Traveling Through Southeast CO

We traveled through a part of Colorado on the way home this time, seeing an area we had not before and geocaching to break the monotony of travel. And as is very typical of geocaching, we encountered some interesting stops.

a house built of petrified wood

now part of a used car lot

the 'grout' used to hold the stones in place

built in 1933

We were driving through small towns, some without any businesses so finding a place for lunch was beginning to be a worry. We happened upon a little gas station/convenience store and took advantage of the restrooms as well as fuel. We had planned to purchase their Chester's Chicken when the staff recommended the homemade chicken pot pie which had just come from the oven. I took their recommendation. OMG! So good. Lots of chicken chunks and veggies and the crust was flaky, buttery and oh, so yummy! We also purchased the homemade lemon loaf for dessert. This little unassuming local business was the treat of the day.

The next unexpected surprise was a geocache at a Japanese Relocation Camp from WWII.

Camp Amache hosted 7300 American Japanese

from August 1942 to October 1945

(more than 10,000 residents in those 3 years)

some 560 buildings~2000 children attended school~9500 acres

the tenth largest community in CO at the time

The site was brought to the attention of the public in 1976 when some of the interred residents and their families came back to visit. All of the buildings were gone, but they began to tell the stories of their time in Colorado at the camp. Today the community of Granada and its high school students maintain the site, collecting oral histories and the upkeep of the site and cemetery.

Another unexpected stop was the location of a prairie fire April 10, 1948 burned 50,000 acres.
 

Four men, ages 21-37 lost their lives plowing a fireguard to save lives and property. A small memorial along  the highway.

There was a variety of scenery and land formations along that route, everything from high plains desert to rich farmland and oil wells. An interesting drive with some interesting history...thanks to geocaching!