For a while I had been looking to get away for a while and decided to go west and in the process see some things I wanted to experience, visit with my friends and shoot in my first Glock Shooting Sports Foundation (GSSF) competition.
I decided to drive this time to eliminate any problems with carrying the firearms and ammo plus I could take my bike along with me. I loaded everything up and that included 4 pieces of luggage and a ton of bike stuff that I normally carry when I ride. This was to be the longest that I would carry the bike on the back of the car and that was a bit worrisome.
I had driven to Colorado Springs before in a little over 12 hours but that was when I had somebody to spell me for a little while driving so I decided to get up early and had everything ready to go and I left the house around 4:45 AM with no breakfast but stopped at Starbucks when they opened and headed down the I 70 highway. I decided to take a break every 200 miles and did stretching and kept hydrated with water as I drove. Everything was going to plan. Missouri was easy but I did keep seeing signs warning about traffic issues on the 21st for the eclipse which made me say Hmmmmm. Entering Kansas I really ran into no traffic as the rush hours were over and I was soon on the Kansas turnpike and my first thought of Oh Crap I needed toll money. I knew I had plenty of $20’s but I had no idea if it was automatic toll collection or how that worked. At the front, I picked up a ticket and figured out it would be 3 bucks but not sure how that would be collected. The toll way was excellent and very clean and I hit my first stretch of 75 MPH speed limits which the car carrying the bike had no problems handling.
I kept to my schedule of stops picking up a meal halfway across Kansas and finally I made it to the Colorado border and Tom Tom and all my clocks changed to Mountain time. All along the way I have seen tons of windmills and my question remains. Why are some of them not turning? Are they broken? What’s up with that? The eastern part of Colorado is so desert like and there are wide stretches of no sign of civilization. I often would pass a gas station and look down and realize I was a bit low on fuel and then sweat it a bit till I found one 100 miles down the highway.
Arriving the outskirts of Denver, I used the toll road to get around Denver and enter Highlands Ranch. I chose a different hotel this time since my usual place was actually more for the week for some reason. I was just down the street at a new hotel called Home2 Hilton Suites. My room was ready and I used the cart to move everything in and then rolled my bicycle through the lobby into my room. My room was huge. Full size refrigerator, Full size dish washer, dishes, pots and pans, kitchen linens, microwave and you could get a hot plate if you wanted. There was a nice work station a sofa bed plenty of counter and shelf space and a king size bed. The bathroom was large but only had a shower which was fine with me. I like this hotel. There was a nice wall unit that had a cabinet that my gun pack fit into perfectly and sliding the bike in front of the cabinet it was almost made to order for me. I unpacked and set up my room then ran to supper at a local place and got some Korean meatballs and Caesar salad. I went to bed a bit tired but excited to explore tomorrow.
Didn’t know it when I made the reservation that the hotel had a free breakfast. I did my usual run down with the coffee pot in the room and got coffee from the hotel big jug when they also had the all the Splenda and coffee creamer I wanted. I noticed that they had eggs and omelets that just need warming up and they had cereals bagels and make your own waffles plus fruit. Very adequate spread. I went back to my room and drank my small pot of coffee while I watched the local news. The afternoon promised thunderstorms so I better get rolling on my biking plans for the day.
After my omelet breakfast, I geared up for my ride and headed out. I had planned to ride to my friend’s house just so I would know I could do it if I wanted to but also explore other trails in the area. I got on my bike and rode to my first busy intersection but everybody seemed used to bikes on the road. I decided to take the trail up my first hill and got up quickly but I was huffing and puffing. I was able to take a bike lane from the hotel all the way to my friend’s neighborhood but man there were some nasty hills along the way. Tried to save some hills and ended up having to go down a hill and turn over to another street and had to ride back up. Hate paying for the same real estate twice on a bike. Found my friend’s house but Jessica would be at work, Abby at daycare and John likely downstairs on the computer with headphones on working so I would just head back and find some trails to ride along the way. 8 miles later I was back at the hotel and moderately sweaty but my tender bits were a little sore even though I had on a cycling bib. The trails were interesting but they certainly were more hilly than the road. The trails had a gazillion rabbits running across my path. It seemed like they waited for me to get up to them before they sprinted in front of me causing me to squeeze the brakes so you needed to stay alert. One thing about this hotel is the lack of toiletries. There is soap and shampoo but no lotion and that would have worked. Time to find a bike shop.
