After Hays, we travelled a bit further...about 30 miles west...to stay at the Wakeeney KOA. The KOA was a very nice place. Most KOAs in the east are very crowded and tight. That's because they were built waaaay before we had all these big rigs and towing our cars. This one was spacious.

So...that begs the question: What is a Wakeeney? Indian name? Latin? German?

Kim's idea was to have them make bikinis there so the slogan could read "The Bikini made in Wakeeney". Clever


Nooooo....



Here's the answer:
James Keeney, a land speculator in Chicago, purchased land at the site of modern-day WaKeeney from the Kansas Pacific Railway in 1877. He and business partner Albert Warren formed Warren, Keeney, & Co., surveyed and plotted the site in 1878, and established a colony there in 1879.They named the colony WaKeeney, a portmanteau of their surnames, and billed it as "The Queen City of the High Plains", advertising and holding celebrations to attract settlers. The colony grew rapidly, but crop failures drove settlers to leave in 1880 as
quickly as they had come. By 1882, all that was left were "five poorly patronized retail stores". Years later, Volga Germans began settling the area. WaKeeney became the county seat in June 1879 and was incorporated as a city in 1880. Today it has a population of about 1,862.


Some nice vistas....

We only stayed the one night and took off south to Dodge City but only got about 20 miles when our coach started "missing" and coughing. I knew the problem was that we needed a new fuel filter so Kim suggested we turn around. "Maybe the guys at that propane place could help us". Back we went...sputtering all the way. I called ahead and they said they could help us. Fortunately, I was advised to always carry a spare fuel filter with us.
We pulled in and they had the old one off and the new one installed in a half hour. The hardest part was unscrewing the old one. Not sure how Newmar put it on but boy, did they struggle with that. When all was said and done, they only charged me $35. I tipped all three of them $10 each for their willingness to help us and off we went.

There are these HUGE grain elevators (mostly wheat) along the highways and the state roads. They have many nicknames like "Prairie Sentinels" and "Prairie Cathedrals". They are massive ! Look how small that semi truck looks in front.