Prairie Dogs, Wild Flowers, Wide Open Spaces, And A Big Ball Of Twine - Road Trip Into Kansas

Nebraska/Kansas road trip (78 degrees, slightly windy, endless blue skies and pretty clouds)

"...the land wanted to be let alone, to preserve its own fierce strength, its peculiar, savage kind of beauty, its uninterrupted mournfulness"

Willa Cather

We find ourselves in south central Nebraska and are staying at another Corp of Engineer Park. There is not much to do here but relax, listen to the wind, and perhaps go on a road trip. John studied the map and found a couple of interesting landmarks which only make sense in a place like this. Across the border into Kansas is a landmark which is the geographical center of our 48 states and not far from there is the Worlds Largest Ball of Twine. I said ..."Lets go!!!".

Willa Cather Memorial Prairie 

We drove past strikingly beautiful prairie land. and stopped often to take it all in. There are endless grassy fields and newly planted ones with huge irrigation devices.. The roads are often planted with hay  and after mowing it someone bales it up. What a great idea. 

We could hear lots of song birds but only identified a few. If you looked carefully you  can find lots of pretty wildflowers in the tall grasses.

Arriving at the geographical center of the U.S we found it over run with many friendly bicyclists who were on a six day tour across Kansas. It was their second day at this point and we all took turns getting our pictures taken in front of the "spot"

Geographical center of our 48 states

There is a small chapel for weddings..who knew and remnants of what used to be a hotel. After wishing everyone a safe journey we were off to find the twine in Cawker Kansas.. 

We found it and initially were the only ones there. However,  after looking at the "guest book" it appeared many had stopped that day. On the website there is lots of information about this oddity and it mentioned it was possible to add a piece of twine if you went to see Lottie. Well, just as we were getting ready to leave out came Lottie from somewhere with this gigantic roll of twine and asked if anyone was interested. Well, of coarse I signed up and Lottie and I were soon revolving around it. I couldn't stop laughing. It was a crazy fun time. She is a very dedication ambassador for this ball of twine and has met people from all over the world. As we were talking to her two folks  from Denmark arrived. Lottie was a very nice lady and I'm sure she would have told us many more stories but she had to take off for an appointment.  As she was leaving she said many wedding are held here too..."you know...to tie the knot". What a hoot!

Worlds Largest Ball of Twine with John, Jimmy and me

Lottie and me adding some twine

As we headed back to our campsite we made a quick stop at Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge. It is very remote and quiet. We were welcomed by the Refuge Manager and he seemed very proud of this refuge. 

We came across a little prairie dog town. Ranchers do not exactly like them very much but they sure were fun to watch.

Little bird peaking his head out wondering what was going on

What a great road trip. I hope you enjoyed coming along too. 

We spent three nights at the Hunter Cove COE campground near Republican City. This one was not nearly as well cared for and unusual for a COE. There is a long dusty road which leads up to it. Our site had lots of tall thistles and many of the sites by the water looked very worn out. Some new ones have been added but with little shade and very little grass. If you are willing to boomdock there are nice sites by the  water/ We checked out another nearby COE  called Methodist Cove in Alma which was much nicer and where we hope to stay in the future. 

Our site (50 amp) near the entrance

We are very excited because our next month will be in the beautiful  Colorado. We will be staying in several areas over the next month. Until then...happy trails!

We've Arrived - Grand Teton National Park

Moose, WY (36 degrees, rain and sleet)

We've traveled over 2600 miles from Sanibel to the Grand Tetons National Park to begin our next adventure.  Our trip, except for one flat tire on our jeep and  high winds in Kansas, was very uneventful. There sure are a whole lot of miles between Florida and Wyoming.

Our route from Sanibel FL to Moose WY

We had to travel quickly to meet a deadline to start our next job with Grand Tetons Association. This is a non-profit association which run six book stores in the area. John will help receive all the inventory for the bookstores and take the items out to them.  I'll be working in administration and initially will help get all the new employees set up. We will be working full time until October 10th.  Traveling an average 400 mile a day is not really our style but it was worth it to take advantage of being able to be in this beautiful place. 

