Hays, KS

Sunday, July 26, 2020

I forgot to show our spot in the last post, so here it is.  Creek Side Resort in Hays, KS.  The resort looks brand new.

It is supposed to rain this afternoon and for the rest of our stay.  But now, we have blue skies.  We took off to see the sites of Hays.  They have a Frontier Park that has a herd of buffalo.  We went out there and this park is hoppin’. They have disc golf and you would think they are having a tournament!  Tons of people with their frisbees and families gathering at the Pavillion.  But we made it to the buffalo herd and they have a rare white buffalo that they received from the Ginther Farms in Redford, Kanasas.  Not a bright white buffalo, but more of a beige. Their big bull is named ‘Wild Bill’ probably because Wild Bill was stationed with the army at Fort Hays that is across the street.  He was huge, but went and hid when we got there to take pics.

White buffalo and Wild Bill - he would only show me his backside.

 

Two calves on the mound beside the water.  There was another one out there too.

 

So we crossed the street to Fort Hays.  Of course it is not actually open today since it is Sunday, but we toured the grounds anyway.  I really liked this place and may come back when they are open.  They have several building in very good repair.  Actually, a few of the officers houses have been recently sold for residences.  That shows you how well kept they are.  Apparently the fort was actually some 7,600 acres.  Now it is surrounded by a golf course and one of the buildings used to be used as the golf course club house.  We were only able to look into the windows, but I still got some good shots of this place.  They have these iron figures representing some of the spaces.

This map is cool.  It shows the highest place in Kansas and the Geographical center of the 48 states.

 

These stone benches are AWESOME!

 

This is the Officers Quarters

Officers quarters - from behind

Peeking through the windows of the Officers Quarters - Love the wax figures inside.

 

 

Here is the Guardhouse

Dennis and I talking to the guard

 

 

This is the original Block House that was used as a club house by the golf course

This plaque doesn’t go with the iron figures, but apparently the ghost of Elizabeth Polly still roams the area.  We did not see her, but it was daytime.

We also went downtown.  It is amazing to me how nice these houses are and they are right downtown.  This is a very pretty place. Very clean and well maintained.  The brick roads are still fairly smooth, not like some old towns you go to.  We were going to try to go to a Wine Bar, The Prickly Pair, but it was closed.  So we thought we’d go to the brewery, Gella’s Diner and Lb. Brewing, but it was closing.  Isn’t that just our luck.  It will reopen at 4:00PM so we will likely go back there if the weather holds.

We did go back to Gella and Lb brewery. What looked to be a terrible storm was coming our way so we flew the coop to safer ground. The 3 cheese grilled cheese caught my eye, but it was toasted, not pressed or grilled in a pan. So it was healthier, but not near as good. Dennis had the Sour Kraut Soup and it was to die for. Found out Lb (as in the name of the brewery) stands for liquid bread. Apparently railroad workers in the area drank beer for lunch because it has the same ingredients as bread. I wonder if your boss would buy that story today?

Be safe my friends!

Witchita, Kansas

July 22, 2020

We got a good early start from Tulsa and made good time.  The scenery was beautiful and so green and clean. When we would come over a hill and it would take our breath away.  We drove though. Bartlesville, OK and saw this.  How weird is it they have Hot, Warm and Cold water tanks. LOL.  It was a pretty drive.

 

We arrived just outside of Witchita in Augusta. We stayed at 4 Mile Creek RV Park for 3 nights.  Again we have no sewer hook up, but I am no longer worried about 3 nights.  Remember, I can do 5!!!  I am that good.  First thing we did was put the Kansas sticker on our new map!

 

This park has a lot of open grassy area.  If it weren’t so hot I could imagine people throwing frisbees, having picnics, etc in these areas.  They have a small lake for swimming and canoeing or kayaking with a huge BBQ pit by the water.  

 

This place is on a dirt road and everything is now covered with a dirt.  The truck looks terrible.  The RV we had washed in Abilene is filthy.  What is a girl to do?

