Solo Vanlife / Roadtrip Across Kansas
Colorado Springs, CO to Omaha, NE | Sand Creek Massacre NHS | Glen Elder State Park, KS | October 2024
On Monday morning, it was time for me to begin my first ever solo road trip in the van. I packed up the van, checked out of the hotel, and walked Charlotte around one last time before beginning our journey. I was doing my best to not stress out about the drive — we had specifically chosen for me to stay and Curtis to fly out of Colorado Springs because from there, it was an easier drive East on mostly flat highway roads with much less traffic than, say, Denver. I planned a route that would get me 11 new counties, though I do realize that someday I’ll have to revisit them all with Curtis. My logic was, I already knew I didn’t want to drive interstates all the way back, so why not make the most of a drive we don’t get to do often?
With that, Charlotte and I were off, making our way East on CO-94, watching the mountains disappear in the rear view mirror. We drove South on CO-71 to knock out our last county in Eastern Colorado, Crowley County, then continued driving East on CO-96.
Our one stop for today was at Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Curtis and I have tried to visit twice in the past, but the visitor center is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and we always happen to be driving through Southeastern Colorado on either Tuesdays or Wednesdays. My main motivation to visiting here was to make Curtis jealous, but in the end I sort of regretted this decision. It was 8 miles off the highway on a dirt road, which was pretty muddy from recent rains — but I never came across a spot where I felt safe enough to turn around and not get stuck. The site is also very depressing, and now I know I’ll still have to go back someday so Curtis can visit. Oh well, it’s still a new national park for Charlie and I, and we were able to go for two short walks here and spent a little time talking to a ranger.
After that, I returned to the highway and drove another hour until I crossed into Kansas. I chose to spend the night at a rest area right off the highway. At this point, I was starting to realize how much of a mental toll solo travel can take on a person. Having to be the one to make all the decisions, do all the driving, make food, and take care of Charlie meant that I always had to be doing something and my mind just wouldn’t turn off, even when everything had been done for the day and it was time to rest. I did everything I could think of to make myself feel safe, and to make sure Charlotte had enough time outside before going to bed. On the plus side, I heard sandhill cranes flying overhead, which always makes me feel happy.
The next day consisted of a lot more driving — I think when I mapped it out it was only supposed to be 5 hours, but it ended up being over 6, and felt longer than that. I hit several stretches of one-way construction zones which added a lot of time, but at least gave me time to get snacks from the back. To her credit, Charlotte was an excellent little passenger — usually when it’s just me driving with her, she acts anxious and wants me to pet her the whole time, but she settled down pretty well today and just went along for the ride. I made one stop halfway through at a park near the highway in Hays, KS, which she enjoyed, but it was difficult convincing her that we needed to get back on the road for a few more hours.
I had a couple places picked out that night for us to camp, and I was hoping that I would feel comfortable enough at whichever I chose to stay two nights to give myself a break from driving. My first option was a site in an official campground Glen Elder State Park. When I arrived, I entered the park and drove around to scope out the camping options. It wasn’t busy at all, however I was confused by how the campsites worked because the primitive sites didn’t have any markers to show what exactly was a site, and if any were reserved. Since it was also $10 a night and my next option was free, I decided to drive another 9 miles East towards the next town which had a free camping area in a park!
I arrived at the park – Beloit City Park – just before 4:30, with several hours of sunlight to spare. It was a beautiful day with temps in the 70s, and fall foliage was at its peak here. Before I entered the park, I pulled over to read the bulletin board just to make sure I knew the rules for camping here. It was only then that I saw that the campground was actually closed for the season, as of one week ago. Bummer! I was disappointed because it really seemed like a nice town, and I had of course done lots of reading about this potential site before coming here just to be safe, but nowhere online had it said that the park closes (we’ve also camped in free Kansas campgrounds for years in all seasons, and never has one been closed).
Oh well, I decided I would just go back to Glen Elder and try harder to figure out their camping situation. I drove into the park (which was much more than just a campground — there was a playground, pavilion, disc golf course, walking trails, and more), turned around, pinned the state park on Google Maps for navigation (even though I knew the way, I just like having directions playing when I’m driving alone) then returned to the entrance of the park….only to find that in the less than 2 minutes that I had been in the park, someone had come and LOCKED THE GATE and I was now stuck in here, with no one in sight!!!