Kansas

Kansas was endless and very boring.  We  had to spend two nights in Russell waiting out the high 50 mph winds.  The Triple J RV park camp host was very friendly and our best meal was in nearby Hoyt at a unique brewery.  I use a Yelp app on my smartphone to help us find restaurants.  It really comes in handy and sometimes there are special offers through the app for the restaurant.  

Another handy guide book while traveling is Next Exit.  Do you have one?  It tells you what is located at each exit on your road.  For example, it lists the restaurants, gas stations which are big rig friendly, stores, and campgrounds. It is organized by state and major highways.  As John is driving I use it to plan ahead for a diesel gas station, rest stop, or place eat.  

Yes, ti's a reindeer at our campground

Some of the campgrounds were very bleak between Kansas and Wyoming.  Spring has not arrived yet and the fields are bare. The people we meet were very friendly.  

RV World, Rawlins, WY

RV World

Finally the mountains and something we have not seen for a long time, snow, appeared.  As we approached Jackson the views were spectacular despite the rainy weather.  

Our campground is within the Grand Teton National Park.  As we were driving down the road we saw five moose hanging out together.  They are huge and such a great welcoming committee.

Our campground is called Gros Ventre. This is a huge primitive campground for visitors and within it is a full hook up campground for employees.  This big moose was hanging out very near our site.

There are only a few other people staying here right now.  We arrived late in the afternoon and did not meet anyone. Our site was pre-assigned and is very small.  It's so small we had to park our motorhome sideways to avoid being out in the road.  We'll talk to our boss on Monday and see if an alternate site can be found.  

After setting up we went into Jackson for dinner.  During the early season many of the great restaurants offer a buy one, get one dinner free.  It was very chilly so we didn't spend much time there after dinner but saw these buffalo on the way back and if you look closely there were herds of elk everywhere..  

Buffalo

 I think we are going to like it here very much. 

THE END

Elk

We Have Arrived In Colorado

(Pueblo, Colorado) 53 degrees, overcast, sleet, and snow flurries

The only cowboys we have seen so far

We are a few days away from arriving to our workamping site.  Along the way we have been through all kinds of weather - tornado's, floods, high winds, and today it is snowing.  It has been quite an adventure but we are safe and sound now in Colorado. 

Wyatt Earp Statue

We spent two nights in Dodge City Kansas which was once considered a very lawless town.  We stopped at the Visitors Center and purchased a CD auto tour that told us all about their history.  Gunslingers, can-can girls, saloons, and gambling were very prevalent from 1872-1878.  It was a real cow town where thousands of cattle came into the stockyards.  For a few years it was a very wild town and the famous lawman Wyatt Earp was once their Marshall. 

One of the stops on the CD tour is the Boot Hill Museum.  It is a very interesting place and has a famous cemetery where some folks were buried in haste with their boots on. Most have been relocated but a small part of the cemetary remains.  . 

There is a replica of how the town would have looked at the time.  Most of the shops have store keepers inside and there is even a saloon where you can have a beer. 

Part of the tour included driving by the many stockyards and processing plants.  Meatpacking is the primary industry now in Dodge City.  Over 20,000 cattle are processed here each day.  That is a lot of beef. You could see over the hills thousands of  cattle grazing in the stockyards. 

We stayed at the Gunsmoke Trav L-Park ($35/night).  It is a small campground on the edge of town.  It was rather barren, however, that was the case for most of this area since it rains only about 20 inches a year.   

Gunsmoke RV site

Registration area

Later in the day we drove out to where there are tracks from the many covered wagons that traveled the Santa Fe trails.  This was a trail which ran from Santa Fe New Mexico to almost St. Louis Missouri.  We could not find the tracks but the displays were very interesting and the prairie land was beautiful. 

