Bent's Old Fort National Historical...
Bent's Old Fort National Historical Site, east of La Junta, CO. Twice in 2 days we reached sites that we really wanted to see, after closing time. We'll be back (tomorrow).
Thursday * September 25
We'd made reservations a day ahead to guarantee our chances of a walk through. In most respects, the Harley-Davidson factory is much like the Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green. We were treated to an extensive and very personable tour (in our case, it was also very personal, as we were the only visitors in that session and had our guide's undivided attention.), saw most aspects of the assembly process, met a few members of the crew, and finally watched a video on the 100-year history of the motorcycle manufacturer.
With the tour and souvenir buying complete, we topped off the tank before continuing west. With a good chance of rain during this day's journey, we were finally forced to replace the worn-out windshield wipers before continuing. The wiper blades were probably original and had fallen apart on the way to Effingham. It was a bit of regular maintenance we should've taken care of before we left but didn't.
We had decided to make our way next towards the most famous town of Old-West lore, Dodge City, in the southwestern part of Kansas. With so many historical sites from the days of cowboys and Indians, we could have easily spent a couple weeks visiting each of them in turn, but we had to suffice with only a day or so to sightsee. There's lots of history throughout Kansas, and we ended up following several of the paths that led many hopeful pioneers to new lives. We slipped out of Kansas City, which was once the trailhead for the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails, on a local highway that ran southward along part of the Louis and Clark expedition's path, until we connected again with I-70 west. As we drove through a grazing region known as the Flint Hills, which fattens a million cattle annually, we passed the Kansas' first territorial capitol at Manhattan, Fort Riley, famous for such cavalrymen as J.E.B. Stuart, George A. Custer, and George Patton, Jr., as well as President Eisenhower's library, museum, and home in Abilene.
Just west of Salina, we ditched the interstate and took SR 156/56 southwestward along the former Santa Fe Trail, through Great Bend, and toward the infamous Dodge City. Shortly after we passed through Great Bend (so named for being situated at the apex of the Arkansas River's sweeping arc through central Kansas), our final fuel stop for the day, we saw signs for Fort Larned ahead, indicating it was only a few miles off the highway. The fort was an important post on the frontier, protecting mail coaches and wagon trains traveling the Santa Fe Trail from 1859 until it was deactivated in 1878. The Fort Larned Historic Site includes nine original sandstone buildings and one that's been reconstructed, as well as a section of wagon-wheel rutted prairie. That sounded fascinating, and we took the short detour westward to find the fort, but as it was already long into the day; the shortened "off-season" visiting hours had ended and Fort Larned was closed. Bummer! The Santa Fe Trail Center Museum and Library was closed, too. We walked the picnic area there and looked around for a bit, but we couldn't dwell for long, as evening was approaching and there were still 50-plus miles between us and Dodge.
We made great time, traveling at extremely extra-legal speeds along the quiet backloads, until the combination of impending dusk, loose gravel, and millions of kamikaze insects slowed us to a more reasonable pace. Then yet more road construction slowed us to a crawl. We rolled into Dodge well after dark, found ourselves comfortable lodging for the night, and got food in our bellies. Our first choice for a room was sold out, and the enticing little steakhouse we'd seen on our way into town was closed before we got there. Well, tomorrow would be another day.