First of all, in case you didn't check, I uploaded some pictures as well as some videos into yesterday's post. I was right, there was a little better wifi power in the RV park this morning! Also, as an aside to Betty C...this too is an official campground because we heard a train go through that sounded as if it were right there with us!
 
We pulled out at 8:30, a little later than the last two mornings . The temp was 63 degrees along with partly cloudy skies. One reason we were a little late was that John wiped off a little of the dust we accumulated on Muf after the rain stopped yesterday. Mufasa was damp from morning dew, which helped to make a small clean up a little easier. 
 
Driving through Wichita, we were struck by how very light the traffic was for a Friday morning. It looked like a holiday weekend would look in Nashville. Don't know if they come to work early or if more of the business offices are out of town. At any rate, we had no trouble at all coming through town. 
 
Before leaving Wichita we drove into town for a short stop at the Old Cowtown Museum. It was not scheduled to open for another hour but we wanted to see the area anyway. As it turned out, the Museum itself had to be walked to and we could not see any of it from the ticket building. We were told that there are 43 Cowboy era buildings on property, most over 100 years old, that have been moved there and restored. During business hours there are several re-enactors that populate the village giving one an idea of how folks lived back in the day . The statue that I took a picture of is an authentic Remington bronze on loan to the museum.
  
The Old Cowtown property is located in a huge, huge park owned by the city of Wichita. Also in the park are quite a few other museums such a a very large museum of art and an Indian Culture museum. There were several others but I forgot to make notes on them. On the way out of the area we stopped on property at a monument called "Keeper of the Plains". I plan to upload a few pictures that we took there. This particular monument is right on the confluence (LOVE that word!!) of the Little Arkansas and the Big Arkansas Rivers.  
 
We were surprised at how quickly we were into The Great Plains after leaving town. The area was very sparsely populated almost instantly. We passed huge farms and many large fields. The land itself lies beautifully with gently rolling terrain mixed with large vistas. We think we were following at least in the general area of part of the Chisholm Trail. 
 
By the way, on a side note: from what I am hearing in comments on the blog and email notes that others are sending me, there is a definite correlation between issues with GPSs and most men's apparent inability to ask for directions to anywhere from anyone. Just saying.
 
On our route today we drove through Greensburg, KS. As we went through we noticed many, many, many concrete slabs that looked like foundations where homes and/or businesses had stood. Since we just drove through Joplin yesterday, we both immediately thought that there must have been a tornado through there . I checked the iPhone in Wickpedia and discovered that in 2007 the first F5 tornado ever to be recorded (after the rating scale was changed) hit there, completely destroying 95% of the town. The other 5% of the town was damaged. We can believe it after driving through the place. There were a few houses and some businesses that were obviously fairly newly built. There were very few trees and the ones that we saw were twisted and had many if not most of their limbs torn away. Amazing.
 
Arriving in Dodge City, Kansas at 1:15, we stopped to do a short walk around in order to stretch out legs a little bit and to get some pictures to post. While we were there John (amazingly enough!) started a conversation with a gentleman whose name is Al. He was sitting on a bench in one of the town squares. At first glance he looked like what you would think a street person looked like. As it turned out, we found out that he is what really should be considered a modern day itinerant cowboy of sorts! He has been a long haul trucker for almost 30 years and has the physique to prove it . That type of work is so hard on a person physically. He said that he has had three back surgeries and is planning on having another one this fall. At first I didn't necessarily believe the tale he was weaving, but after listening to him for a few minutes, we think we really did meet an authentic character. He said that he is the only long haul trucker in the state to be certified to haul the "train" type truck hookups. We have seen three trailer hookups in Michigan (Michigan Trains they are called) but never one as long as he described which could be up to 10 trailers. He said this could only be done on the Interstates and only on very special licensed occasions. He has government contracts for hauling and can haul up to 140,000 pounds on 56 foot trailers. John called him a modern day "Teamster" and "driver" just like the cowboys were that herded the cattle to Dodge City.
 
After leaving Al, we drove to a local Walmart where I prepared a quick lunch in the rig. Then we went inside and picked up a few supplies . Laura indicated that where we will be camping in South Fork is not exactly a hot bed of grocery and/or supply stores!
 
From Dodge City we drove a few miles before we made a quick stop along the road at an historic maker for the Santa Fe Trail. I got out of the truck for a few minutes to take a video of the area. You won't see anything but rolling hills and grassland, but back in the day millions of cattle were herded along this trail to Dodge City in order to be sold and shipped out all over the country. We have stopped here before and you can walk a little way up on the hill and, depending on the light, you can see where the land was beaten down by the hooves of cattle and traders walking along this route between Dodge City and Santa Fe. The cattle were not herded in a straight line but rather spread out over miles of the landscape. At any rate, we thought some of you might be interested in seeing "the spot"!
 
From our stop at the historic marker for The Santa Fe Trail, we drove west for about 50 miles, stopping for the night at 4:00 in Garden City, KS . Our only choice for a campground in the area was RJ'S RV Park. Trust me when I tell you that if there had been any other choices (the next available campground heading west is 98 miles away) that we would not have picked this one. After much eye rolling and "how bad can it be?" comments we decided to at least check it out. Thankfully, after we got behind and away from the front office (which is in a old KOA building and our RVing friends already have a horrified mind picture of what this looked like) that has not seen a coat of paint in at least 30 years, we found the campground itself to be pretty good. It is level, the electricity is excellent and at least we have WIFI but will attest to how good it is when I post this!
 
John is outside bucket washing off the front of Mufasa. We hit tons of bugs this afternoon and he just can't stand it. Our site is quite cozy and we are glad to be off the road for the day a little early. This way we can have an early supper and not be pushing so late to get things done such as posting this blog. By the way, welcome to those of you who are new to it this evening!
 
We had very pleasant temperatures as we drove today, but they are a little higher this afternoon (81 degrees). Since the last time we drove this way the temps were between 105 and 107, we are not complaining. The word we had from Laura and Tom earlier today was that they were heading from Palo Dura Canyon in Texas to Walsenburg, CO today. They plan to spend two nights at a state park there, and then we will meet in South Fork, CO on Sunday. Looking forward to getting together with them.
 
We drove 214 miles today.