Fort AtkinsonMay 29, 2005
|
|
Early morning
Clouds
Stone posts
| Got up early and on the road again. We came within 10 miles of the geodetic center of the U.S. (on a private ranch) and later on, within 5 miles of the geographic center of the 48 states. If someone knows the difference, please let me know!! We drove past miles and miles of wheat fields....now I know why Kansas is sometimes called the breadbasket of the U.S. We also have been following numerous trucks transporting livestock (very aromatic!!) and have passed numerous stockyards (we got good at "knowing" when we were getting near.) We stopped in at Ft. Atkinson, one of the stops of the Lewis & Clark Expedition (and site of their first encounter with the Indians). When the Corps of Discovery stopped there, it was just a bluff, and in his notes, Clark recommended a fort be built at that location, which was built at a later date. The museum there had "animatronic" figures (faces were projected onto the figures, and they appeared to be talking) of the peace meeting between Lewis & Clark and the Pawnee Indians. Really a nice museum and display. The fort had been reconstructed except for the one back wall, which wouldn't have been possible as the Missouri River had changed course and it wouldn't have been stable. We came, we saw, we spent (bought some books, post cards). We decided to stop for the night early...to rest up, my hair is a wreck, we need to fix ourselves somehow. Having way too much fun!! Picked a really nifty city campground, paid for our site (rule#1, must pay for your site within 30 minutes, hopefully between trains), then discovered a major railway ran nearly over the top of us. Trains ran every hour on the hour, blowing their whistles to impress the tourists. We felt like we spent the night at Grand Central Station!! #2 Where not to stop....railroad tracks |
Advertisement 
|
