Wednesday, July 28, 2004
WEST BY SOUTHWEST....1968
It was planned for us to meet mom, dad and aunt Beulah at Fort Scott, Kansas to begin our trip. I worked all day at the Educational Modulation Center and because Olathe was on the way to Fort Scott, George and the kids picked me up after work. After a rousing send-off by the secretarial staff we stopped at Custer’s Drive-In for burgers and fries and then drove south to meet up with our family. Becky’s friend, Patty Warren, who lived next door to us came along but we lost uncle Alfred this time. I’m sure it was hard on him last year and he’s a year older now.
We arrived in Fort Scott about 7:00pm and drove straight to the Post Office where we saw three of our favorite people sitting on the steps (the prearranged meeting place)……mom, dad and aunt Beulah. They had already scouted out a place for us to camp for the night on the north end of town. It was a nice little park and such a pleasant evening we got our lawn chairs out to sit and catch up on family news. I didn’t have a “log book” yet so George and I drove up town later to find someplace to buy a tablet. A drug store was the only place open but no tablets. As it is with small town folks the druggist wanted to accommodate our needs so he offered me one he had in the office. He insisted I take it so thanks to him I was able to record the trip.
We left Fort Scott at 9:15 am and headed due west into the heart of Kansas on Highway 54. Yesterday we traveled 100-miles from Shawnee to Fort Scott. The weather was very clear and pleasant with cool temperatures….light feathery clouds on the edge of the skyline. We stopped at a nice little roadside park to have a bite of lunch a few miles east of El Dorado. We could see a large Skelly Oil Refinery at a distance but our road went south. Clouds gathered during the day to make big cottony lumps overhead while the horizon looked hazy. It could be hot weather haze or threat of rain.
Our cool morning turned into scorching winds all afternoon. We arrived at Dodge City about 5:30 pm. We drove by the enormous Santa Fe Depot which was constructed of red brick and very old, then down the famous Front Street to see the Long Branch Saloon. We went in for a cool drink and were greeted by women dressed up like Miss Kitty…..the drinks were appropriately named, “Saspirillo, Cactus Juice,” and the like. The kids had fun ordering soft drinks with the neat sounding names all in the nature of “Gun Smoke.” We stepped into a souvenir shop next door to buy our first charms of the trip.
Boot Hill was very disappointing. It wasn’t marked by gravestones at all. Instead, painted commercial signs marked the spot where famous Western villains met their demise and were buried. Buildings were jammed all around and the old, dead Hangman’s Tree had been placed there to add a note of authenticity but was dismally inadequate. The whole effect was more like a carnival scene. There was a mock jail there and I took dad’s picture looking out from behind the bars….
We drove down the road a few miles to Cimmaron, Kansas and parked at a campground by the Arkansas River. While the fellows made camp, we gals dashed to the store to pick up supplies barely before the store closed….then back to fix supper. Becky and Patty offered to do the dishes which was a treat. John tried fishing in the river but the water was full of tree branches so he ended up tangling his hook and string more than anything else. George Jr. was content to sit with the adults and listen to grandpa’s stories. Later we went to the showers and then for a good night’s sleep. The Colorado border is only about 76-miles away so we want to be fresh when we start out in the morning. Traveling across Kansas where mile after mile rarely changes is drudgery for some but like any State, the beauty is there if you look.
The golden wheat fields waving in the breeze look almost like a sea of gold. The wind makes waves across the vast expanse of grain that pulsate and move like a living being. Across the horizon as far as you can see there is no break between land and sky except for an occasional grain elevator that stands over the plains like mute sentinels. Scenes of the areas we have covered today float through my mind while sleep comes on tiptoes……..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
We arrived in Fort Scott about 7:00pm and drove straight to the Post Office where we saw three of our favorite people sitting on the steps (the prearranged meeting place)……mom, dad and aunt Beulah. They had already scouted out a place for us to camp for the night on the north end of town. It was a nice little park and such a pleasant evening we got our lawn chairs out to sit and catch up on family news. I didn’t have a “log book” yet so George and I drove up town later to find someplace to buy a tablet. A drug store was the only place open but no tablets. As it is with small town folks the druggist wanted to accommodate our needs so he offered me one he had in the office. He insisted I take it so thanks to him I was able to record the trip.
We left Fort Scott at 9:15 am and headed due west into the heart of Kansas on Highway 54. Yesterday we traveled 100-miles from Shawnee to Fort Scott. The weather was very clear and pleasant with cool temperatures….light feathery clouds on the edge of the skyline. We stopped at a nice little roadside park to have a bite of lunch a few miles east of El Dorado. We could see a large Skelly Oil Refinery at a distance but our road went south. Clouds gathered during the day to make big cottony lumps overhead while the horizon looked hazy. It could be hot weather haze or threat of rain.
Our cool morning turned into scorching winds all afternoon. We arrived at Dodge City about 5:30 pm. We drove by the enormous Santa Fe Depot which was constructed of red brick and very old, then down the famous Front Street to see the Long Branch Saloon. We went in for a cool drink and were greeted by women dressed up like Miss Kitty…..the drinks were appropriately named, “Saspirillo, Cactus Juice,” and the like. The kids had fun ordering soft drinks with the neat sounding names all in the nature of “Gun Smoke.” We stepped into a souvenir shop next door to buy our first charms of the trip.
Boot Hill was very disappointing. It wasn’t marked by gravestones at all. Instead, painted commercial signs marked the spot where famous Western villains met their demise and were buried. Buildings were jammed all around and the old, dead Hangman’s Tree had been placed there to add a note of authenticity but was dismally inadequate. The whole effect was more like a carnival scene. There was a mock jail there and I took dad’s picture looking out from behind the bars….
We drove down the road a few miles to Cimmaron, Kansas and parked at a campground by the Arkansas River. While the fellows made camp, we gals dashed to the store to pick up supplies barely before the store closed….then back to fix supper. Becky and Patty offered to do the dishes which was a treat. John tried fishing in the river but the water was full of tree branches so he ended up tangling his hook and string more than anything else. George Jr. was content to sit with the adults and listen to grandpa’s stories. Later we went to the showers and then for a good night’s sleep. The Colorado border is only about 76-miles away so we want to be fresh when we start out in the morning. Traveling across Kansas where mile after mile rarely changes is drudgery for some but like any State, the beauty is there if you look.
The golden wheat fields waving in the breeze look almost like a sea of gold. The wind makes waves across the vast expanse of grain that pulsate and move like a living being. Across the horizon as far as you can see there is no break between land and sky except for an occasional grain elevator that stands over the plains like mute sentinels. Scenes of the areas we have covered today float through my mind while sleep comes on tiptoes……..
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
