We did make it to Colorado Springs. We stopped to see a couple of friends along the way. A big thanks to Andy Wise and wife for opening their home for showers and laundry. It was necessary. I did see another high school friend, Jeff Blair, too. We stopped for dinner at Pho-an-Thai. It was a nice little place that had just opened a few weeks ago. We had a nice dinner and Ben and I had to keep going. We wanted to get as close to Kansas as we possibly could before the following day. And there we were about 80 miles from the Kansas state line when we decided to find a spot to camp.
Our night was interesting. A problem with traveling over the last major holiday of the official summer travel season is finding camping spots. The other is dealing with overly complicated State Park systems. Colorado, you are a beautiful state, but please do something about your online registration for campsites. I really shouldn’t have to make an account, sign up for your newsletter, have my credit card be the only way to pay just to try to reserve a spot for the night. The private campground that has a deposit box and whiteboard with what sites were still available. 5 minutes versus the 30 mins I spent trying to navigate your website and wasn’t able to book an available campsite. Sorry for the rant. Back to our regularly scheduled program.
After we got some sleep, Ben and I started the longest driving portion of our trip. Colorado Springs to Kansas City to St Louis to Mammoth Caves, Kentucky. We got up earlier than we had been and were on the road by about 6 in the morning. And by about 9 we had made it to Dodge City, KS. It's famous for being a major hub on the Santa Fe Trail along with being popular with Wyatt Earp. Yes, there is a statue of Wyatt Earp in Dodge City. Since the town wasn’t big enough for the both of us and we did need to get out of dodge (literally) We stopped at Miss Kitty’s Café on the east side of town for a good hearty breakfast of Pancakes, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and coffee. What more do you need?
Ben and I switched driving so that he could experience driving across the American heartland. To help make the time go by we’ve been listening to a bunch of different podcasts (Caustic Soda, American History Tellers, Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, Mission to Zyxx) and interspersing the podcast with a selection of music. So, on Ben’s turn to drive I asked what he wanted to listen to, “You know, I could go for some Yodeling.” Say no more fam. Spotify has no shortage of wonderful music choices to include several playlists on Yodeling. This would be a good time to mention that we are 2.5 hours away from Wichita, KS and 5.5 hours from Kansas City, KS. 4 hours of yodeling later we had to stop for gas again. Yep. 4 hours. Of yodeling. In Kansas. I did take a nap for about an hour. Probably some of the best sleep I’ve had on this trip. Who knew yodeling was a great sleep aid?
We had decided beforehand that in Kansas City we’d stop for a real Kansas City Steak. We were not disappointed. If you ever get to Anton’s in Kansas City they control the whole process of getting meat to the table for you to enjoy. It was well worth the stop. There was also a place called Tom’s Town Distillery that we stopped at. Tom’s Town was one of the first distilleries to open in Kansas after Prohibition was repealed. It’s very much styled as classy 1920-30’s joint but it is worth the stop. After the disaster of last nights camping, we decided it best to spend the night and explore Kansas City some more which we did.
I think the traveling and lack of sleep was catching up to us because we woke up late this morning and had a nice breakfast, compliments of the Hotel (Had to move rooms a couple of times for different reasons. I give Holiday Inn credit for their customer service in Kansas City though. I’m impressed) We then drove to St Louis and saw the Gateway to the West. A little to the east of St. Louis is Cahokia Mounds which is a part of the Great Mound builders. Fun Fact Cahokia was the biggest city in America up till the early 1800s when it was eclipsed by Philadelphia, PA and at its peak was roughly the size of London, UK. The visitors center has a wonderful display of the Mississippian culture and what life was like the area based on archeological digs in the area. We took a short bit to climb up Monks Mound which you can clearly see The Arch in St Louis and beyond. As far as off the beaten path places to visit, its decent one to check out. We are on the road again and going to try for the Land Between the Lakes Park to camp for the night.
Current music is Bluegrass. Seems appropriate for Kentucky.