. I discovered that the windshield on our new Honda distorts the view through cameras and binoculars a great deal.

The area was short-grass prairie without a tree or building in sight. I crested a rise and saw three birds on the road. One of them was Horned Lark, which helped me tell immediately that the other two weren’t.

The female McCown’s Longspur looked somewhat like a female House Sparrow with a broad, pale line above her eye. (That’s the longspur on the right.)

The female flew off into the prairie. I angled the car across the road so I could look at the male through the driver-side window. It picked at the road, moving slowly but steadily away from me most of the time.

The Horned Lark came and went and came again. The male longspur stuck around for about five minutes, then flew off into the prairie toward where the female had gone. I expected to see more, but these were the only two I spotted.

Update: The politically correct police have decided to change the name of this bird to Thick-billed Longspur, truly one of the ugliest and clunkiest bird names. Their reasoning was that John Porter McCown, who collected the first specimen, was a Confederate officer during the Civil War. They claimed that this name might offend someone. I maintain that you could ask an awful lot of people before you found anyone who had a clue who John Porter McCown was, and even longer before you found anyone who was offended that an obscure prairie bird was named for him. It’s all dumb because, in fact, he will always be the guy who discovered the bird and the Latin name is still mccownii.

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Mac Nation

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Roger

This odd little restaurant is tucked into a canyon in one of the western suburbs of Denver. The specialty of the house is mac and cheese. They bake it with whatever ingredients you choose on top. I had the Arkansas, with pulled pork, ham, and bacon. My wife ordered the New England, with Italian sausage and peppers.

We sat outside on a shaded patio and enjoyed the food. It wasn’t fancy, but it was tasty.

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Cubs vs. Rockies — Coors Field

Posted on April 21, 2018 by Roger

I had a hard time getting tickets to this game because the Rockies tried to keep Cubs fans away. In the spring, when tickets from all other games were released, these were only available as part of a package. I waited and waited and was finally able to buy just two tickets to this game.

My wife has a cold, and this day was damp and cold, so she decided it would be smarter not to go. I headed to Denver by myself and, after driving around the neighborhood for half an hour, found a parking spot in an untended lot two blocks from the stadium for $20. I toured the National Ballpark Museum. It was still two hours before game time, but one gate was open so fans could get in to watch Cubs batting practice.

After wandering around inside the stadium, I bought a Polish sausage and a bag of peanuts and found my seat. It was in the upper deck just beyond third base.

It was still raining, and I realized quickly that I wasn’t wearing enough coat. It was about 35°, and I was up where I had no protection from the wind. I got up and wandered again to keep the blood flowing.

The Rockies’ ploy didn’t work. At least half, maybe more, of the crowd was rooting for the Cubs. In my section, it was closer to 80%. The young guy next to me recently moved to Denver from Iowa, and his parents were visiting just to see the Cubs. I chatted with him off and on throughout the game.

Finally, about halfway through the game, the skies cleared, but it was too late for the sun to warm things up.

As for the game … The Cubs jumped off to an early 2-0 lead on a double by Contreras that missed being a home run by about two inches. It was close enough to review.

And that was about it until the fifth inning when Darvish walked a Rockies player who was hitting .048 and then an out later walked the pitcher who was batting .000. This brought up the top of the Rockies order, and four hits and a walk later, the Rockies had scored 5. And that was it. The Rockies won 5-2. The Cubs helped with two tootblans (thrown out on the bases like a nincompoop).

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