Home...home on the Range.....

So we spent a day driving through Kansas. We discovered that when you drive 65 mph on long flat roads, you go MUCH FARTHER in the same amount of time than when you drive curvy slow roads....but they are not as much fun. Anyrate, we had a great time with my brother and his family. Here is a photo of his youngest daughter, Carrie - and her baby Bobby.....and no....that is NOT one spoiled baby....uh-huh.  But he sure is well loved....

Carrie in the background as Bobby and I "plot" to crash cars together....

So we left Oklahoma about 6:30 this am....for those of you who are "map oriented" - here is our route today....about 290 miles total (including side trips)....it was a LONG day

Copan, Oklahoma to Dodge City, Kansas

We did visit a Stockade Fort and Log Cabin in Medicine Lodge, Oklahoma

This is a re-created stockade (complete with Jail)

Jeanette waving from the front porch of the actual log cabin (it was relocated to Medicine Lodge in the mid 1900's)

We also visited the "Carry Nation House" (the lady who took an axe and chopped up a bunch of saloons.....) which was also located in Medicine Lodge.

The (rather large) portrait that awaits you when you enter the Carry Nation Home

We paid a visit to the world's largest hand-dug well (Greensburg, Kansas)

View from "the bottom of the well"....

And we saw the 900 lb. meteorite that is also in Greensburg, Kansas

I had to make sure that this rock was encased in leaded glass....just in case it was kryptonite....(note the shirt I am wearing...)

And now for the rest of the story.....
So,we headed into Kansas about ten minutes after we left this morning - as we were in northern Oklahoma. We put on our rain bottoms - as about an hour before we left, it was storming, lightning, and thundering.... but it pretty much ended about 15 minutes before we left - and we didn't hit any rain all day long.
We turned onto Hwy 160 - all long, flat, and fast - 65 mph.  The real nice thing is the bike LOVES to run around 70 mph.  It is easy to control and doesn't over rev - the cool thing is it has that 6th speed that is all overdrive - and once you get to that - you are going down the road nice and silent - the engine not laboring at all - and the bike just hums along.
Jeanette and I had nice chats about our visit, our wonderful relatives, etc. etc. and the weather was in the high 70's/low 80's.... it was a great morning. It got hotter and drier as the day went on - and by the time we got to Dodge City - it was hot (96 deg) and humid (not sure)- but it was a nasty, uncomfortable afternoon...
We made great progress and hit Medicine Lodge, Kansas about 10:30.....it just sounds like it would be a cool place, wouldn't it? Don't you expect teepees or some fort or something? Well there was a Stockade Museum....here are a few pix of what we saw in the museum...

This, ladies - is how you got your perm.....(seriously)

Well, someone caught this guy while he was roaming.....

Wade talking with one of the union guys....boy was he stuck up!

What's round on the bottom and makes a lot of noise?...uhh...hello...the BELL!

The jail - this is two bunks in a cell - and it is all metal (heavy) and the doors took a lot of effort to work....(and no, Jeanette wasn't allowed to shut me in....although she tried.

Jeanette on the porch of the log cabin

One of the bedrooms...not much of a mattress - but notice the stove - and how close it is to the bed...

a real bear skin coat..

Overall, the museum was really interesting. A lot of old antiques and the log cabin (although it had a few wasps running around inside scaring us....) was interesting as well.  The cost was $4 each (we qualified for the senior discount) - and was WORTH the money.....
We went next door to the Carry Nation Home....it was a lot of old info about Carry Nation and her campaign to stop liquor sales. I am not going to make judgements one way or another - but will tell you that her first husband died from being drunk - which was the start of her "mission" to stop liquor sales. The museum didn't make judgements - they just talk about her impact on the nation - and has a lot of photographs and letters (including her divorce letter from her second husband - he claimed she "abandoned" him - at 74 years old) - as well as personal memorabilia (including the famous Carry Nation Axes....)

Carry's "mom-in-law" made this for her

Carry's personal musical organ (and notice the "Carry Nation Songs" ready to be played)

This is CN and her second husband....apparently he was something of a "free spirit" as well.

When a sign says it all - you just show the sign and do nothing......

So THAT was worth the money..... and now, what WASN'T.....
The World's largest hand dug well. 
We went about another 70 miles or so to Greensburg, Kansas - home of "the well" - the world's largest hand-dug well (I guess there are larger/deeper natural wells?)....but with all of the signs - and all of the hoopla...... Jeanette and I were not really impressed....especially when it cost $8 apiece (I KNOW - the EXACT same cost as that Laura Ingalls Wilder building)....but Jeanette was right that if we didn't see it - we would probably never get back here again....

There are stairs down to the bottom of the well - 122 steps from top to bottom. I walked them all (when I pay $8, I want to experience EVERYTHING.....)

Jeanette browsing all of the info along "the wall" of the well. A lot of stuff about various tornadoes and emergency management stuff. There were some interesting tidbits....but definitely not worth the money.

And if you look close - this is a VERY large metal detector - it is hanging in the well museum and it is how they found the large meteorite....

So after we visited the Well, we had lunch and then made the "last leg" of the journey - and we arrived hot and tired in Dodge City. We are only going to spend the night - and then tomorrow, we continue the journey.

We hope you are enjoying the adventure!

Wade and Jeanette....
GN Tiff YCGTB <3