Late that night the winds started to howl and our RV shook back in forth with the winds.  It was unnerving and we decided to pull the slides in.  It was hard to sleep with all the gusts and creaking of our rig.  The next morning John asked the front desk about the winds.  They did not seem the least bit concerned and said it just happens from time to time.  We read later that the gusts were about 45mph.  One thing about living in RV...you are much more aware of weather and certainly feel more vulnerable. 

Now that is a big tumbleweed

After such a sleepless night we decided to "get the heck out of Dodge" and headed for  Colorado.  The terrain is still rather bleak.  We stayed at a KOA in La Junta for one night.  I forgot to take a picture but it was not very memorable.  Today we are at a KOA in Pueblo.  Here is a picture of the desert outside our RV window.  Pikes Peak is in the distance but it cannot be seen.  It snowed today as we were arriving and the skies are very hazy.  Maybe we will be able to see it tomorrow. 

We stopped here because of a Nature and Rapture Center.  It is basically a rehabilitation hospital for injured birds and specialize in birds of prey.  The goal is to return the birds to the wild if possible.  John loves birds and wanted to check out the center.   There are also 20 miles of hiking and biking trails and a nice restaurant.  It's located along the Arkansas River and we really enjoyed our visit despite the rather cold and snowy weather. 

Nature Center and Restaurant

Arkansas River

Western Screech Owl

Swainson Hawk

We enjoyed our visit.  Tomorrow we are heading to Colorado Springs for two days and then up to Cripple Creek. We will soon be at our destination.  Stop back soon for more details. 

Reunion With A Friend & Traveling Through The Midwest

(Whitehall Bay, Kansas) 54 degrees, cloudy and windy

John was looking forward to seeing a friend that he was stationed with Gunter Air Force Station in the 70's.  They had corresponded over the years but had only seen each other one time.  We traveled to Lebanon Missouri to meet up with Tim and his family. 

We stayed at the Bennett Spring State Park.  It is a very nice, well maintained  campground.  We saw lots of folks busy fishing for trout.  Our site had  full hook ups site that over looked the river ($26/night). 

Bennett Spring Campsite

John & Tim

Tim and his family arrived shortly later.  They brought us lots of treats (fresh ham, bacon, pork steaks, eggs, and deer meat).  We had such a nice visit.  We have since enjoyed several meals from all that they brought us.  It is the first time I've had fresh eggs. There was even a blue one. 

Sara #1 Girl Scout

Their daughter Sara is a very active teenager and especially enjoys Girl Scouts.  She had earned so many badges. This is a picture of just her "fun"     badges. 

It rained most of the time we were visiting.  Late in the evening we decided to move up to a "higher" campsite due to river starting to flood.  We are very respectful of the power of Mother Nature. 

We will definitely return here on our way back East.  It was fun to meet Tim and his family and we would love to spend more time at this park. 

Dogwoods in bloom

We decided to get off I-70 and traveled on a less hectic and more scenic freeway -US 400.  There are many Corps of Engineer Parks (COE) in Kansas and many of our friends had suggested that we try to include them as much as possible.  Fall River Lake is surrounded by four COE parks.  We decided to stay at Whitehall Bay. It overlooks the lake and has full hook up sites for $9/night with an Access Pass ($18 regular).  That's a great price!

This campground is certainly off the beaten path.  Most of the road was paved and even went right over the dam.  Here is John driving our rig over the dam.  That's a first!

Except for the camphost we were the only other campers.  Cool Beans! 

Whitehall Bay Campsite

We enjoyed our stay here and the peace and quiet.  Our previous neighbor left lots of firewood.  We certainly did not want that to go to waste.  We marinated and grilled the pork steaks given to us by Tim and had a nice evening watching the sunset. 

We checked out the other campgrounds but this one is certainly the best.  Almost all of the sites have view of the lake.  In the summer this can be a very busy place.  The camphost said the major holidays were already sold out. 

Wildflowers were plentiful. 

Prairie

We enjoyed this special place very much.  This was a perfect time of year to visit.