I went out and following what Ok Google told me I found a nice Trek shop and found my favorite chamois butter DZ Nutz. I also looked at some little bikes in case Abby might be ready for a pedal bike. Spent a long time picking the bike shop owners brain about kid bikes he was very helpful. I then set off for my next stop. I had arranged a tour of Stranahan’s Whiskey Distillery for 1 PM so I had a little time to kill and found a Denny’s to have some lunch. There I had cheesy tater tots with gravy and jalapeños. They actually were pretty good. I then drove the couple of blocks to the distillery and pulled in the parking lot. It was then I noticed the marijuana dispensary across the street and chuckled to myself.
The distillery looked pretty neat inside kind of rustic old west feel. The guide checked me in and said I could wait in the lounge. With the tastings to come I figured having another drink now would be a bad idea. But several of my fellow tour folks didn’t get that memo and were downing drinks. The tour guide gathered us together and we were off. First stopping at the incoming grain area and the cooking pots and fermenting tanks – not a lot to see other than stainless steel. Moving on I spotted the stills. They were combo pot stills and column type a hybrid and all copper. These would provide the low wines that would feed the final still that we would see in just a moment. We then saw parts of the barrel racks and they took us to a small area set up for the first tasting. This was their normal Stranahan’s whiskey it had some flavor of vanilla and bit fruity others said it was melon and cinnamon. I always get tickled when people give their flavors they taste. I think suggestions had more to do with it with people who haven’t tasted whiskey before in a tasting situation. The guide provided plenty of information on the company and their three whiskies. I did notice they were bottling Tin Cup another Colorado Whiskey that I have had in the past and did not like. In fact, I used it to make egg nog at Christmas time. The Tin Cup was supposed to be a sipping whiskey and like I said I don’t like it. The guide said that Tin Cup was made in Indiana and shipped to Colorado for bottling. I find that highly suspect but whatever I’m not buying any of it again.
Front of Stranahan’s
Pretty rickity looking truck
Grain bins and fermenter
Combo Pot Still and Column Still
Final Still
Rack house
tasting area
Complimentary glass
We passed through the bottling area and entered another tasting room where we received our second whiskey call Diamond Peak. Then they explained that all the Stranahan’s whiskey is bottled by volunteers and you can sign up online to bottle and do a 4-hour shift for which you receive a bottle of whiskey and 6 pack of a local brew and some other souvenirs. The guide said the waiting time was at least 6 months to draw a shift and it might be even longer. Would be interested but you would have to be light on your feet if they called you to work a shift. The guide also explained that their very rare whiskey known as Snowflake was very had to get. It’s called Snowflake because it is never the same much like a regular snowflake. Interesting but the price is pretty expensive for an unknown quantity. As a part of the tour you get $10 off any product and I decided to buy a bottle for my friend John as a gift and a bottle to take home. Leaving the distillery, I head out to try to find another local gun shop.
Using Ok Google, I found a shop but was kind of disappointed in the content it was a small shop and the owner apologized but we had a nice chat about Colorado magazine laws. I was a bit worried about having my Glock magazines in the state as they were technically illegal in Colorado. But the law doesn’t apply to people from out of state as long as they leave with me no problem. Sounds absolutely crazy but reminds me of Illinois where out of state people show their license and are not required to have a FOID like me. Just makes me shake my head. Headed out to find a New Balance store to buy some new shoes and the ones I had on were literally falling apart. I found the shopping center and tried on my usual walking shoes and they fit perfectly so I said wrap them up and moved on to the bike shop I found there and looked at some small bikes there they had Giant brand but the little bikes they had did not look as good as the Trek one’s and they were the same price. It was supper time so I had a Panera Bread veggie sandwiches and watched the rain fall for a while till it stopped.
Heading back to the hotel I spent the evening filling out match paperwork and working on my pattern in the room. Believe you me I had the door double locked and the shades down. If somebody saw me practicing in the room there would be problems LOL. I fell asleep after getting an IM from Jessica that we should do Friday night dinner at Lansdowne Arms a local pub and arranged a time. She also told me where to meet them on Saturday for Dance class that I wanted to watch.
