Safeway, Alco, Cows and Tether Ball. Where Am I?

On our way back from Denver today, John and I decided to stop in Limon to eat. What a quaint little town! As a landmark on my numerous trips to Denver to see Matt, I had always thought the town was bigger. With a population of 4,817, that makes Limon even smaller than the town of Ottawa, Kansas (pop 12,887) where I grew up.

Just driving through Limon evoked all kinds of memories. There was an Alco Discount Store. Those still exist??? We even saw a Safeway on our way home!

There was a metal swing set on the side of the road in front a motel. Just a swing set… 3 swings with wooden seats. We aren’t talking a jungle gym. We aren’t talking a whole playground entertainment center in one piece of equipment. Nope. We are talking cold, hard steel or iron with wooden hard seats. Those swing sets caused many an ache and pain in my day, along with broken arms and cut lips when you fell on it! Yup, good stuff! That’s the kind of playground equipment that will toughen a kid up.

On this same playground was a metal turtle, the old school basketball goal and a tether ball set. Not sure why we thought a metal turtle was fun to climb on, but we did, and we liked it. Remember smacking that tether ball so fast and so hard that you just knew it was going to hit your little brother smack dab in the face and nothing was going to stop it!?!  Not even your little brother! Oh, did that hit you, Jimmie? I’m SO sorry! (That will teach him to borrow my G.I. Joe and leave it outside where the dog can run off with it, never to be found again!) Oh, sure, Jimmie, go tattle to Mom! But, MOM! We were just playing! It was TETHER BALL! It’s not like we were playing with knives or anything! What? On PURPOSE? (Me, with my best shocked look of innocence on my face as I can muster up). How can you think I’d do that on purpose? Now, I start crying too. Moms are sympathetic to tears. Well, sometimes. It’s worth a try.

Yes, those were the good ‘ole days. Those were the days when you took the law into your own hands. Back when there was a posse that took care of bad people. That was when you just shot a man who did you wrong. What? That was before my time? Oh, yeah, sorry, I got carried away.

We stopped at Limon to eat because anyone who has driven from Kansas to Colorado and back knows that once you pass Limon, it’s about 4 hours from Limon to the next food stop. We ate at South Side Food and Drink. We walked in to this restaurant and every eye turned to see us. I could see it in their look. Strangers in town. They better watch their back and behave if they know what’s good for them!

I had a chicken fried steak with mashed tators and gravy. John had the rib eye. Talk about real home cookin! Now THAT will put some meat on your bones. The rib eye was delicious. It was juicy and full of flavor. Yes, John shared. (It’s a precursor requirement of mine). It must have been from an old fashioned cow! You know the kind…. the pre-steroid, pre-antibiotic, farm raised, pasture grazed cow. The kind of cow that probably had a name from the kids who helped their dad raise them. The kind of cows allowed to graze and move about on the land. The kind of cows raised with kindness and humanity. Cows that were allowed a humane existence. Well… you know the kind. The kind your neighbor may have raised if you grew up in a rural community. Mmmmmm.

Mom has told stories of when she was a young girl and her dad would round up the cows for a cattle drive to take ‘em for butcher to the Kansas City stock yards. Cowboys and dogs kept the cows in line. Dad has talked about the days when he was laid off from A&P grocery just for awhile…. There wasn’t enough work for them in the stores, so he and some other employees were sent to the stock yards to work. He said they ate well during that time! Steaks were a daily fare.

Well, back to the truck to continue homeward bound.  I wonder if I will see some cows on the way?