The Back Way

The two-bit towns of Colorado's eastern plains — Arriba, Hugo, Limon, Flagler, Burlington, Cheyenne Wells and all the other dusty, agricultural burgs that time forgot on the way to Kansas — don't seem to have much to offer, on the surface. Citified folk whiz past on the interstate, never bothering to explore the small towns' ambience or the wealth of prairie history that lies in the old-fashioned museums and attractions baking in the sun just beyond the highway.

With that in mind, several rural museums in Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties are banding together this summer to offer Our Journey, a unique travel pass that includes free admission to ten museums. There's the funky, minutiae-filled World's Wonder View Tower in Genoa, Grampa Jerry's Clown Museum in Arriba, the Limon Heritage Museum & Railroad Park, and the beautiful, hand-carved Kit Carson County Carousel, just to name a few.

"We're here, and we would like people to discover that we're here," says spokeswoman Jo Downey. "We're still real. There is a lot of heritage out here. When you envision the pioneers of the Old West, you always picture them going through seas of wheat. We are those seas."

The free Our Journey tour kit/travel pass can be used daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day; to get yours, call 1-800-825-0208 or visit www.ourjourney.info.
May 28-Sept. 3