Biking along we saw a little sign that said Scenic Overlook - one mile. Odd ... There was a slight rise in the flatness down the road but what could you possibly see that you couldn't already. The horizon is so large you feel you can see the curve of the earth.
Our curiosity peaked we pedaled on and came to the turnout. The scenic overlook was - I'm not kidding - looking down on an enormous feedlot full of cows being fattened up for slaughter. Yep ... Cows. Pretty funny.
For the last few days we have followed the Santa Fe trail that connected the East with the South-west. Freight caravans were lucky to advance 12 to 15 miles a day across the ruts and pits in the trail. The Arkansas River just to the south of the trail was the international border to Spain and in 1821 to Mexico after Mexico gained independence. In 1846 the US sent troops down the trail to take the territory from Mexico and move the boarder south. In the meantime the trail was a huge trade route, and you can still see ruts from the wagons in a spot about 7 miles west of Dodge City. The trail was still heavily used till the 1860s when it was replaced by the railroad.
Today was an easy ride day (51 miles, mostly flat), so besides brushing up on my history I also took the time to really look around. First thing I noticed is that the highway parallels the railroad and most every town has huge grain silos that are organized into community co-ops. The silos are placed right between the highway and the tracks and there is a series of them as we head east. They tower out of the ground and can be seen for miles before you get there.
The second is that all those trucks and many cars going between the feedlots and silos don't give a hoot about cyclists. No slowing down, no giving an inch. We had a narrow shoulder the first 25 miles, and between huge trucks passing at 60+ MPH without moving over and 2 idiots passing and coming head on in our lane (it is still our lane, you know, even though we ride on the shoulder) my life passed before my eyes 3 times and I considered a dive in a ditch once. Can't ever remember being so nervous about traffic.
But luckily that was over soon and as we rode into the little town of Cimmaron – a crossing point where the Santa Fe trail branched off into two alternate routes heading to New Mexico - tales of Clarks Pharmacy and their yummy milkshakes had taken over my grouchiness at idiot Kansas drivers. Amazing what a strawberry milkshake can cure (strawberry because since it was still morning I though a fruity thing might be a better excuse than my normal chocolate). Clarks is a great old drugstore with an old fashioned soda bar. Shake for $3, sandwiches for $2.50. It was full of locals when we invaded,and the gals behind the counter took us in stride. Oprah passed through here on there on her Oprah and Gayles great adventure on the great plains ... And they apparently ordered a smoothie which was (nope, you wouldn't want actual fruit in a smoothie in Cimmaron) Orange sherbet and Sierra Mist. Hmmmm ... Actually pretty refreshing when I tried it.
Pedaling on I was in open prairie land with slightly rolling hills. Lots of wildflowers popping out - reddish orange small daisies, sunflowers, yellow purple and white flowers mixed in with knee high prairie grass and dandelion seed balls as big as baseballs. At the historical marker where you can see the original tracks for the Santa Fe Trail I walked out onto the prairie. Wildflowers. Different shades of green. The remnants of the trail and an irrigation canal some investor tried to dig that failed. Enormous grasshoppers were hopping everywhere. (Random aside: The day before we also saw grasshoppers - different species - on the roadway. They were a little freaky - you try not to hit them because they are big enough to have a disgusting crunch/squish. But they are fearless - just sit there and watch you. And cannibals - they go eat the other squished ones. Perhaps the result of years of pesticides? The grasshoppers are still there, fearless and hardcore despite years of being bombarded with chemicals.)
Heading into Dodge City I had high expectations. This was the home of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. The TV show Gunsmoke was set here. I had big expectations of some sort of restored historical street with just enough cheese to keep it interesting (think Tombstone)...
But ... what we got was a fake old street owned by a hotel that you had to pay admission to go look into fake old merchantiles and stores. Bleh.
I did bike around and there are lots of old houses, many run down, with a grid of streets with the original brick pavers intact. There was a wax museum of gunfighters. I didn't go in. Sigh ... very disappointing. What a lost opportunity for a city that really needs a lift.
I retreated to a coffee house and chatted with a woman and her son instead. She has lived here for 13 years. They chase storms for fun. The ones with Tornadoes. Not kidding. Get in the car and chase storms. Apparently you can pay people to take you out storm chasing here. She said they did it long before the movie Twister came out.
She was telling me about the area which was great. 80% Hispanic, lots of illegals. Farm based economy. Struggling community.
The climate has a huge impact here. A huge tornado rolled through and wiped out a town just south of here. They are rebuilding it as a "green" town ... which should be interesting to follow. She was also talking about how radically the climate had changed ... they used to get a lot of snow but now hardly get any. She's concerned about how the dryness will impact agriculture, which she sees as struggling anyway.
