Attractions for Cross-Country Trip

pompomgirl wrote:
My sister loved it. Of course, she has spent her whole life in West Texas and Oklahoma so maybe that explains it.

Yea, that's probably it! I also love to stop in the little towns along old Route 66 and visit museums and photograph old restaurants, motels, and gas stations. There is a museum in Elk City, Oklahoma, just north of I-40, that calls itself the "National Route 66 Museum." It has a rather hefty admission fee, but is exceptionally well arranged and presented for a small, relatively rural museum. If you haven't been there, it is worth a stop.

If you are really into out-of-the way-history (Wendover Field!), Google "Boggsville." It is located just off US 50 south of Las Animas, Colorado. You could stop at both Bent's Old Fort National Monument between La Junta and Las Animas and Boggsville in one afternoon. Boggsville was on the Santa Fe Trail Mountain Branch near Bent's "New" Fort (now called Fort Lyon), so became a retirement village for several 1840's mountain men. Most notably, it was where Kit Carson died. Only a few buildings are left in the town, but it has a very interesting history none-the-less.

Afterward, if you did decide to spend a night near Boggsville, I would highly recommend the Lake Hasty Campground (full or partial hookups) at John Martin State Park, located a couple of miles south of US 50 between Las Animas and Lamar.

Also, if you stay on US 50 into Kansas, you will drive right by another infrequently visited World War II site. Near Granada is the Amache Relocation Camp, where Nisei and Issei civilians from California were sent during the war. You can read the information signs and view photos along the short visitor's path and drive some of the streets. Not much else is left there except concrete foundations and trees. However, it is still a thought-provoking historic site, even for the son of a WW II pilot who bombed Japan.