EYE ON THE WEATHER – RAIN, WIND...

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

It rained today, giving me a grey view of the sky and the pond behind my camper.  Safely ensconced, however, inside the camper [at the Lighthouse Landing RV Park & Cabins in South Hutchinson, KS], I completed and posted Blog #10.  As soon as the rain let up a bit and the clouds started to clear I headed over to the campground restroom to take a shower.  Remembering the frogs I had seen in there the other day (the lady in the office said they get under the doors somehow and she clears out 10-12 on a daily basis), I didn’t see any this time.  Not until I stepped in the shower.  Just one…a cute little thing...had been hiding under one end of the shower curtain.  It didn’t like the shower spray too much so it hopped away to a drier corner in my stall.

As dusk approached the sun broke through some clouds, presenting a lovely touch of color to that darkening sky.  Since I had both Wi-Fi and cable here I used both sources to periodically check the weather forecast.  Maybe I should stay here tomorrow…

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

The weather was much better this morning, “my” pond was nice and blue again.  Stay or move on?  I decided to stay.  An extra “driving break day” would be good and I had a project I wanted to work on.  So, that was my Sunday.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 

Preparing the camper for departure this morning I saw two groups of Canadian Geese fly overhead.  I thought they were moving on but they circled back and swooped down to the pond.  There must have been around 50 total.  Then, about 20 minutes later they all took to the sky, the pond having given them all they needed at that moment.

I got on Rt. 50E heading for the town of Florence.  I was planning to connect to Rt. 56E which, at that junction, overlapped with Rt. 77N…or so I thought.  I saw the signage for 77, but none for 56, so I ended up still on Rt. 50.  Turn back and look again?  No, keep on going.  My plan had been to reach Council Grove, the northern starting point of the “Flint Hills Scenic Byway,” and drive south from there to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.  By staying on Rt. 50, I decided, I’d reach Strong City and get on the byway from that point.

As it turned out, my error was very much to my advantage.  I arrived at the Visitors Center and, with 15 minutes to spare, I was able to get a seat on the 11:00 a.m. Tallgrass Prairie tour bus.  This is the only time the daily (and free!) tour bus operates and if I had come down from the north I would have completely missed this opportunity.  The 60-minute trip – with me missing, of course, the entire commentary (I asked but they didn’t have a printed transcript) – took us up to a scenic overlook.  From the website –

Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie

Where's the tall grass? Tallgrass prairie once covered 170 million acres of North America. Within a generation the vast majority was developed and plowed under. Today less than 4% remains, mostly here in the Kansas Flint Hills. The preserve protects a nationally significant remnant of the once vast tallgrass prairie and its cultural resources. Here the tallgrass prairie makes its last stand.

https://www.nps.gov/tapr/index.htm

American Indians and millions of bison lived and roamed on these prairies.  From that scenic overlook, looking down on the rolling hills of the prairie, I tried to imagine what a large mass of brown, whether moving or not, looked like.  We did see two bison shortly after starting this drive.  Back at the Visitors Center I learned that about 100 bison roam freely within the preserve’s enclosed Windmill Pasture.  The preserve has several nature trails, one of which goes through that pasture.  Posted alerts warn visitors that bison are wild and dangerous and…here’s the current warning:

DANGER

·        Bison are in Breeding Season

A reminder that bison are going about their normal life cycle. A raised tail is a warning sign and the animal may charge or give chase. Please give a wide distance, at least 100 yards. You can also hike around Windmill Pasture.

The sun was shining and although it was also hot and humid I decided to take a walk on the same gravel road-trail that the tour bus drove on.  I went .05-mile up to the cattle guard, noted the time, and decided to turn back and resume my drive on the byway.  The byway, which is also Rt. 177, going south ended at the town of Cassoday.  There I connected to Rt. 54W towards El Dorado and got a site at the Deer Grove RV Park.  With cable and Wi-Fi also available here, I checked the weather forecast and learned that a storm system is approaching from the southwest and heading for this region.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.

One of the trails on the preserve.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1

Although the sun was shining this morning the weather forecast remained the same.  This gravelly RV Park is, as I looked around, also home for quite a lot of permanent RVs.  The sites are situated so close together the place is jam-packed with side-by-side RVs.  While the park was satisfactory as far as my needing a place to stop last night, I did not want to stay here another day, storm or no storm.  Knowing that there was a KOA in Wellington, about 75 miles further west, I decided to go there – a much better place to wait out this storm if it comes to that.  I left El Dorado at noon and, by way of Rts. 54W, 77S, and 160W, I arrived at the spacious KOA, paid for today and tomorrow, and settled down.  With Wi-Fi and cable here – and trees and grass and a small pond nearby – I’m feeling much better about my location and surroundings.