In the morning, I repeated my breakfast routine and then dressed for riding after applying the chamois butter. This time I headed towards the gym where the dance classes were held. I thought about riding over that morning but the hills convinced me otherwise. I goofed up a few times but I discovered two cool things and one concerning thing. One was a Pho place which would be a great lunch and in the same plaza was a wait for it A GUN SHOP. I also found a guy trying to kill himself by working under a very heavy suspended load. The sad part was he didn’t need to get under the load to do what he needed to do. I talked to him about the danger he was putting himself in but I have no confidence that after I left he didn’t just go back under the load. I finally found the dance place but wow was the route very hilly. I forgot that I wanted to see if the gym had somewhere to lock up the bike but on the way back the hills really got me tuckered and decided I would not ride over the morning of the dance class so a bike rack wasn’t needed. Getting back to the hotel I decided to cool off in the pool.
The hotel boasted about having a saline pool which is sanitized with salt and a little chlorine as opposed to a normal pool that uses a lot more chlorine. It was a different experience not smelling the chemicals like you would in a normal pool and there was a definite salt taste to the water. After cooling off and getting in some laps I got out and let myself dry out before walking back to the room. Today I was going to find the gun store I went to back in December but also check out the one near the Pho place and do another distillery tour.
I found the gun store again without Tom Tom just kind of feeling my way around and went inside. I have got to stop going here as they had several guns that if I could buy I would have. Very frustrating that they won’t ship. There was a Smith and Wesson Model 18 very rare and it was in good shape and very good price. I then made my way to Pho 99 for lunch. Ordered my usual Pho Ga and they brought out this HUGE bowl of hot steaming broth. The broth was excellent but the chicken pieces seemed dried out. But the great broth made up for it. I then walked over to the Armory the gun shop I had spied. Greeted immediately I dug into looking in the cases and suddenly I see a unicorn. A Glock G17L a model we never see in Illinois. The price was low. I was so tempted as I have always wanted one since Glocks were made but we just don’t see them for sale locally. I left without it and then made my way to the Laws Whiskey House for my tour.
The distillery was in a more industrial area and it looked initially like there were weeds were growing around it but then when I parked I noted they were actually corn plants which for a whiskey place perfect. Entering the front lobby, I was greeted immediately by the staff and asked if I was there for the tour and got checked in and started taking in the lobby. At this location, they give you a chip to turn in for your $10 off paying for the cost of the tour. Soon the group was assembled and we started to tour by a briefing on how the process works. The guide kept asking questions and I kept giving answers after a couple of times she finally said Anybody but THAT GUY know the answer? After the briefing, we moved into a huge area of barrels of stored whiskey. We moved past them with no comment and I was like – Hey what about this stuff? We moved to the rear of the facility where the grains come in the building and saw their tiny grist mill. The group was shown the still a small column still and we climbed onto the deck with the fermenter and the still. They had a mash cooking in the fermenter and we could see the mash bubbling away like crazy and could smell the grains fermenting. They had a small jar of the mash that we could taste by sticking a finger in the liquid and then put in your mouth. I know a couple of people on the tour found that everybody sticking a finger in the sample was abhorrent the faces were kind of funny. I tasted the mash sample and it reminded me of the juice off a can of corn. Kind of watery sugary and the corn taste.
Front of Laws
Corn stalks up front
Nice Gift shoppe
making of whiskey detailed
Their one still
the fermenting mash bubbling up
The watchful Gargoyle
Rack house
tight entryway
We moved on to a table that glasses were on for a tasting of their four-grain bourbon – kind of an oddity as there are not many whiskies that are more than 3 grains but this one had corn (required 51% to be a bourbon) rye, wheat and malted barley. All the grains are from Colorado like the Stranahan’s. After the bourbon they brought out the Secale Rye. Both whiskeys were good and unlike some distilleries when the whiskies taste raw and unfinished these were tasty. After the tastings, we looked at the rack house full of barrels. The barrels come from Lebanon Missouri – lot of barrels come out of Missouri for use in Bourbon’s and other Whiskies. The tour finished by putting us back in the gift shop and I picked out a two-bottle set of the 4-grain bourbon and the Secale Rye. I was tempted by the used barrel staves but I thought really now what would I do with that?
