May 16, 2013 - Last Look At Dodge City

From Gunsmoke Trav-L-Park – Dodge City, KS Our week in Dodge City has come to an end. Tomorrow we will “hitch up” and head to New Mexico for a couple of interim stops before reaching Arizona and our next week long venture. We have enjoyed Dodge City and the RV park where we have stayed. Both would be a “redo” if our future travels find us passing through this part of Kansas again. Another unique area found in Dodge City on this visit is what is known as “Gospel Hill” and the site of several early day churches. This named hill overlooked...

May 15, 2013 - A Step Back To The Wild & Wooly Dodge City

From Gunsmoke Trav-L-Park – Dodge City, KS Finally today we made it to what most come to Dodge City to see………Boot Hill! In addition to this historic site and museum we also went to the Gunfighters Wax Museum just across the road from the Boot Hill Museum. During those wild and lawless days Dodge City was home to top lawmen and gunfighters. It was said the shootings were never as many or frequent as depicted in books and other media accounts but they received more publicity because they happened in Dodge City. Today three-quarter size...

May 14, 2013 - Home of Hitchiker

Still getting over the Leafs OT loss. Before we left Springfield we stopped at a Starbucks and bought 3 pounds of coffee. $6 per pound cheaper here. Go figure. We are passing through the SE corner on Kansas and Chanute, KS is very close so we decided to visit. Why Chanute? This is where our fifth wheel was manufactured. Have a couple of things I wanted them to look at and we were hoping for a plant tour. Unfortunately the company stopped production in December. It was getting too expensive to maintain quality and customers were not willing...

May 14, 2013 - Trails And Their Fort Protection

From Gunsmoke Trav-L-Park – Dodge City, KS Just a few miles in either direction from the center of Dodge City are significant landmarks in its history. To the west is the Santa Fe Trail Ruts National Historic Site. Meanwhile to the east is Fort Dodge. Today we explored both of these landmarks. The Santa Fe Trail opened in 1821 to serve as a commercial road connecting the Mexican settlement of Santa Fe, NM with the growing American trade settlement of Franklin, MO. For sixty years this 900 miles trail spanning the Great Plains was...

May 13, 2013 - Buffalo, Cattle Drives & Cowboys

From Gunsmoke Trav-L-Park – Dodge City, KS Long before Dodge City was founded in 1872 buffalo roamed these Great Plains of western Kansas. It was said to be home to herds numbering in the millions. Because of this large number of buffalo word spread about the good hunting and the soon to arrive railroad drawing hunters and entrepreneurs from everywhere to this area. Those who came realized their fortune with the arrival of the first train in 1872 and a new German tanning process. It was then that a good hunter could make more than $100 a...

May 13, 2013 - Westward Ho!

Sunday we drove from Fisherville KY to Independence MO. Monday morning we started with the National Frontier Trails Museum in Independence. The museum relays the story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things during the westward expansion in the mid-1800s. We then went to the Independence Depot Museum of the Chicago - Alton railroad. The townspeople actually moved the depot from it's original site (in an extreme state of disrepair) and restored it. Amazingly, many period pieces showed up after the restoration. The original Independence...

May 11, 2013 - Always Good To Have A "Plan B"!

From Gunsmoke Trav-L-Park – Dodge City, KS Downtown historic Dodge City with Boot Hill and other places of interest as well as shopping and restaurants had its fair share of weekend visitors on this Saturday in May. Since we have several work week days next week to hopefully visit this area with less congestion we went to “Plan B” ………………..a drive to nearby Meade. This small rural community on the western plains of Kansas has claim to fame for being home to the infamous Dalton Gang hideout! This once well-known Dalton Gang was comprised of...

May 10, 2013 - "Queen of the Cowtowns"

From Gunsmoke Trav-L-Park – Dodge City, KS Today we made one of our shortest moves…….80 miles. Due to our decision to make an interim stop in Pratt we only had a short 1 ½ hour drive to our destination of Dodge City and arrived by 11 a.m. Arriving this early we had time on our first day to do our usual ritual when visiting a new city and area, we went to the local visitor center to gather brochures and information on area attractions. Upon arriving at the visitor center we found out the Historic Dodge City Trolley Tour was scheduled to...

May 9, 2013 - Wakeeney, KS

It continued to rain on and off all night. Despite taking that nap yesterday, we both slept like rocks. That is, until 4am, when I was woken up by Chinese water torture: Water was dripping on my face from the bedroom slide out. Apparently, we have a bad seal, and there was so much rain last night that the top of the slide out filled with water and was dripping down over my side of the bed. Why my side and not Bill's? We mopped it all up with some extra towels we always bring (we've had water issues in other parts of the rig before). We...

May 8, 2013 - Back In Our Home On Wheels!

From Evergreen Motel & RV Park – Pratt, KS New seals on and larger refrigerator installed! Having to be out of our “home” two full days and three nights……two at Super 8 Motel and last night at the small city park just down the road from the NuWa service. However we had to be checked out of the motel by 11 a.m. and could not pick up our trailer until 3:30 p.m.………so lots of time to re-explore Chanute. We spent time looking at some of the new trailer inventory at what is now Kansas RV (NuWa running this RV dealership under this name). They...

May 7, 2013 - The Beginning of 2013: Probably More Than You Want to Know

Yes we are still alive and once again on the move. We had a wonderful winter in Prescott Valley, AZ and have decided to make the area our “home base”. Our initial plan was to travel the USA for around 5 years and find a locale we felt we would like to call “home” somewhere in the future. This is the place. It has all 4 seasons with mild winters much like North Carolina. The foliage is much like that of the Carolinas. We realize some of you are probably asking why we don’t return east; it is because of the low humidity and more favorable...

May 6, 2013 - From Canyons to flat land

This is Monday evening and we are in a motel room in Garden City, Kansas. We entered Colorado on Saturday and explored the Black Canyons and stayed overnight in Gunnison, CO. This canyon is just a river which has burrowed it's way through the Rockies as you watch it from 9000 feet up. A depth of sight you just cannot put in a picture. Sunday morning we worshipped with the folks at Gunnison Community church and the topic was just what we needed. "Do not worry" according to Luke 22. Well we do not worry a whole lot at this time. We decided...