Comanche National Grasslands, Colorado

Wow, what an experience! After leaving our campground around 3:00 Mountain Time, we drove that huge RV for about 10 miles of unpaved, un-settled, and just plain dusty road.  We were in the grasslands, and it was so dusty! The reason we were headed to theses grasslands was to see some dinosaur tracks in Picketwire Canyon, inside of Comanche Natinoal Grasslands. Well, we left the RV at the top of a smaller dustier (is that a word?!?!) road and proceeded 3 miles. Christine, Gabrielle and Anna riding in the van; and finally picking up Daniel and Ben plus their bikes. Josh and Tom rode the whole 3 miles on that hot, dusty road! We got to the top of the trail that would take us down to the canyon and proceeded down a very steep hill.  Yes, it was steep, even for us, who live on a hill to begin with.  To give you an idea, the trail sloped down 250 feet in the first quarter mile.  Even before we got off that really steep part Ben popped one of his tires and everyone was walking their bikes down around boulders.  We decided we weren't really "Mountain Bikers" and proceeded to hike about a mile down into the canyon befroe we realizwed we better head back before it got dark on us.  We got back to the RV, packed up and headed out for Canon City Colorado.  We got to Starlite Classic Campground around 11 o'clock MT.

Where we turned around after about a mile of walking

Picketwire Canyon

Comanche National Grasslands, so picturesque!

La Junta, Colorado

Hello Everyone,
We made it into "Colorful Colorado" on Sunday and stayed at a KOA campground near Walmart in La Junta, Colorado.  Monday Morning everyone but Tom went to see the famous Bent's Fort, a National Historic Site.  This was not a military fort, it was a trading fort where trappers, hunters and Indians came to trade their skins for necessary items. The fort is totally restored to what it looked like in the 1840's and a living history museum. At the fort was a man filming for a Comcast documentary, so we will be on TV here in Colorado sometime in mid September, cool! Here are the pictures we took!

Ben and Daniel Pressing skins for bundles

Inside the trading post, lots of neat items!

The wall of the fort looking out at the entrance

St. Cornelius' Episcopal Church, Dodge City

Hello Everyone,

We are loving the comments, keep them up! So many people have been asking what it's like living all together in a small space, we will post about that, don't worry! Anyway, yesterday, the 21st of August we went to church at St. Cornelius' Episcopal Church in Dodge City. We had read that the church was a historic site, the only church that still has services.  We also went to Garden City, Kansas and saw the largest swimming pool in the world. The only problem with the pool was it hadn't been filled all summer on account of the drought that this part of the country is experiencing.

St. Cornelius' Episcopal Church

Boot Hill Museum, Dodge City, Kansas

Hello Everyone,

We are getting a few more comments, but would still like to hear some more! Don't forget to take the Pie Poll, only 6 days left! Yesterday we got into Dodge City, Kansas, used to be called "The Wickedest Little City in America." There used to be 'killin's daily, and all the other stuff the Wild West is known for.  We went to historic Boot Hill, and if any of you homeschoolers know your history, it's where people were buried after the gunfights with their boots still on, hence the name. We walked through the old, restored buildings: saloons (surprise, surprise), the jail, a church, a blacksmith's shop, and a barber shop which also operated as a dentist (yuck!). We also saw exhibits such as Native Americans of the Plains, Victorian Fashion and even got to see parts of Gunsmoke episodes, if any of the parents remember that! Wow, what an evening! We also got to witness a gunfight, yep, a real live gunfight. Here are some of the pictures we took, enjoy!

Inside the old bank, sorry, it's a bit dark!

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Yoder, Kansas

Hello All,

Yesterday we stayed in the small Amish community of, you guessed it, Yoder Kansas.  Yoder is halfway between Wichita and Dodge City.  Last night Tom, Ben and Gabrielle walked across the street from the RV Park to Carriage Crossing, a small Amish restaurant.  After much debate between Blueberry Cream cheese and German Chocolate pies, we finally decided on the German Chocolate. we ate the cake while watching Andy Griffith.  This morning we went to the Underground Kansas Salt Museum and had a neat experience.  This museum  is unique because it is 650 feet below the ground and you get to go through the Salt Mines. We really want to hear your comments, so post them! We only have gotten a few, and we know there are more of you out there following, we gave this link to over 200 people and we haven't received many responses. Did you notice the poll at the top of the blog above the followers?? Let us know which pie you would have chosen if you had been in our shoes.  Aside from the blog stuff, here are the pictures we took from the museum! 

One of the original cars used to haul salt "topside"

When one of the ceilings fell in June, here's the result

Bombardier Lear Jet Factory

Good afternoon,

After waking up to planes zooming overhead and cars on the highway in front of us, we at breakfast, took the RV to get the tires changed and went on a tour of Bombardier Lear Jet factory. Dad’s friend flies the corporate planes for Maui Jim Sunglasses and they buy their plans form Bombardier.  He was able to hook us up for the tour. Here's what Josh thought of the tour....  

To all of my aerospace enthusiastic friends:

As mentioned above, we were able to attend the Lear Jet assembly plant here in Wichita.  Our tour began with the room where customers select their materials and layouts of their airplanes.  That’s right; all Lear Jets are custom built all the way down to the sink in the bathroom.  After this room we were able to go out to the assembly line.  Out on the assembly line there are different planes in various stages of construction.  On this particular line are Lear 40’s and Lear Jet 60’s.  The 40 and the 60 are two different models of jets the 60 is bigger than the 40.  The various stages of construction consist of the assembly of the fuselage to the wings all the way to the paint and interior.  We were able to enter 2 different planes that were not finished and two others that were finished.  Let me tell you, there is a big difference.  After our tour ended we said goodbye to our guide and left for the tire shop.  JTT  

Going on the tour

Inside one of the planes

The Bombardier Lear Jet factory

Our First Flat Tire

Hey!

Yesterday, Thursday the 18^th we left behind Oklahoma (and hopefully their heat!) for Kansas.  But alas, Kansas is no cooler than Oklahoma, bummer.  We had just gone through Wichita Kansas and were 4.5 miles from our campground when thud, thud, bang, bang……Oh, No, what was that? Well, we blew a tire, and the exhaust pipe and the LP tank.  After calling AAA (our RV roadside insurance) and getting the tire fixed and seeing the damage we headed back to Wichita to find a place to eat and stay.  We ate at Lee’s Chinese restaurant, a nice little family owned joint. We decided to sleep in the Wal-Mart parking lot and get up in the morning and get everything fixed.    Here are the pictures from the tire blow out!

The tire still on the RV before we changed it

Inside the wheel well

Getting the tire changed