The Stranahan’s Diamond Peak and the Laws 4 Grain and Secale Rye I brought home
Climbing back in the car I headed back to the hotel to clean up a bit before the supper with John, Jessica and Abby. I headed towards the Lansdowne Pub and found the area a bit busy with people and parking was scarce and had to park a block away. When I walked up I could see the pub was kind of busy and played with the idea of putting in for a table but wasn’t sure if they wanted to sit outside or upstairs or what. Soon I saw the group coming in the door and Abby immediately went shy on me trying to hide behind mom. John went to procure a table and found we would have to wait a bit for a table so we sat on a bench near the hostess area and started talking about all kinds of stuff and Abby is peaking at me and then when she sees I can see her peaking hides behind mom or dad. Well at least she isn’t crying and screaming which she has done in the past. We got our table and ordered and I got a traditional fish n chips. I couldn’t finish it all and Abby has gone from eating everything on her plate to being a bit fussy with eating. I guess all kids go through this stage but I can’t remember myself being this way. After supper, we walked to the Coldstream Creamery for some ice cream. Abby did not have problems eating the ice cream though a minor crisis developed when mommy buried one marshmallow in the melting ice cream – LOL I had a strawberry sorbet and it was very tasty. After Ice Cream, I followed them to the house as I had some things to drop off. I had a Hamilton shirt for Jessica and that bottle of Stranahan’s I had picked up from the distillery for John and finally I had a Minnie Mouse hat and Peppa Pig sunglasses for Abby. She pulled the hat out of the bag first and didn’t notice the glasses till I told her to look in the bag. I asked her who was on the glasses and she said very softly “Peppa” Minnie and Peppa are very popular with Abby LOL. I also met Poppy the new puppy and of course Milo was barking at me with his thunderous bark bark bark. Think I finally figured out how to get Milo settled down a might by petting and scratching his head and ears. Poppy is such a small puppy but she came to me with just a smidgen of shyness but finally got in my lap and greeted me. Poppy really has to watch Milo as he is so big compared to her and Milo doesn’t intend to hurt anybody but he’s so big his tail can knock Poppy off her feet.
It was getting to Abby’s bedtime and I was tired from the day so I made my goodbyes and headed back to the hotel. At the hotel, I ran through my GSSF routine once again and climbed into bed and fell asleep watching Law and Order Criminal Intent. I slept a little longer this morning but got ready quickly and had my usual nice breakfast in the hotel and then made my way to the gym to watch Abby in her dance lessons. Again, she was shy around me but warmed a little more. The instructor asked Abby “Who is your visitor?” Abby looked at me and I could see she was a little confused but finally said “Mike” She waved goodbye and went into the studio. Abby can be very focused during the lessons watching the instructor and trying to mimic what she is seeing. It was fun watching her go through her exercises and I think it is definitely helping with developing motor skills. All too soon the lesson was over and Jessica and Abby were off to a swim lessons where visitors weren’t allowed. In my head, I was like I’m not a visitor I’m and visiting Safety Consultant LOL. I went back to the hotel via a Starbucks as I had not had my ration of morning coffee yet.
I then drove over to the house so we could set off for our visit to Look Out mountain and the Buffalo Bill museum and grave. I climbed into the back with Abby and we were off. Abby had a princess sticker book and I was assigned the task by Abby to apply the stickers that she would pick to put on the princess. First thing I notice is the eye on this princess was put on upside down but Abby insisted this was the look she wanted Ok who am I to argue with a 3 almost 4-year-old. I found the right eye and put it upside down like the other one was and soon we had tiara, eye brows, ear rings, and smile stickers in place. By now we had reached the parking lot and we got out to look at the view off the mountain. Pretty incredible and it was a clear view. We saw hand gliders jumping off and then using the thermals to rise almost above the mountain top. I noticed some bikers coming up the mountain later I talked to them in the little café and saluted their efforts. I would have been dead LOL. We looked around the rest of the top to see the view from all sides and then entered the museum.
Just beautiful
Another view of the mountain’s 😉
A very cheap $5-dollar entry fee. We saw all manner of Buffalo Bills life but highly slanted to his showman career. The number of pristine artwork from the shows was just incredible in color and varied versions. Of course, there were several pieces of material that belonged to Buffalo Bill but it also taught about his other actors in the shows like the Native Americans and Annie Oakley and other lesser known members of the troupe. There were several hands-on things for kids. One was dressing up like a cowboy with a fake horse to get up on for pictures which we took advantage off. There was also a bunch of fur in a little tee pee where you could feel what the fur of an animal felt like. Abby wanted to take the musk rat pelt home. “Can I have this? Um…. No Abby” We then headed outside and they had cut outs for pictures and Abby Oakley was pictured along With Cowboy John. There was a much larger Tee Pee outside and it reminded me of the one my father made for the Girl Scouts that the girls decorated. I remember that Tee Pee dearly as we would put it up a lot back when we lived in North Vernon.
