We had a great visit (a second time here too!) with Cynthia’s cousin in Russellville, AR. We arrived on July 30th and left August 4th. After helping with a few projects around their house, we were ready to hit the road again because the asphalt seemed to be calling! Besides, it looked like we had a window of cooler weather up in Kansas for a day or two and that was fine with us! We headed out and back-tracked a bit, first west on I-40 then north up I-49 towards Missouri. We had real nice temps most of the way and we were hopeful it would stay that way. Our first stop was just into Kansas at Fort Scott National Historical Site. Fort Scott is a really well preserved fort practically in downtown Ft Scott, KS. Built beginning in 1842, most of the buildings are original restorations with a few rebuilt structures too. The fort acted as a base to enforce the promise of a permanent Indian frontier, keeping the peace with settlers and the Native Americans. Later the fort was a base to protect travelers along the Santa Fe Trail. Finally in 1873, Fort Scott was closed. The site is well maintained and really interesting to visit. We decided to make it a short day and camped just south of Fort Scott at Crawford Lake State Park. We got there in plenty of time to have the pick of the sites and what a beautiful park it is! By later that evening, the thunderstorms arrived and the soothing sound of the rain and rolling thunder made for a relaxing evening in the tent and a great night’s sleep. I figured the front would pass through the night and the morning be cool and sunny. Isn’t it a wonder that the same sounds first thing in the morning produce an entirely DIFFERENT feeling? It was POURING!
Wednesday, August 5 started out really bad. The rain did not seem to want to let up a bit. The campers next to us just left and left all their gear. It seemed no one was left in the campground but us by 9:00. It was a tough decision but we broke camp late and in the rain. In the back of my mind was that we needed to cross a spillway to exit the campground and cross a lowland area to exit the park that had a sign on it that read, “Subject to Flooding”. Fortunately, even though it rained all night and all morning (sometimes VERY hard), both paths were clear. We don’t mind too much riding in the rain but breaking camp IN the rain is always a drag! Within about 75 miles though, we were out of the woods. The skies cleared and it was a beautiful 75-80 degrees. Not often do you get dealt those temps in Kansas in August! We made our way directly west on US 400 past Wichita to our next stop at Fort Larned National Historical Site. Fort Larned was also built to protect travelers along the Santa Fe Trail. By the time we got there (4:00 pm) it was HOT! Since we got such a late start, we found ourselves traveling in the heat of the day which is something we try to avoid. We didn’t spend much time at Fort Larned but, just like Fort Scott and Fort Davis (in Texas), each was well preserved and resembled each other very closely. We met a fellow there on a Yamaha Venture with his Pomeranian riding in a small carrier on the, well, passenger seat! Nice fellow and we had a good chat about our travels. By then we were beat and having already made hotel plans for Dodge City, we only had 60 miles to blow off to get in the cool of an air conditioned room! Once there, it was out with the soaking tent and fly and within about 15 minutes with the help of the blazing sun and hot breeze, the stuff was bone dry.
Thursday, August 6 we decided to do the tourist thing and took the reasonably priced ($7.00) trolley tour of Dodge City and the surrounds. Well worth the price of admission, the tour lasted about an hour and gave a great overview of the history, both past and present of Dodge City. We toured the town and out to the feed lots where THOUSANDS of cows live till being processed in either of the two meat processing plants. Stinky! We also walked the Boot Hill section of Front Street and by noon, we were walked out and it was getting hot again. We decided to bail for the day (it was supposed to be 100 degrees that day) and catch up on some writing in that same air conditioned room. Though not very big, Dodge City has a very interesting history. Almost everyone knows about the show, “Gunsmoke”. Set in Dodge City, it was a TV show that lasted YEARS. Originally Dodge City was established (1872) close to the Santa Fe Trail, but it was Fort Dodge not too far from town that was established to (once again) protect travelers on the Trail. Once the railroad came to town, Dodge City quickly grew into a cattle town by being the terminus of the Western Trail. Here, over 5 million cattle were driven from Texas to the railhead between 1875 and 1886. Now it is trucks that bring the cows to the massive feed lots. Notables from the early days include Wyatt Earp, Bat Matterson, Doc Holiday and Big Nose Kate, all of which (except Matterson) gained additional fame in Tombstone, AZ (Big Nose Kate’s is one of our favorite saloons!). One other interesting fact is that Dodge City lies at the 100th Meridian. East of that line and north of the Arkansas River, which flows by town west to east, made up the Louisiana Purchase and Dodge City was the first town west of that line. There is much more and we really had a great time ‘discovering’ Dodge City! Check it out!