It was sunny but also quite windy during my drive today.  I had my window all the way down and the front passenger window down a crack – to give the wind, coming at me mostly from the south (I was going west), somewhere to blow through.  Was that even a good/efficient idea, I dunno.  At any rate, my open window was a window of opportunity for another insect-related excitement.

Flies have joined me in the truck many a time on this trip, but this thing fluttering around near my face was much larger than a fly.  It was a dragonfly - about 2.5 inches long from head to tip.  I didn’t see how it got inside the truck but it was trying to fly out through my open window.  At first I tried to “help” by flicking it away towards the window but then I decided to leave it alone and let it figure its way out.  At one point, incredibly enough, it hung for several seconds on the fabric of the roof right above my head, giving me just long enough to admire its beautiful blue coloring.  Then it was gone.

Later, at my KOA campsite, I noticed a sizeable bug splatter on the interior of my truck’s rear window.  The dragonfly?  I opened the rear passenger door to look and there I found, dead, a locust…the grasshopper’s much larger relative.  That’s what hit the rear window.  I can only wonder – were the dragonfly and the locust inside my truck at the same time?  Was there a chase going on?  Via a google search I learned that dragonflies are described as being “agile predators.”  “Adult Dragonflies are born rulers of their domain and they prove it to just about every insect that thinks it can pull a fast one on this killing machine. The adult dragonfly uses the basket formed by its legs to catch insects while flying. The adult dragonfly likes to eat gnats, mayflies, flies, mosquitoes and other small flying insects. They sometimes eat butterflies, moths and bees too.”  Fascinating stuff!

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2

Once again, the morning started off sunny and clear.  I worked on this blog (#11), stopping now and then to watch whatever was on the Discovery Channel and the local news.  The forecast still calls for rain, wind, in this area…and flash floods in certain spots.  Around late afternoon, as I sat outside to read my book, it started to drizzle…

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3

The drizzle yesterday afternoon has turned into a steady rain.  And there’s a chill in the air.  I’ve put on warmer clothes and turned on the heater.  Having no desire to be on the road today I went to the office to pay for my 3^rd night here.  Just gonna hunker down for now…  

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4

The sun came out this morning, at its usual spot in the east.  The rest of the sky, however, was cloudy, some clouds almost black.  Dodge City, KS is my next destination and it’s about a three-hour drive from this KOA in Wellington.  “Go, just get going and go,” I told myself, and by 10:00 a.m. I was back on Rt. 160W.  My final Kansas byway, the 42-mile “Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway,” is on this route and I had been planning to drive on that byway on the way to Dodge City.  So I got going…

Recalling the flash flood alerts, while I saw hardly any water on the pavement I did see a significant number of standing water on the ground along both sides of the road and, at one spot, a very flooded creek.  Driving on, just as I was approaching a high rise in the road I saw a car in the middle of the road, straddling the center line.  Headlights on, flashing light on the roof, and barely moving, the driver was waving an orange flag outside his window…all unmistakable clues for my brain to tell me to slow down and stop.  My first thought, accompanied by a sinking feeling, was “road closed due to flood.”  Still moving at snail’s pace, the car came closer and I braced myself for the bad news.  But then I saw this flash of white, growing larger and coming ever so slowly up and over that rise – a huge truck with the “Oversize Load” banner across its bumper.  Wow, that’s an interesting maneuver for the pilot car – straddling the middle of the road until the big truck can be seen from the opposite direction.

I encountered pockets of rain – heavy, light, and drizzly – but no wind on this drive.  The byway, from its eastern point, began at Medicine Lodge and it was another fun “straight-ribbon-with-dips” road to drive on.  I was practically alone on that stretch of road but I still drove slowly and carefully, mindful of unseen wet spots on the road.  The terrain – “flat mesas, deep canyons, sharp high hills, red soils and caprock formations…” was spectacular, even on a gloomy day as today.  I did wish, though, it was a sunny day for this drive…the colors would have been much more vivid.

At Coldwater, the end of the byway, I turned north on Rt. 183 and then west on Rt. 400, arriving at Dodge City around 1:30 p.m.  The office at the Dodge City KOA was closed but, per instructions for arrivals without a reservation (me for one) I went ahead and picked-paid for my site for tonight.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5
It rained sometime during the night – I noticed that through the cabover window.  The forecast had called for a thunderstorm this morning but that didn’t materialize.  Instead, the sun was breaking through the clouds when I woke up and stepped outside.  The air, cold last night, was feeling warmer.  I took a brief walk and had another “go or stay here” debate with myself.

I ended up deciding to stay here at the KOA today for two reasons: (1) as gorgeous as the morning was, it was also windy and I don’t like driving a top-heavy truck camper when the gusts are as strong as they were this morning; and, (2) I’ve pretty much completed my month-long journey around Kansas and today would be a good day to review my maps and plan my routes back to California.