She confirmed all the farms here are huge agribusiness and small farmers are long gone.
Our curiosity peaked we pedaled on and came to the turnout. The scenic overlook was - I'm not kidding - looking down on an enormous feedlot full of cows being fattened up for slaughter. Yep ... Cows. Pretty funny.
For the last few days we have followed the Santa Fe trail that connected the East with the South-west. Freight caravans were lucky to advance 12 to 15 miles a day across the ruts and pits in the trail. The Arkansas River just to the south of the trail was the international border to Spain and in 1821 to Mexico after Mexico gained independence. In 1846 the US sent troops down the trail to take the territory from Mexico and move the boarder south. In the meantime the trail was a huge trade route, and you can still see ruts from the wagons in a spot about 7 miles west of Dodge City. The trail was still heavily used till the 1860s when it was replaced by the railroad.
Today was an easy ride day (51 miles, mostly flat), so besides brushing up on my history I also took the time to really look around. First thing I noticed is that the highway parallels the railroad and most every town has huge grain silos that are organized into community co-ops. The silos are placed right between the highway and the tracks and there is a series of them as we head east. They tower out of the ground and can be seen for miles before you get there.
The second is that all those trucks and many cars going between the feedlots and silos don't give a hoot about cyclists. No slowing down, no giving an inch. We had a narrow shoulder the first 25 miles, and between huge trucks passing at 60+ MPH without moving over and 2 idiots passing and coming head on in our lane (it is still our lane, you know, even though we ride on the shoulder) my life passed before my eyes 3 times and I considered a dive in a ditch once. Can't ever remember being so nervous about traffic.
But luckily that was over soon and as we rode into the little town of Cimmaron – a crossing point where the Santa Fe trail branched off into two alternate routes heading to New Mexico - tales of Clarks Pharmacy and their yummy milkshakes had taken over my grouchiness at idiot Kansas drivers. Amazing what a strawberry milkshake can cure (strawberry because since it was still morning I though a fruity thing might be a better excuse than my normal chocolate). Clarks is a great old drugstore with an old fashioned soda bar. Shake for $3, sandwiches for $2.50. It was full of locals when we invaded,and the gals behind the counter took us in stride. Oprah passed through here on there on her Oprah and Gayles great adventure on the great plains ... And they apparently ordered a smoothie which was (nope, you wouldn't want actual fruit in a smoothie in Cimmaron) Orange sherbet and Sierra Mist. Hmmmm ... Actually pretty refreshing when I tried it.
Pedaling on I was in open prairie land with slightly rolling hills. Lots of wildflowers popping out - reddish orange small daisies, sunflowers, yellow purple and white flowers mixed in with knee high prairie grass and dandelion seed balls as big as baseballs. At the historical marker where you can see the original tracks for the Santa Fe Trail I walked out onto the prairie. Wildflowers. Different shades of green. The remnants of the trail and an irrigation canal some investor tried to dig that failed. Enormous grasshoppers were hopping everywhere. (Random aside: The day before we also saw grasshoppers - different species - on the roadway. They were a little freaky - you try not to hit them because they are big enough to have a disgusting crunch/squish. But they are fearless - just sit there and watch you. And cannibals - they go eat the other squished ones. Perhaps the result of years of pesticides? The grasshoppers are still there, fearless and hardcore despite years of being bombarded with chemicals.)
Heading into Dodge City I had high expectations. This was the home of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. The TV show Gunsmoke was set here. I had big expectations of some sort of restored historical street with just enough cheese to keep it interesting (think Tombstone)...
But ... what we got was a fake old street owned by a hotel that you had to pay admission to go look into fake old merchantiles and stores. Bleh.
I did bike around and there are lots of old houses, many run down, with a grid of streets with the original brick pavers intact. There was a wax museum of gunfighters. I didn't go in. Sigh ... very disappointing. What a lost opportunity for a city that really needs a lift.
I retreated to a coffee house and chatted with a woman and her son instead. She has lived here for 13 years. They chase storms for fun. The ones with Tornadoes. Not kidding. Get in the car and chase storms. Apparently you can pay people to take you out storm chasing here. She said they did it long before the movie Twister came out.
She was telling me about the area which was great. 80% Hispanic, lots of illegals. Farm based economy. Struggling community.
The climate has a huge impact here. A huge tornado rolled through and wiped out a town just south of here. They are rebuilding it as a "green" town ... which should be interesting to follow. She was also talking about how radically the climate had changed ... they used to get a lot of snow but now hardly get any. She's concerned about how the dryness will impact agriculture, which she sees as struggling anyway.
She confirmed all the farms here are huge agribusiness and small farmers are long gone.
