You'll never guess...we changed our plans for today! We're saving the Cosmosphere for a couple of days, and went instead to Ft. Larned, a national historic site along the Santa Fe Trail. The fort provided military protection to the traders on the Trail, especially during the years of the "Indian Wars." A pretty brutal time all around. Life at the fort wasn't a cake-walk, either. Enlisted men slept four to a bunk (two on each level, toe to heel), and the uniform (required under all conditions and temperatures) was heavy wool. The soldiers usually walked upwards of 10 miles a day accompanying wagons and other parties along the trail. And that's just the peacetime responsibilities. We drove back to Salina so grateful for our shorts, air conditioning and sodas with ice!
A note about Kansas...it's not flat as a pancake! I-70 must have been placed along the most level and straight of paths running across the state, because as soon as we veered off of it for our sidetrips, we encountered beautiful rolling hills (not tall, mind you!), lush fields and farms that look as though they belong in a Norman Rockwell painting. We were also amazed to see so many oil pumps/wells. Yesterday, we counted 105 in a 20-mile stretch. Kansas isn't just about twisters, Dorothy and corn, after all.
Our plan for tomorrow is to visit the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve (a 41,000-acre remnant of the prairie that once stretched from the Rockies to the Mississippi, Texas to the Dakotas) and the Eisenhower Museum and Presidential Library.
We'll attach a couple of photos from yesterday...better luck tonight with the Internet here at the trusty KOA.
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| First junior ranger oath of the trip...at Nicodemus NHS. |
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| Parade ground at Ft. Larned |
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| barracks |
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| sentry house...ready for duty |
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