We left the RV park in Wichita mid morning… Did I mention it was hot and humid?
But Kansas is beautiful everywhere we look…
Finally we crossed the wide Missouri…
Missouri is not all that different than Kansas…
At the appointed hour we arrived at our rendezvous point for the caravan: The Pont Express RV Park, outside Maysville, MO. We are about 30 miles east of St. Joseph, which is on the border with Kansas, on the Missouri River. While most of the wagon trains left from Independence, MO, many did leave from St. Joseph. However, the Pony Express was headquartered in St. Joseph, and all the west-bound riders left from St. Joseph. A we soon discovered, the Pony Express and the Oregon trail follow pretty much the same route from Missouri across Kansas and Nebraska…
This is a very nice park, with fishing lakes, farm animals, and lots of open space…
The only downside is that they parked all of us at the bottom of the hill, where it is hotter, more humid, and there is no satellite TV service!
We met the caravan leaders and received our caravan books; we have 21 Airstreams, including the two leaders. As usual, there are many from Texas, Florida, and South Caroline, only one from Israel, and even two from Missouri!
Since it was still too hot and humid to sit outside we turned in early… The adventure begins tomorrow! And an enjoyable time was had by all…
We left Liberal, KS, at about 9:30 am. We will be in Kansas all day today!
Kansas looks a lot like Oklahoma. At least the part of Oklahoma we saw yesterday…
They do have windmills here. We saw many more under construction…
Here is a windmill blade being transported on a truck. They are over 110 feet long!
Our first stop of the day is Dodge City! and the Boot Hill Museum… We parked the Villa to check out the town.
Dodge City was named after nearby Fort Dodge. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. Its population was 27,340 in 2011.
The US Army built several forts in this area, starting in 1847 (When this area was still Mexico) and ending in1865, when Fort Dodge was built to provide protection for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. Fort Dodge remained in operation until 1882.
The town of Dodge City can trace its origins to 1871, when rancher Henry J. Sitler built a sod house west of Fort Dodge to oversee his cattle operations in the region, conveniently located near the Santa Fe Trail and Arkansas River, and Sitler’s house quickly became a stopping point for travelers. Others saw the commercial potential of the region with the Santa Fe Railroad rapidly approaching from the east. In 1872, Dodge City was staked out on the 100th meridian and the legal western boundary of the Fort Dodge reservation. The town site was platted and George M. Hoover opened the commercial establishment – a bar.
The railroad arrived in September to find a town ready and waiting for business. The early settlers in Dodge City traded in buffalo bones and hides and provided a civilian community for Fort Dodge. However, with the arrival of the railroad, Dodge City soon became involved in the cattle trade. Deputies Bat Masterson Wyatt Earp both served in Dodge City.
In 1866, the first Texas cattle started arriving in Baxter Springs in southeastern Kansas by way of the Shawnee Trail. However, Texas Longhorn cattle carried a tick that spread Texas cattle fever among other breeds of cattle. Alarmed Kansas farmers persuaded the Kansas State Legislature to establish a quarantine line in central Kansas. The quarantine prohibited Texas Longhorns from the heavily settled, eastern portion of the state.
With the cattle trade forced west, Texas Longhorns began moving north along the Chisholm Trail. In 1867, the main cowtown was Abilene, Kansas. Profits were high, and other towns quickly joined in the cattle boom. However, in 1876, the Kansas State Legislature responded to pressure from farmers settling in central Kansas and once again shifted the quarantine line westward, which essentially eliminated Abilene and the other cowtowns from the cattle trade. With no place else to go, Dodge City suddenly became the “queen of the cow towns.”
A new route known as the Great Western Cattle Trail or Western Trail branched off from the Chisholm Trail to lead cattle into Dodge City. Dodge City became a boomtown, with thousands of cattle passing annually through its stockyards. The peak years of the cattle trade in Dodge City were from 1883 to 1884, and during that time the town grew tremendously.
Dodge City became famous because no town could match its reputation as a true frontier settlement of the Old West. Dodge City had more famous (and infamous) gunfighters working at one time or another than any other town in the West, many of whom participated in the Dodge City War of 1883. It boasted also the usual array of saloons, gambling halls, and brothels, including the famous Long Branch Saloon and China Doll brothel. For a time in 1884, Dodge City even had a bullfighting ring where Mexican bullfighters would put on a show with specially chosen Longhorn bulls.
As more agricultural settlers moved into western Kansas, pressure increased on the Kansas State Legislature to do something about splenic fever, known today as anthrax. Consequently, in 1885, the quarantine line was extended across the state and the Western Trail was all but shut down. By 1886, the cowboys, saloon keepers, gamblers, and brothel owners moved west to greener pastures, and Dodge City became a sleepy little town much like other communities in western Kansas.