It’s now 5:15 p.m. as I write this.  The sun is still shining and the sky is still blue - I can see, right now, the contrails of a plane flying overhead.  A cold front from the northwest is expected later this week, but I’ll be somewhere south by then…

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6
For folks of my generation, and my parents’ as well, “Dodge City” probably invokes memories of the Wagon Train and Gunsmoke television series.  “In the 1870s and 1880s, the cattle business made Dodge City a rough-and-tumble boomtown.  Its saloons, gambling halls and brothels drew soldiers, buffalo hunters, railroad workers, drifters and desperadoes.”

Dubbed a “cow town” Dodge City today, definitely much more law-abiding than the days of “cattle drives,” remains a hub of cattle related activity.  Before getting back on the highway I drove around the downtown section to see what was around there.  It was very quiet, this being Sunday morning.

Fueled up and ready to go I made my way to Rt. 283S and soon connected to Rt. 54W.  It was a nice drive – mostly sunny, no rain, no wind – through the final expanse of Kansas prairie I will see on this trip.  I soon reached Liberal, the last town in Kansas along this route, and, at around 12:30 p.m., arrived at the Seven Winds RV Park.  Before I even got there, I had wondered…and I was right - the office was closed until 4:00 p.m.  Here I go again!  Fortunately, from around the corner came this woman walking her dog.  Becky was her name and she told me to go ahead and pull into one of two shaded sites (both just happened to be next to her RV, which was fine by me) and go to the office when it opens.

Just before 3:00 p.m. the owner/manager came by my site.  I had been updating this blog when I saw her outside my window.  She asked for cash payment because her credit card system was down.  Oh, that means no Wi-Fi here, I asked.  She apologized for that, too.  Okay, so I’ll post this blog from somewhere else, hopefully tomorrow.  I do have a working cable connection for the TV and should be able to get local weather forecasts from that.

This is my last night in Kansas.  This RV Park – my last one in Kansas - in addition to having no internet, has a rather unkempt appearance.  There are permanent RVs on many of the sites and, parked within close proximity to my site, are two old and rusted cars surrounded by weeds.  The restroom is nice and clean though.

But, hey, KANSAS, thank you, you were a great state to visit!

Sunset in Liberal – my last night in Kansas.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 7
Since I had no internet access at yesterday’s RV Park I wasn’t able to post this blog last night.  So, today…

…the morning was nice and cool when I left the RV Park and after making a quick trip to the Post Office I was back on Rt. 54W.  Within ten minutes I’d crossed over into Oklahoma’s Panhandle and, sixty miles later, into the Texas Panhandle.  The max speed limit of 70 in Oklahoma became 75 in Texas.  I, however, agreed with myself when myself told me to stick to a speed limit of 60-65.  It was a good drive as I made my way to Dalhart, TX.

An observation I made years ago, traveling in the truck camper, still holds true today.  On a country road like Rt. 54, if the highway parallels railroad tracks you’re likely to see, along the way, grain silos of various sizes.  I’ve never actually seen grain – or whatever the substance is – unloaded from those massive silo tubes onto railway cars but, today, I did see something just as interesting.  Beneath one of those tubes was a large pyramid shaped pile of a yellow-gold substance and more of that stuff was coming down from that tube.  I would have liked to have analyzed that process a bit more but I was driving past the scene at the time.

Just before noon I arrived at the Corral RV Park in Dalhart.  “Please be open, office.”  It wasn’t.  There was, however, a posted instruction to pick a site.  As I was reading that a friendly dog, a lab mix maybe, with a collar but no tag, approached me.  Looking around, thinking that maybe the dog belonged to the manager, I saw this 20-something woman working nearby.  She was affiliated with a chemical company and didn’t know where the manager was or who the dog belonged to.  Alrighty, I’ll just go and pick a site then and come back to the office later.

After about an hour, when I discovered that I couldn’t access the Park’s Tengo internet without a password, I went back to the office hoping it would by now be open.  It wasn’t…and this time there was a new note: “back at 5 p.m.”  The friendly dog approached me again (no leash law around here, apparently) and the young worker, along with another young woman, was still here.  They were taking a break and…she was holding a puppy!  I asked and she was happy to hop down from her truck, call the number posted on the office door for me, and inquire about the internet access.  There was no answer.  So, we went back to her truck and she let me hold her puppy for a little while.  Seven weeks old, dachshund, long soft fur, just picked Willy up last Saturday.  The older dog was on the ground right next to me and I assured him that I liked him, too.  Back at my camper I wrote a note - asking the manager to come to my site if he/she is back in the office before 5 p.m. – walked back to the office and taped it to the door.  So, while I wait I’m writing this piece.  Oh, wow, just now I saw a “Dalhart Animal Control” pickup truck swing by!

Okay, now I’ve got my internet access…gonna wrap this up and get this blog posted!