Cimarron National Grasslands, Kansas

Since we have been in Kansas, we have wanted to see the Cimarron National Grasslands. So Saturday, we headed out there. The grasslands are 35 miles from Hugoton, in the SW corner of Kansas and encompass over 100,00 acres of preserved prairie land.

True, it may not be a very exciting area to visit, or have stunning sights to see, however just to imagine how it must have been before the land was farmed.

The largest portion of the Santa Fe Trail on pubic land also runs through the Grasslands. The trail is marked by these stone markers. The wagon tracks are long gone now, but are supposed to be visible in some areas (just our luck, we didn't see any in the areas we checked out.)

One area of interest is called Point of Rocks, a large rock outcropping used as a landmark along the Santa Fe Trail. The Cimarron River runs close to this part of the trail and is easily spotted by the only trees in the area.

The fall colors were out in force, with most all the trees turning. It was a good day out and the weather was perfect. There is a 40 or so mile driving trail with several marked points of interest for your viewing pleasure. You could take most any RV on the road (dirt) however I would suggest just taking your truck or toad.

Today is Tuesday, we left Kansas Monday morning and are currently back in Alamogordo. Tomorrow we have our black tank installed, take in a couple of last doc appointments, and start toward FL. for our sons big day.

That's it for now we'll catch up again next time we have WiFi. So until then, keep Lovin Your Life as we do ours!!!

Hugoton, KS.

 After being out at the farm for a week, we decided it was time to head into town. The farm was nice when folks were coming and going, but became pretty lonely after a few days. Besides living on 20 amp service from the workshop made watching what you powered a interesting affair. Hugoton has one RV park right on the edge of town. It's a nice small park, ran by an older gentleman. It's also nice having the 50 amp service as the weather has been a changing for the colder.

As a matter of fact, the first real front came through while we slept, and we awoke to the first snow of the season. I know it's not much, but it's always nice to see, even if it's just a little dusting.

Hugoton is the county seat of Stevens Co., it is also home to the Stevens County Gas and Historical Museum. Sheryl had told me it was pretty nice, so we along with her Aunt Sandy, we paid it a visit yesterday. Outside there are various displays of the Natural Gas drilling equipment (which is very prevalent in the area).



Inside, well it's just amazing how much stuff they have packed into such a small space. There are displays of every kind, depicting early life on the West Kansas Plains.



Here one of the ladies from the museum, played an old pump organ, while Sandy and Sheryl listened. Sheryl got all teared up from the music, as her Mom and Gandma, used to play a Pump Organ which was out at the farm. Yes, believe it or not, in that small house, there was both a Piano in the living room and a Pump Organ in one of the bedrooms. It was a nice visit and well worth seeing if you are ever out Southwest Kansas way.

It's been nice being in town, we been visiting with relatives most every day, and of course being closer to shopping never hurts.  Ok, stay tuned for more from SW Kansas, as we will be exploring the National Grasslands in the next day or two, before heading out on the 31st. Take Care and see you back here soon. 

Family and Friends

Crazy, Busy but relaxing days here at the ole homestead. I know that's a contradiction, but that's the only way to describe it. It's good to be here at the farm, away from everything, no TV, just a radio. No Internet or video games, just make your own fun. Lots of family have come and gone these last few days and each day it has been evening supper, just the way it used to be.

 Lots of food and organized chaos is the theme at the table. Of course Sheryl and her family is used to it, you see Sheryl is one of 6 kids, so imagine, 6 kids, parents and grand parents plus assorted other family members in this small kitchen/dining room all at once for supper! Well, now that I have experienced it, it's quite the feat!

 The house only has 4 rooms plus the bathroom. In the day, after supper the family would retire to the living room for more conversation and piano playing.

The younger generation trying their hand at old school entertainment, it was great to see.

While we were here, we met up with fellow Fulltimers and Bloggers, Ron and Elena. They just happened to be coming through this part of Kansas, so we got together for lunch in town. They are really nice folks and we sure our glad we were able to meet them. They are on there way south to AZ for the winter and we hope to meet up with them again if we are able to make back out west for the last part of this winter.

As with most places, the sunsets out here can be amazing, this one taken at the end of the farms driveway. That's it for now, all the family (except, for the couple here in town) have headed home, so peace and quiet for the next few days is the name of the game. I have to come into town for WiFi, so again it may be a couple of days for the next installment. Until then, Keep Lovin Your Life as we do ours and se ya soon.

Kansas!!!

Wow, what a whirlwind couple of days and it has landed us in the SW corner of Kansas!!! The saga began a couple days ago when we got a call from the RV Repair Shop. Unfortunately for them Sheryl answered the phone, I knew something was up as my sweet darling wife was becoming enraged!!! (I was happy it wasn't directed at me) Now you remember the black tank issue from a couple of posts ago, we need a new one installed,so the shop ordered us one 3 weeks ago (delivery and installation with-in 3 weeks they told us). Well, news was, it would be another 2 weeks, and getting it installed is all we have been waiting for in order to get on the road. Anywho, Sheryl has been dying to get back to Kansas to visit her family, and waiting another 2 weeks was just out of the question!!!  I'll spare you the unpleasant details of the calls she placed to the Tank manufacturer, distributor and back to the shop, needless to say it wasn't pretty, I was just glad I wasn't on the receiving end.....lol. In the end we have to travel back to Alamogordo on the 2nd for the tank to be installed and take care of some other business.

We decided we would just go ahead and head out (returning on the 2nd) after paying our final elec bill and getting the rig ready, we finally got on the road around 4:30pm. We had given thought to just making it a long day and pushing on through to Kansas, however, while eastbound on I-40 a trucker pulled up next to us and was pointing at the rear of the rig (never a good thing). We pulled off at the next exit and found we had no tail lights on the trailer, ok, not good, but better than we thought. Tucumcari, NM. was just up the road and about the half way point, so we decided to spend the night there, courtesy of the Flying "J" and continue on in the morning, no tail lights required. So we did, arriving at Sheryl's family farm around 11:00am yesterday.

Her family's farm was homesteaded in the early 1900s by her Grand Parents, no one actually lives on the property today, but the original house and out building are being kept up by her brother and other family members as they can. The land itself has been leased to a gentleman who is farming the land. More on the farm later with better pictures. We are using the WiFi connection at the town library, so updates may take a couple of days when we come into town for postings.

Kind of a quick get going, but it sure is good to be out traveling again, we'll be here until the 31st when we'll head back to Alamogordo and then onto Dallas and Miami from there. So, take care for now and we'll see you back here in a couple of days!!!