Today the Boot Hill Museum showcases ancient artifacts, stages gunfights daily, and offers other tourist attractions…
Apparently there is a festival coming up. We’re not sure what it is, and we’re not sticking around to find out…
But we do like old towns. We explored the town of Dodge City… There are historic, old west restaurants right next to the museum..
But seriously folks, there is a nice section of the old town that has been restored…
I like to see details of how new construction technology is uses to preserve old buildings…
Across the street from the town is the Santa Fe Depot…
So we enjoyed some history in Dodge City, then we were back on the road, heading to Wichita… Kansas is quite lovely from one end to the other…
We arrived in Wichita to the Air Capital RV Park. Nice clean sites. Again, good power is a must. It is 97 degrees, and 86% humidity. It is not suitable for man or beast…
At 6:00 pm we called Uber, and we were driven into “downtown” Wichita, to George’s Bistro. We had some time before our reservation, so we walked for about 20 minutes. (Note to self: avoid walking in this kind of weather!)
But we did find the Allen house, completed in 1918, and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We were here in 2019 and had the full tour… See photos in the Blog archives: Search “Allen House”.
Back at George’s Bistro we went in to cool off. We sat at the bar and ordered Old Fashioneds, made with Boot Hill Distillery’s Bourbon. Drink Local!
We had a lovely dinner of French Onion Soup, Steak Tartare, Pomme Frites, and Crepes with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and Arugala. I had brought with us a 2005 Cht Clerc Milon, a tasty Bordeaux…
Dear long-time reader: If you think you’ve seen this photo before, you’re almost right…
This was taken at the same restaurant in June, 2019…
We Ubered back to the Villa. An enjoyable time was had by all…
This morning we pulled out of the RV park in Liberal, KS, and pointed the Villa southwest. In about three minutes we were in the far western part of the Oklahoma panhandle; about 90 minutes later we were in the far western part of the Texas panhandle; by noon we were in New Mexico…
These parts of Oklahoma and Texas look remarkably like Kansas…
At one rest stop there were these nice little picnic shelters… Mid Century Modern!… Nice, but a little beat up…
All day yesterday and all day today, until we entered New Mexico, we followed the railroad tracks. About every ten miles we came to a small town dominated by these giant grain elevators or silos…
The further we drove west the smaller and more distressed the towns were… Not being farming folk, we could not tell exactly what these facilities do, but we assume it is related to grain storage, food processing, feed production, or something like that…
By mid day we were at our campground in Tucumcari, NM.
And, for the record, New Mexico does not look anything like Texas, Oklahoma, or Kansas:
Happy Hours and a light supper ensued in the Villa; tomorrow we head towards Gallup, NM.
Friday morning dawned nice and cool, but the heat will be arriving soon. We pointed the Villa west, towards Albuquerque and beyond…
The drive was uneventful, as expected…
New Mexico looks like this…
At one rest stop we found this Scenic Historic Marker:
We weren’t sure what it meant… east and west looked pretty much the same to us. Yes, western New Mexico does has more hills. We rose to almost 7,000′ elevation before dropping down to 5280′ elevation in Albuquerque…
Then we went uphill again to 7,275′ elevation at the Continental Divide…
We eventually arrived in Gallup, NM, at about 6,500′ elevation…
The sky was beautiful, the sun was hot, but the winds made the 89 degree temperature bearable. By early evening we were able to turn off the AC, and by sunrise tomorrow it is supposed to be 48 degrees…
Happy Hours and a light supper ensued in the Villa; tomorrow we head towards Kingman, AZ.
Saturday morning dawned nice and cool, but the heat will be arriving soon. We pointed the Villa west, towards Winslow, Flagstaff, Williams, and Kingman…
The drive was uneventful, as expected…
Arizona looks like this…
We drove for about six hours, taking time for rest stops, fuel, and lunch… We finally pulled into Kingman, AZ by mid-afternoon…
Interesting note is that we stayed here almost exactly two years ago as our first stop after leaving Irvine on our 4 1/2 month trip, the day after Lynda retired…
Happy Hours and a light supper ensued in the Villa; tomorrow we head towards Palm Desert, CA.
Sunday morning dawned nice and cool, but the heat will be arriving soon. We pointed the Villa west, towards the California border…
The drive was uneventful, as expected…
We crossed over the Colorado River…
And we entered California!
We were met by some attentive uniformed people who asked us where we’d been, and if we were bringing in any firewood…
The California Desert looks like this…
For those of you who insist on calling places like eastern Oregon a “desert”, please stop! Rivers, grass with cattle grazing, and green leafy trees do not make a desert! See photo above for what a desert looks like!