The amount of art is staggering
such a showman
I want a bench like this
Very early clay pigeon thrower
Annie Oakley
Cowboy Abigail
Yee Haw!
can I haz musk rat?
very cool coin that BB shot through
Abby Oakley
Cowboy John
Inside the Tee Pee
We then climbed up to the grave of Buffalo Bill Cody. There is some controversy about where he was buried. Some don’t believe he is in this grave. There were alleged shenanigans involved with a death bed change of his place of burial to Look Out Mountain when they said he wanted to be buried in Cody Wyoming.
Buffalo Bill’s Grave Or is it? People throw coins on the grave in tribute but they are supposed to be Buffalo Nickels
After the grave, we returned to the Volvo and moved over to another viewing area of the mountain and this is when we could see some threatening weather headed our way. John hoped to catch a picture of the lightening and I was concerned about getting soaked. So, we got back in the vehicle just before it started sprinkling, we then came down the mountain to find the restaurant.
When we arrived, we were a little early but it didn’t look that busy so we were hopeful we could get seated. Unfortunately, the restaurant didn’t really open for a little while so we sat down in the bar and had drinks and nachos.
I’M BATMAN!
Not too much later they told us they could seat us now and we moved to the dining room. The was The Keg a steakhouse of some renown. I decided on Prime Rib and mashed potatoes. John had Prime as well but a baked potato. Jessica had a steak I believe and Abby had little kid beef sliders. Not sure why but it seemed to take forever and then they brought out all the adults food but not Abby’s sliders. They apologized but I thought how could you screw this up? The food was very good and some very good Prime Rib. Again, Abby was being fussy with eating her sliders. After the food, we seemed again to go into some weird delay. For dessert Abby got ice cream, John Crème Brule and Jessica had Key Lime Pie which looked more like a cheese cake. I was stuffed with the Prime Rib so I passed. After leaving the steakhouse Jessica asked if I minded stopping at the shopping center and of course I didn’t care.
I had been to Aspen Grove already getting my shoes and eating supper one night but after the Apple Store to look at perhaps an Apple Watch purchase by Jessica and the makeup store we headed to the Tattered Cover a real Bookstore. The store downtown was on the top 20 things to do in Denver according to Trip Advisor so I had some interest in seeing what the store was like. The inside is very much like the bookstores of old with little cubbies all around. I had a priority – find the bathroom. Jessica was looking for a specific book for Abby and they had found it. They checked out and then headed back to the house. After a bit I made my good byes and headed back to the hotel.
I loaded magazines for the match tomorrow and reviewed my course of fire and then hit the hay waking up on my own too early for breakfast at the hotel so I made my way to a nearby Starbucks and had an egg white sammie and a latte for the journey. I have belonged to GSSF for at least 3 years. I am a Life member and this gives me several advantages. 1. It allows you to shoot in the GSSF matches all over the country. 2. Every year you can purchase a Glock firearm at reduced prices. 3. You can participate in Glock training that only Law Enforcement is allowed to attend (how I became a Glock Armorer). 4. You get the Glock Annual for free. 5. Because GSSF is affiliated with the Civilian Marksmanship Program you can purchase from CMP. 6. A bunch of other stuff LOL. I have received in benefits in three short years more than what I paid for the membership.
All Ready for the GSSF match
The weather pattern in Colorado has been very chilly mornings then slowly warming up so I decided a long-sleeved performance T-shirt was my best choice and I threw a short sleeve in the car that I could change into if it got too hot. The drive up was weird as Tom Tom kept trying to take me another way than the map said. I decided to follow the map and that took me mainly up I 25. Along the way there was great mountain scenery and then suddenly I saw a huge group of hot air balloons. Tried to take a picture but it didn’t really turn out. Along the way I saw two convenience stores that just crack me up. One you have to get to Kansas to see – Kum and Go the other which was new to me Loaf N Jug. I actually stopped at a Loaf N Jug to fill up and use the restroom. I was only miles from the range where the match was to be held and saw no activity that would suggest anything was going on locally. Then I saw a huge dairy operation with hundreds of Holsteins and the tallest pile of cow manure I have ever seen. Then as I am slowly making my way as Tom Tom says I am close to the range I see one of Weld Counties finest set up to run radar for speeders. I waved and he waved back and he pointed northward towards where the range should be. How did he know? Shortly I saw the sign and my first conundrum. The gate to enter the range was closed and there were all kinds of warning signs about entry but no instructions. I drove up and saw a huge red button and pushed that and the gate opened and I drove through. Driving through the gate I saw no closing button so I was wondering how the gate worked and I looked back to see the gate closing on its own. I drove following the path and I see a trap range, followed by a sporting clays range but still no activity. This place was HUGE. Driving on I came upon some shooting berms but still no activity. Finally rounded a bend and I could see the GSSF banner and a sign saying EVENT REGISTRATION and knew I was in the right place. I drove further to park and saw all the stages set up. Got out of the car and took my pack of stuff on my back and headed to the registration. Registration took longer that I would have thought but really it took only a few minutes but I was itching to get started.