We were leaving the park to go site-seeing and had the trash on the back of the truck and forgot about it.  We were driving down the interstate when Dennis saw the wine box fly off.  We stopped and put the trash inside the covered truck bed and went back for the box.  We carried that trash with us for a couple of days before we remembered to put it in the dumpster.  Hey, but we are not litter bugs!

While in the Wichita area we went to the Great Plains Nature Center.  We purchased a National Park pass there and walked through the trails.  They are concrete or black top trails.  Do you still call those trails?

 

 

 

We came across this ‘artifact’ along the ‘trail.’  Who hasn’t been there done that?  

We all saw a child’s mask on another post in the woods. 

 

We did go off the path a couple of times and find it beautiful and much cooler without all that pavement.

 

There is a bull frog in this picture.  Where’s Waldo?

We had a nice time there.  Have no idea how far we walked.  We keep forgetting to turn our fitness app on when we go.  😅 But we are definitely getting our exercise.

We stopped and grabbed lunch at the tiny Mexican restaurant, Sazon, and it was a great find.  It was in a strip mall, not a shack or anything.  Very nice, but very small interior.  We got a beer and Dennis had the special, Posole soup, (he is a fiend for soup even on these hot days) and I got to have a Gordita!  It was delicious and I would totally go back.

While in Witchita we also went out seeking the statue of the Keeper of the Plains. I really expected a real life depiction of an Indian, but this was more of a folk version.  But it was in the middle of the Arkansas river and they have a wonderful park on both sides of the river.  There were people picnicking, running, riding bikes and walking over the pedestrian bridge there.  A cool place.  While there yours truly had to visit the ladies room and could see no public out buildings at all.  There was the Exploration Place in a really cool building near the statue.  So I head in there.  They actually take a picture of everyone that enters.  I had my mask and sunglasses on.  Do you think they could identify me by that photo?  But it was a really neat place.  It is science based, they have a dome theater, a creative learning center and many exhibits.  If I had kids I would definitely go there.  I would probably enjoy it myself, but I just needed the ladies room.

We also stumbled across the Sedgwick County Courthouses. I love old courthouses!

This one has so many statues.

All in all we had a good time in the Wichita area.  But we are making our way to Colorado to meet up with Greg and Ruth Lynd near Pagosa Springs, so we will be staying shorter amounts of time at each location until we get there.  There will not be as much site-seeing for a while until we reach them.

July 25, 2020

We pulled out of 4 Mile Creek and Augusta, Kansas to head to Hays, Kansas and the Creek Side Resort.  There is a 2 hour drive to Dodge City from there and I am kinda thinking about that.  I don’t know.

On the drive to Hays we saw many perfect little farms.  Just what you would picture in your mind.  The quintessential farm or ranch place.  Wish I could have gotten a picture of one!  They just go by so fast.  I did catch a couple of pictures from the road.  But trust me, much better in person.

 

 

A couple of the windmill arms passed us on the interstate.  It was kind of a creepy feeling as they passed.  The top of the driver’s side arm is wider than the road.  So Dennis would pull over onto the the left shoulder when they passed us on the right just to be sure they didn’t snag the top of our RV.  I did not know that the tip of these things have a serrated edge, did you?  As many times as I saw these at the Port of Beaumont staging area, you think I would have known that.

 

 

We stopped in Piedmont, Kansas to eat at a Jim & Lila’s Cafe.  It had 4.5 out of 5 stars.  Well, the food was okay, but the old lady was smoking, you had to walk around a portable air conditioner to go to the restroom.  There were several locals in there eating, but come to find out, I think it is the only cafe in 30 miles.  LOL.  

We stopped at a couple of rest areas on the way to Hays, but that is about it.  Kansas has nice rest areas, outdated interior, but clean and air conditioned.  Dennis called the roads here washboard roads but they don’t have a lot of pot holes or anything, just very bumpy.  At one rest area I was getting out to go and the truck started moving forward. I think Dennis was trying to get rid of me!  But I was only on the running board so he missed his chance.  He put the truck in park and I went on.  I am gonna have to start watching him more closely.

We got all set up at Creek Side Resort and are under flash flood warnings for the 3 nights we are staying here.  We decided when it starts raining hard we are going to go out and scrub the truck and RV down. That will be fun.

Until next time!