I panicked, briefly wondered if I could get away with camping here since I was already locked in, but my Oldest Daughter Syndrome wouldn’t let me do that in case I would get in trouble so instead I searched online for someone to call. I called the number on the Google listing, but no one picked up so I left an incoherent message on the answering machine. Then I called the non-emergency line for the town, and someone answered and I told them of my dilemma. They sounded confused when I told them I was locked in the park, but said they’d send an officer over to help me out. Then I called Curtis to fill him in and try to calm down.
Eventually two officers arrived, and tried keys that they had, but apparently the lock had been changed recently and they didn’t have the updated key. At first they also couldn’t get ahold of the parks department, and they were discussing having me drive through the lawn (I had considered that briefly too — but there were so many trees, large rocks, and other obstacles that it didn’t feel like a good idea). But they finally got ahold of the right person, and she came and unlocked the gate. Crisis averted — though I was pretty embarrassed over the whole thing. BUT before you make your judgements, let me state my case: nowhere were there any signs saying the park gates would close at 4:30 (over three hours before sunset!), it was much more than just a campground, the person who answered my call and both officers were pretty surprised that the gates were locked, and while I was there waiting several other cars pulled up to the gate like they were planning on entering, and then turned around when they realized the gates were locked. Also the official Google page says the park is open 24 hours. So I do not feel like I am entirely in the wrong!
I returned to Glen Elder, and though it was still confusing I finally just picked what looked like an official spot and settled in. There were a few RVs spread out, but during my 2 nights here, I did not see a single person — which was both a relief but also a little unsettling. I did see a lot of cool birds and several snakes (non venomous) and enjoyed watching two sunsets on my beautiful lakefront property. I can’t say I did much else besides try to relax and destress after the past couple of days. Charlotte seemed content to go between walking around, hanging out in the sun and the shade, and sleeping in her bed. I think my biggest struggle became having to lift her up and down out of the van/bed so many times a day — not that she’s too heavy, but she’s just awkwardly proportioned and will often flail around recklessly when I’m just doing my best.
After my second night here, I planned out the next leg of my route. It was Thursday, and Curtis was supposed to be finishing the work in the morning and then getting on a flight in the afternoon with a late evening arrival. We decided the best airport for him to fly into would be Manhattan, Kansas — that way we could get that county which was new for both of us, and I knew of a free county lake where we could camp and he could just get a ride there whenever he landed. I got the van and Charlotte ready, then made the drive over, which went smoothly, and found us a spot at the lake.
Things sort of went South from there — it was a nice lake, but I didn’t totally feel comfortable being here on my own. Then people at work wouldn’t definitively say that Curtis could for sure leave that afternoon, and after more back and forth decided they wanted to keep him one more day. And to wrap it up, a severe storm with high winds made its way through the area. Miraculously it somehow stayed on the other side of the lake, so while I got all the warnings on my phone, I was able to watch it pass by safely, and had a pretty amazing sunset thanks to that.
The next day, I waited a bit to hear an update from Curtis. He had to wait around in the morning to see if he was still needed, but in the late morning he was finally given the green light to buy plane tickets and leave. Looking at my options, I decided that the best place to meet up would be in Omaha — and I knew exactly where I wanted to camp. I drove my last 3 hours up into Nebraska, and to one of our favorite spots: Walnut Creek in Papillion. There’s a campground here, and though it was on the pricey side at $20/night, I liked the idea of getting to sleep right next to the trail that we had loved so much over our 2 years living here. I arrived just after noon and found a spot, then Charlotte and I enjoyed a few hours of walking around and sitting in the sun while we waited for Curtis. He finally arrived in the late afternoon, and my solo trip was officially over.
While I’m thankful for the experience, and even more thankful that nothing went wrong with the van, I can’t say this is something I’d ever willingly choose for myself for more than a week here or there. That being said, there may come a day when we decide that we want to stop driving out East all the time and instead spend more time out West, in which case I’d probably have to do more time on my own while Curtis flies back and forth. But that’s another problem for another day. For now, we were excited to continue on with our plans for the fall, which had been a long time coming…… 😉