Glock Bling for Sale!
I went to each stage and signed in and then returned to the first stage – Glock the Plates! I have never shot a steel plates before. There are 6 plates in a row and you must shoot them all down and your time continues till they are all down or you are out of ammo and then fined for any plates not down – 10 seconds a plate. I told the RO that I was a new to GSSF shooter and he said no worries he would take care of me and I shouldn’t worry at all Just shoot. I got ready and there was a short pause while waiting for the next-door shooter to finish then I was on. RO told me to ready to shoot. The confirmed I was ready and said yes and then the next thing I hear is the timing mechanism beeping in my ear and I raise my G17 to my eyes and 6 plates fall lickety split. I didn’t miss a one and I heard the RO shout SHOW CLEAR and I dropped my magazine and racked the slide open. This was to be repeated 3 more times and the plates my biggest worry were all down and I moved to the next stage.
Glock the Plates
ping ping ping x 2
Glock’M
The next stage was 5 to Glock – 5 targets at different ranges all in a row and you put 2 shots in each target then shoot that same stage 3 times and each time is timed. The stage went very quickly and I only missed the bullseye 4 times and all on the farthest target. I showed clear and packed up myself and moved on to the next stage called Glock Em. Here there are 4 paper targets and one steel. 2 shots to each target but one on the steel and again 3 rounds of shooting. This one I only shot one outside of the bullseye and again it was one of the far targets. I was feeling pretty good about my shooting – until a few days later when I got the results. I was over 50 seconds slower than the guy who won and I only had 10 seconds of penalty time due to not shooting bullseyes. Clearly, I have some improvement to make. But I had a lot of fun with like-minded folks who didn’t know me from Adam but I was welcomed like a brother or sister and there were some really good shooting ladies at the event. I guess my only down side other that being 33rd out of 105 shooters was the GSSF folks were kind of grumpy. But then I wasn’t spending my weekend working but I think I would like doing their jobs but I am guessing they work EVERY weekend somewhere and not home so I can see how that might wear on a person.
Having shot my match, I headed back to the hotel this time going a different way and again saw tons of cows and a lot of corn. But Colorado corn is much smaller than my local corn and it require irrigation to get anything to grow. Back to the hotel. I made my preparations for tomorrow’s departure. That night I ate at the Old Blinking Light a gastro pub very close to Lansdowne arms. I sat at the bar and ordered Buffalo Meat Loaf – very good and tasty especially the bacon that was wrapped around the medallions of buffalo. At the bar, the bartender and a customer were discussing the upcoming eclipse. There were so wrong in how it works I couldn’t stop myself. I corrected a few concepts they had including using some clean roll and dinner plates to show how the eclipse work. Reminding them that the SUN DOESN’T MOVE. I sorely wanted to tell them they need to go back to their schools and get their money back – oh well. Heading back to the hotel I packed a little more and finished up the small bottle of Jameson’s I had left. I was originally going to stop in KC to see the WW I Museum but after talking to the curator on the phone he told me that one day wouldn’t do it. They don’t even sell one-day tickets to the museum so I decided to head all the way home and table the museum to another time when I had two days to devote to seeing everything.
The drive back was like the drive there “Dang Kansas is long” Got into rush hour traffic in Kansas City but it really wasn’t too bad. I made good time and was soon back to Belleville. I left everything but my meds in the car and climbed into an oddly hot house – oh yeah I left the thermostat holding at 80 to save energy. It took a while to cool the house down but I slept well and it was good to be in my own bed. Great trip – great folks to be with and I learned a lot about GSSF matches and how I want to shoot more of them and improve so that I can at least get in the top ten if not win a match. One is coming up near Columbia Missouri and I could combine some biking and shooting once again.
safetymikecsp 