Sunday, 7/13/97
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At 8:00 AM, we got up later than we should have and I wanted a different breakfast, so we just
got up, packed up the trailer, scrubbed the last of the slime off the roof, and hit the road looking for a restaurant
for breakfast. After driving west on I-70 for a few miles, we saw a sign indicating
"Country Kitchen" at the next exit, so we pursued it. The signs continued to
direct us a mile further west on a road running parallel to I-70. At a half-mile
to go, we could read the signs on the Interstate for those cars telling them that there was a "Denny's" at the next exit one
mile away. So we passed the Country Kitchen and stopped at Denny's, ate and were
on the road again in quick order with satisfied tummies.
Today was expected to be a long drive. We entered Kansas about 20 miles from last night's campground by 9:15 am and with a few breaks for gas and driver change, were off the interstate
and heading southwest on Kansas Rt. 156 by 12:30 pm. We stopped at Pawnee
Rocks State Park to eat sandwiches. This small rise in the ground was the
most significant landmark on the Santa
Fe Trail in Kansas. The muleskinners, driving their
wagons of trade goods from the Missouri
River to Santa Fe had nothing but the flat plains in sight for weeks at a time. This rock outcrop that was forty feet above the surrounding plains at the time was the only break from
the monotony of almost pool table flatness to the horizon in all directions. No
wonder they got excited about Pawnee Rocks. Later, as settlers started to plant
themselves in the area, they mined building stone off the top of Pawnee Rocks, so that now it is only about half as high. As we drive back onto the prairie, and out of sight of Pawnee Rocks, Brennan looks
out to the horizon and says, "There's a lot of land out here." It is one of the
lessons Bob had hoped Brennan would learn on this trip.
Ever since we left the Missouri
River at Kansas City, the altimeter has been indicating a gradual rise as we proceeded West. It now reads 3000 feet, even though the horizon is flat in all directions. Back home, if you are above 1000 feet elevation, you are on a mountain; at 3000 feet, you would be at the
top of many of the mountains. But here we are without a mountain to be seen.
The next stop was at the Santa Fe Trail
Museum, southwest of Great Bend, with interesting exhibits of historic paraphernalia, and a strangely incongruous Printed Comics Exhibit. Then on to Fort Larned, built to protect the Santa Fe Trail. The post saw some important history, but only for 20 years
before it was no longer needed. At 5:30 pm, we stopped in Dodge City, with it's pay to get in old western town like the one in the TV series, "Gunsmoke", complete with "Miss Kitty",
but after parking in the huge parking lot and walking in to the entrance, we decided we were not in the mood for cheap acting. We also elected to not visit the famed Boot Hill, but decided to get dinner in Dodge
City so we would not be trying to set up camp hungry when we got to Garden City, KS.
We had seen a sign as we entered Dodge City offering a free bag of ice to travelers at the Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant.
Since it was really hot and our cooler was getting low in ice, it sounded like a good deal to us, and we had never
had the Colonel's fare. The meal was quite good, with corn on the cob and all.
We got to the Garden City KOA after 7 pm, set up
camp, and went on an explore to find the "Buffalo Range Preserve" that was shown on the map as being just south of town. We drove some interesting roads through "Dances with Wolves" terrain, but only saw
cows at first, then back tracked and tried a side road right near town, that paralleled the dry bed of the Arkansas River. We found a small herd of about
30 bison grazing in a fenced-in meadow beside the road. As we got out of the
car, two things happened: 1. We saw hundreds of grasshoppers (or locusts) hopping all over the road, the grassy shoulder and
the meadow. 2. As we approached the fence, stomping our feet to make the grasshoppers
move out of our way, the bison got nervous and slowly moved away from the fence. I
got a few pictures before they moved out of range, and the lighting was great, because the sun was approaching the horizon.
We then drove back to the area of "Dances with Wolves" rolling hills covered with buffalo grass to get some low angle
light shots. I found some satisfactory opportunities but lost a lens cap in the
process.
On the way back to town, we drove through the town's public park that houses the zoo (closed by now) and noticed a
large number of people picnicking at this late hour. It looked like a festival
going on. As we drove out of the park, and we spotted bright lights across the
road at a carnival with a ride the swings two big carloads of screaming people in opposite directions like pendulums going
ever higher until they pass each other upside down at the top. We walked through
the carnival, not caring to participate in any of the booth games or rides, but enjoying the sport of people watching and
noticing how much fun the locals were having. Most of the crowd appeared to be
Hispanic with handsome, beautiful Mexican features. That falls into place, historically,
if you realize that we are now closer to Santa Fe than to St.
Louis. and the famous Santa
Fe Trail was used for commerce
in both directions.
On the way out of the carnival, I noticed that it was still daylight out and after 9:30 pm. We must be near another time zone
line to the west. Back to camp for pudding, Scout Merit Badge work, postcards,
and this journal. Lights out at 11:30 pm.
