The Real Driving Begins

This is Kansas for miles and miles and miles!!!!

   The next part of our journey had us traveling through the central part of the United States.  This portion of the trip I planned to take three days to do.  The reason I planned to take three days, was because I wanted to have an open mind and find interesting things along the way.  This part of the country gets a bad wrap, because truthfully there really isn't much to see other than the occasional Aatelope amongst all of the farms and grassland.

The girls want to travel the rest of the way in this.

    The highway that we took led us the first leg from Colorado Springs to the famous town of Dodge City.  Not only did I want to get to Dodge City so that we could check out the town, but it was time for us to do our first load of laundry.  The RV park we stayed at in Dodge City is called Gunsmoke RV park.  Yes, you guessed it, the park was named after the famous television show.  They had plenty of pictures and memoriabilia from the show hanging all over the walls.  Even though this RV park is a mom and pop business, they have done a great job with the small details that have made it our favorite so far on our trip.  Like I said, the laundry needed to be done and this place didn't dissapoint. Their laundry room at this place was awesome.  It had multiple washers and dryers, which made my work go fast.  So, while I did laundry, Claire and Cecelia took and rest.  Taylor swam in the pool.
    After completing the laundry, we headed into Dodge City to explore some of the history.  The dissapointing part about Dodge City, is that the museum is the only real history left.  The town is really depressed and there is not much going on.

A little weather in Kansas.  Tay asked, "Where's Dorothy?"

   On the positive side, the museum is on the sight of the actual Boot Hill and does give some great information.  The first thing I learned, was that Wyatt Earp was never really a Marshal.  He was an Assistant Marshal and a Hotel manager.  The other piece of information, which I found to be sad was how much the Buffalo were destroyed in this particular area.  The only Buffalo that we actually saw were four in a display at an Indian Casino.  I wanted to see them roaming out on the plains in at least a small herd.  Alas, it was not meant to be.  I did want to go realease the four in the pen, so that I could see them in the open field, but my family didn't think it was a good idea.
    The next part of our drive took us from Dodge City to Tulsa, Oklahoma.  After the long drive in the grass plains of Kansas and western Oklahoma, Tulsa was a pleasant surprise.  It was a very nice city and we actually played some golf at one of the municipal facilities down town.  Not only was it very nice, but inexpesive as well.  The pro shop only charged us seven dollars each to walk the course.
    Finishing golf after dark, we decided that it was time to try out some of the famous Bar B Q in the central plains.  That was one thing I forgot to mention about Dodge City that was disappointing, we could find no Bar B Q in town whatsoever.  Anyway, after a recommendation from the starter at the pro shop, we headed for a place called Rib Crib.  We were a little skeptical, because Rib Crib is a chain of rib restaurants in the south.  Despite our skeptisism, the ribs and food we got from them was AWESOME!!!!!  These are the best ribs that we have ever eaten.  The west cannot compare, it is like eating Chinese food in America after living in China. It is just not the same.  With full bellie,s we headed off to a peaceful sleep.

More Kansas, maybe Oklahoma.

   Morning found us taking off early and heading to Arkansas.  We were going to a place called Horseshoe Bend.  The reason we were headed to upstate Arkansas, rather than cutting down toward New Orleans, was because I bought a piece of property a few years back and had never seen it.  Along the way, we were pleasantly surprised by the rolling and wooded countryside of Arkansas.  Everything is green and lush.  The forests are full of mostly hardwoods, mixed with pines.  All of the animals that we saw were happy and fat.  The one thing that we started seeing more that Sonic and Wal-Mart was little places called Flea Markets.  Flea Markets are basically permanent garage sales.  Claire commented that Arkansas was her favorite state so far.  We asked her why she liked it better than the other states.  Her comment was that it was just so pretty and lush.
   When we arrived in Horseshoe Bend, we met the realtors and they led us to our lot.  The lot wasn't anything to brag about.  It was an undeveloped, wooded piece of land that was very quiet.  The only redeaming quality is that it is about a mile from the golf course.  They even informed us that it was about twice as much to build, as it is to by in Horseshoe Bend currently.  So much for a retirement property.

This is our property.  Nice Huh!!!  Anyone ready to buy???

    After leaving the property, we headed to the Box Hound RV Park and Marina.  It was very hot, so it was nice to be staying right next to a lake.  The heat outside was about 95, but the heat index which included the humidity was about 102.  We all felt like we were back in Southeast Asia.
    Unhooking the trailer, we then decided to go for a refreshing swim before playing golf in the evening.  The refreshing part was not so refreshing.  When we jumped into the lake, it felt warmer than being outside in the air.  Also, the farther we swam out into the lake the warmer the water got.  It was really strange. 

The Golf Course at Turkey Mountain

   Drying off and changing into golf clothes, we headed to The Golf Course at Turkey Mountain.  We arrived at 6pm hoping that things would start to cool off.  Our hope was to be denied, because when the temperature went down, the humidity went up.  We were all soaking wet after two holes.  Claire was sweating so much, that she had a bead of sweat on the tip of her nose while she was putting. Despite the heat and humidity, the girls kept a good attitude and we had fun anyway.  One of the really awesome benefits to finishing late, was that Cecelia and the girls got to experience Fireflies for the first time.  They were really cute, running around trying to catch them.  
     If you have never experienced Fireflies, I will tell you that I consider them to be one of the really cool natural wonders of the world.  They always seem to make the evening a bit more romantic and magical.
     Leaving the golf course we headed back for a quick refreshing dip in the lake before bed.  Did I say refreshing again, not quite!!!!