By Friday August 7, we hit the road early. We needed to make about 400 miles because our plan was to get to Bent’s Old Fort National Historical Site along US 50 and be in position at our next hotel in Englewood, CO by the afternoon to make our Saturday morning appointment at BMW Motorcycles of Denver, one of our favorite dealers. These folks know how to treat customers. Second only to BMW Motorcycles of Las Vegas (our hometown dealer) the Denver folks really took care of us last year with our 18k service so just like BMW Motorcycles of Charlotte, we like to give them the business again. Off early, it was believe it or not, pretty foggy. That was good because it made it cool (70 degrees) and blocked the sun for quite a while. With forecasted temps in the triple digits again, we wanted to take advantage of the cloud cover. We continued west US 50 enjoying the low traffic and in about 180 miles, we were pulling into Bent’s Old Fort, right on the Arkansas River. Bent’s Old Fort was built in 1833 and served as a trading post (not a military fort) for many years. This was during a time when it seemed everyone on the frontier got along! French, Americans, Indians and Mexicans all met there to trade and it was a peaceful, profitable time for everyone. It’s funny but you can actually ‘feel’ the calmness of the site as soon as you step into it. Not only that but even though the fort (it is an exact reconstruction) is BIG, it has a cozy feel about it too. Take a look into its history. It’s pretty interesting! We’re really glad we made our way there for a visit. After leaving Bent’s, we continued on US 50 west and hooked up with I-25 north to make our way to Englewood. By then, it had gotten back into the 90’s but the humidity was markedly less. It was a big mileage day at 383 but not too bad. It seems the more miles we do, the less we see (of historic sites)!
On Saturday, August 8th our plan was to be at BMW by 9:30. Only 16 miles up the road, we left early because traffic around Denver is really bad but since it was Saturday, it wasn’t too bad. We got there a little early and as I suspected, they took us in right away. A little over an hour and we were on our way. We tried to make a bank stop after the post office run but we only succeeded in getting lost (sort of) in downtown Denver. It ate up about an hour of roaming around and taking a slow trip out Colfax Street to get to I-70. Our plan was to camp about 150 miles north-east at North Sterling State Park. We drove all the way out there (on some pretty nice dirt roads I might add) only to find all the campgrounds were full! We were bummed! The choices were drive east to Ogallala, NE (the opposite way we wanted to go) or take CO 113 north into Nebraska and hope for a hotel along I-80. We lucked out in that respect, finding a hotel in Sydney, NE, the world headquarters of Cabela’s! We couldn’t figure out why, in such a remote place, that Cabela’s would pick this town for their world headquarters. But, how convenient! Once at the hotel, we discovered the grasshoppers that sacrificed themselves on us and left their mark on our clothes. Once I took off my white shirt, I found two more (live) ones clinging to my tee-shirt! Never saw them coming! It was a long drive and somewhat disappointing we couldn’t find a campground but out in these parts, campgrounds are far and few between! Besides, we got fooled up again because it was a Saturday (as usual!).
Sunday the 9th our plan was to make Deadwood, SD. Deadwood is also a National Historical Landmark and a lot of fun to visit. Not only is the town interesting but the entire Black Hills area is GREAT motorcycle riding! On our way north on US 385 (a pretty nice drive), we kept seeing bikes going south and all the gas stations full of Harley Davidson riders (mainly). All of a sudden it dawned on us that Sturgis was the first week in August and today was the last day. I have to say though, we saw just about as many HD bikes on trailers and in the back of pick-up trucks as we saw being ridden down the highway. I thought our machines were meant to RIDE, not haul around in other vehicles…. Anyway, by the time we got to Deadwood, it was (painfully) obvious that Sturgis was a recent memory. There were bikes EVERYWHERE. We have to admit though, we just don’t get the Harley Davidson thing and we met a bunch of really nice folks. We had supper in the Franklin Hotel (put it on your list) and wandered around town. We were glad we were leaving town on Monday though for well, quieter surrounds…
Stay tuned, much more to come as we head north into North Dakota and the northeastern parts of Montana! Who knows what we’ll find! Greg & Cynthia.