We moved on to Palm Desert, where they have succeeded in making the desert green:
We spent the afternoon and evening with like-minded friends, sharing happy hours and dinner. Early Monday morning we drove the final hour…
We arrived home in Redlands; an enjoyable time was had by all…
Tally:
Miles driven: 8,379
Days traveling and camping on our own: 40 days
Days on the Cajun Country Caravan: 16 days
Days on the Springtime in Kentucky Caravan: 22 days
Total days living in the Villa: 78 days
Total number of Airstreams seen along the road: 211
Number of nights in the Villa over the past 24 months: 375 days (51%)
This morning we pulled out of the RV park and pulled the Villa into central Wichita. We are heading to another Frank Lloyd Wright house – the Allen house…
You remember the neighborhood of nice houses I posted yesterday as we walked near the French bistro where we had dinner. The Allen house is in the same neighborhood, a few blocks over…
We pulled up in front of the house and parked along the curb…
The Allen House is a Prairie Style home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1915-1916 for former Kansas Governor Henry Justin Allen and his wife, Elsie. Construction was complete in 1918.
It was one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s last Prairie Houses. The design influence of the prairie and Japanese architecture (FLlW was working on the Imperial Palace Hotel in Japan at the time) is apparent on both the exterior and interior.
Also included in the forward-thinking house were such modern conveniences as a central vacuuming unit, an alarm system and gas fireplace logs. Another innovation was the first firewall in a residential home. The bricks are considered “Chicago Common Bricks”; the bricks actually are comprised of five different colors.
(An interesting side note here is that in 1916 Wright started designing the Hollyhock House in Hollywood, where I am a docent. It was mostly completed in 1921. Hollyhock House is definitely NOT a Prairie style house; Hollyhock House is definitely FLlW’s first non-Prairie style house…)
Anyway, the house is about 4,000 sq. ft., and it cost $30,000 to build, including Wright-designed furniture and full landscaping. This seems like a very low price for such a fine house.
(Unfortunately, interior photos were not allowed…)
The porte cochere. Where is the front door? It’s around the corner to the right…
That man is at the front door…
The door itself is VERY crooked. There is about a three inch settlement of the foundation near here…
These repetitive windows are in the Living Room…
These spherical planters are made from concrete using crushed oyster shells in lieu of gravel and sand… They are over 100 years old and there are no cracks…
This is the rear of the house. This parking lot was originally a kitchen garden and a cutting garden of red roses…
This projection is oddly not symmetrical – it really bothers me…
The classic feature of all Prairie houses is their horizontality. This is reinforced by mortar joints, a plynth row of limestone, and a water-table of limestone…
The square motif is repeated in light fixtures throughout the house…
The kitchen windows feature “pie-cooling” iron grates…
The ice goes here for the large kitchen ice box…
Beautiful planters…
Many of the house’s eaves contain these hidden rain gutters…
The built-in downspouts for the hidden gutters; also note the security alarm…
The terrace and courtyard was used for entertaining as often as two-three times per week…
The tea house beyond…
We had a great tour. I only caught the docent in one error – she was talking about how Wright had invented the casement window for the Hollyhock House, and then used it again here. Really? The casement window was “invented” thousands of years ago… Wright used them almost exclusively in his houses; in fact, what he did say was, “If they had not already been invented I would have invented them…”. Also, the Hollyhock House was designed and built AFTER the Allen house…
So we drove off, pulling the Villa; Allen house was our last “tourist” stop. From now on we are streaking straight home…
We left Wichita on Hwy 54, heading southwest, towards New Mexico…
Kansas looks like this:
And this:
Hwy 54 parallels the railroad tracks, build in the late 19th century as the prairie lands were homesteaded…
They grow dandelions big around here…
We stopped in Liberal, KS, at about 5:00 pm, at a very basic campground. We were tired. Happy Hours and a light supper ensued, an enjoyable time was had by all…
We had an easy drive and an easy day in general. We were awakened in the early AMs with thunderstorms and rain pounding on the aluminum roof… By the time we pulled out of the RV Park the rain had stopped, but everything was very wet.
Oklahoma is green and gold. So is Kansas. I’m not sure where these photos were taken – North Oklahoma and southern Kansas look pretty much alike…
All the rivers are muddy…
We drove north, stopped for truck fuel, then stopped again for human fuel (groceries). We arrived at Air Capital RV Park in south Wichita at about 12:30…
We did errands, caught up on emails and other details, made reservations for the remainder of our trip, and generally relaxed…
We were able to find a fine French bistro in Wichita… We hailed an Uber, arrived early, and walked this fine old neighborhood in Wichita…
At the appointed hour we arrived back at the restaurant – Georges French Bistro…
It was delightful. We sat on the sidewalk, and we enjoyed cocktails and wine along with 5 shared appetizer courses…
We Ubered back to the Villa; an enjoyable time was had by all…
We stopped in Liberal, KS, at about 5:00 pm, at a very basic campground. We were tired. Happy Hours and a light supper ensued, an enjoyable time was had by all…
Adventures in the Villa 
