Bent's Old Fort | Dodge City, Kansas

Monday - 3 May 2004 - Dodge City, Kansas: We woke to brilliant sun, a brilliant blue lake and brilliant white Pelicans! According to our National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, it was a breeding adult White American Pelican! They are HUGE! Northern to Central Colorado is where they come to breed. Can you blame them? Today was our earliest departure to date - we were on the road by 8 o'clock. Neither of us exercised this morning and it was too bad - there were miles and miles of flat biking and hiking trails around the lake and the weather was perfect.

Our first stop was just outside of La Junta (The Junction), Colorado to a National Historic Site - Bent's Old Fort. Bent's Old Fort was a station and trading post servicing travelers on the Old Santa Fe Trail. The Trail led from the Kansas City area to Santa Fe, which was at the time in Mexico. The Santa Fe Trail is one of the few routes developed for commerce, not immigration. The National Parks Service has reconstructed the fort on the original site, to the original plans and made it as exact as possible. You are even greeted by an employee in costume asking if we brought furs to trade! We have been to many forts - adobe and wooden, but this fort was spectacular! We loved wandering around, exploring all the rooms and asking the fabulous guides questions. I could really get a sense of what it would have been like to stay and work at this post. Bent's Fort was built along the Arkansas River, but the river changed course from year to year, so sometimes the river was next to the fort, sometimes it was IN the fort, sometimes it was to the north, sometimes it was to the south and sometimes it was a mile south! (We found this to be true with several places we visited along the Rio Grande in New Mexico... so I guess dams are a good thing in a few instances.)

Bent's Old Fort


Bent's Old Fort in Colorado
 

A great tee-shirt

A group of high school boys were touring the fort with their teacher. One of the kids was wearing a great tee shirt, and he turned his back to me, so I could take this photo for my readers. I am sure it is not sanctioned by NIKE, but we may have to adopt the slogan as our Personal Mantra!  The boys were fascinated with the Peacocks at the fort. The park ranger said the Bent Brothers kept peacocks at the fort - not for food or for pest control, just for "amusement". I think peacocks are too noisy to be amusing, but they are a beautiful animal and the males were doing their best to put on a good show for the boys. As is true with so many of our National Parks, the ranger station had a fabulous selection of books for sale in their shop. I chose the diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin. Magoffin took the Santa Fe Trail, with her husband in 1846, and continued south into Chihuahua and to the Caribbean Sea to sail in a ship back to New York! The trip took sixteen months and she traveled with a private carriage, private tent carriage (obviously she was a RVer ahead of her time!), a personal maid and three additional servants! DT chose Kit Carson's autobiography. We will both soon be well-versed in the Wild West.

The blacksmith shop (DT)


The trading post


Bent's Old Horse?

Which brings me to the question of the day. Why is this the Wild West? We drove through several "Old West" towns today. It is around 1,500 miles to the Pacific Ocean. Shouldn't this be the Wild Middle?

We rested for lunch at a roadside picnic area and were soon joined by Ella. Ella is a 9 year old Black Lab-mix and she travels with her human in his Big Rig. Ella recently had to have her ACL (knee) repaired - just like our beagle, Snickers - and her human just had a generator added to his rig, so he could keep the air conditioner running if he left Ella in the cab. Now that's a man who loves his dog! I keep a box of dog biscuits in the motorhome - always anxious to make a new friend.

Continuing east on Highway 50, we entered Kansas and the Central Time Zone. We are so happy to be able to stay off the "main" roads. Highway 50 used to be one of the main roads across the country and it still passes through most towns along the original route. A few towns are large enough that they have a bypass around town, but usually we drive right down Main Street and enjoy seeing these American towns. You don't have to be an Einstein to know you are in the Heartland of America. The towns have the same features. First of all, they all have a Super 8 motel and a Best Western. They have feed & seeds, farm implement stores, hardware stores and a lot of taco stands and liquor stores. There is a Chevy dealer. There is a Ford dealer. Sometimes there is a Dodge dealer. We may have the only Honda in the county. If the town has a stop light, it probably has a new Super The Wal-Mart. This is beef country. I would guess we passed hundreds of thousands of cattle in feed lots today. We passed countless cattle trucks and even more trucks filled with manure. We passed many beef processing plants, with hundreds and hundreds of employee cars in the parking lots. We drove through miles and miles of hay fields and saw huge grain silos. We also saw many signs reading, "Stay Slim, Eat Beef".

We were headed to Dodge City. DT was SO excited as he loved to watch Gunsmoke when he was a kid. Gunsmoke took place in Dodge City, Kansas. We are even staying at the Gunsmoke Campground! I know it is difficult to see in the little photo, but below the word CAMPGROUND there is a gun and a little puff of smoke! When we registered the lady told us we had to "be out of Dodge by noon". I think they take this stuff very seriously at the Gunsmoke Campground.

Gun + Smoke

We drove into town and DT was SO disappointed! The guide books said the town has recreated the two-block-long Front Street EXACTLY as it was in 1880's. They make it sound like an archeological masterpiece - but in reality it looked like the tackiest of tacky tourist traps! At Boot Hill Cemetery sits an Applebee's Restaurant!  It was a sorry sight. Though he didn't actually burst into tears, DT lamented on Gunsmoke and he even knew the names of the actors who played Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty! You know a man for 30 years, yet he can still surprise you.

The Wild West - Dodge City Style


Dodge City disappointment

So, it was my turn to surprise DT! I had a steak! I haven't eaten beef in years (and years and years and years - 12 years!). My readers won't even believe me, but I had made a bet with DT that if he ever took me to Kansas, I would eat a steak. I think it smelled pretty good, but I forgot how much work is required in eating a piece of meat. It was a fancy strip steak - from the famed Dodge City Steak Company. The baked potato was good and the corn was fresh! Our waiter, the strangely-spelled Jeremi, didn't flinch when I stood up and snapped a photo of my meal! The best thing about the restaurant is that they brought me a Tangueray & Tonic (with a lemon) in a glass so large I couldn't get my fat little fingers around it and had to drink it like a child, using both hands! Now, THAT'S a steak house! DT said, "If I take you to Memphis, will you eat ribs?"
 
No, but take me anyway!

Just like chicken


The entire town has a theme

We had planned to remain in Dodge City two nights, so DT could relive his childhood, and we really need a day of rest... but... Move Along, People, There is Nothing to See Here. Check back tomorrow to see where the back roads of America take us.

RV Park: Gunsmoke Trav-L-Park