Fort Larned

Fort Larned was a Kansas post that guarded a portion of the 900 mile Santa Fe Trail. This post evolved from a rough, temporary camp in 1859 to bustling town by 1867, only to became a near ghost town by 1878 when the new Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reduced commerce on the Santa Fe Trail to a trickle.

Mail Wagon, a small stagecoach. 

Traveling by RV is soooo much easier.

Quartermaster supplies

Armory

Carpenter's shop

Doctor's office

Hospital. Cholera and  dysentery were common.

Officers and their wives lived in the best quarters amid fine furnishing and servants brought form the East. They aimed to keep up their upper-class lifestyle amid their "primitive" surroundings. 

The park service has done a tremendous job restoring the post. In 1902 Mr. Frizell purchased the decommissioned pot and began a dancing operation. He highly modified the existing stone building and added others. In 1967 the Park Service purchased the property and began stripping away the gambrel roofs added in 1929 and other modifications to reveal the original stone buildings.  

Ranch in 1956

Camped last night at Geary State Fishing Lake.

38.896066, -96.855073

Free

Tonight I am at the Isle of Capri Casino beside the Missouri River. 38.978408   -92.746762  The WINs are east of here and will arrive tomorrow. It will be nice see everyone and begin a leisurely pace exploring the Lewis & Clark Trail.

4/28/13

Into the Flat Land

I love traveling the back roads and hwy 50 is a great one. Many small interesting towns and light traffic. You can take it all the way to Ohio.

Climbing the west slope of the Rockies

Below Monarch Pass was a flashing sign saying that chains would be required at 10,000 feet. Serenity doesn't chain up. It was  clear and sunny,  pavement was dry, I decided to head on up. I could always boondock somewhere up there. 

No shoulder. Don't look down

Monarch Pass 11.312 feet. Open, no chains required.

Old mine

Interesting home

Out of the Rockies. Boy is it flat.

222  slow intense miles. 

Tucked in at Beymer Park, KS. Its Free. The wind will rock me to sleep.
37.900691, -101.258371 

4/24/16

Yesterday marked the beginning of my 6th year on the road. It has been a great adventure. Great new friends and wonderful places visited. What a great country we live in.

300 Mile Days

Carson City  to Ely NV yesterday under overcast skies. I stayed at Ward Mountain Campground, 39.212109  -114.967265.  This was a wonderful, clean, campground that looked like it had just been built. Tables, fire rings and barbecues at the sites. Better yet, it is free from November to mid May.
Today I reached Green River UT where I am enjoying free BLM land.

Heading east on Hwy 50

Mine tailings, Eureka NV

Mt Hope open-pit molybdenum mine is located to the north-west of Eureka, Nevada. It is considered to be one of the world’s biggest and highest-grade molybdenum deposits.

Google earth view of the mine

Utah and the beginning of canyon lands.

Down shifting is the smart move

Tonights camp 38.953955  -110.184135

4/24/17

Heading East

I am heading east to Kansas City, MO to join up with the WINs for the Lewis and Clark Circuit. They are starting from St. Louis today, so I will be a week or so late. I am in Carson City, NV visiting friends and will begin the 1,800 mile journey to KC on Monday. 

Heading over Donner Pass to Reno

You can see the avalanche sheds protecting 

trains crossing the Sierras.

Donner Lake

Train rolling downhill into Reno.  Truckee River on the left. 

No, I didn't park. Shot on the fly.

It turned out to be an easy drive. I few small snow flurries attacked the windshield, but the pavement was dry all the way.

Sad News
The US Forest Service has this amazing program, Passport in Time. You can volunteer for different projects in the national forests. I had always wanted to dig up a dinosaur. In 2012 I was accepted for a Triceratops dig. I figured the chance of lighting striking twice were slim, but ever hopeful I applied again. "The PIT project leaders have made their decisions, and I am sorry to tell you that you were not selected for the Digging Up Triceratops"    :-(

New pill box. You know you are getting older when your old pill box is too small

Bright and sunny for my 3 mile walk this morning.

4/21/17

Stormy Day

The storm descends. Serenity is tight and dry. Rain is drumming on the roof and she is swaying in the wind. I love it. Perfect movie and hot chocolate day.

Sunshine follows

Salt Point is one of the few places in the wold that exhibited this unique weathering pattern called tafoni.

"The exact process of formation of tafoni is not entirely understood. The waves and salt spray leaves salt crystals on the sandstones. Salt and water interacting with the cement between the sand grains, and in minute fractures in the rock alternately hardens portions and loosens others, creating the lacy, box-like pattern."

Salt Point

Yet again I am enjoying the beauty of Salt Point State Park. It is one of my favorite CA state parks. In the 80s the family would come here for the ab diving. Nothing better than enjoying a platter of delicious abalone steaks that you had pried off the rocks just hours before. When I was a teenager the limit was 6 abs, in the 80s it had dropped to 2 and today zero, zip, nada. The ranger told me that the foot inside 7 inch ab shells, the min legal size, were often only a few inches across. The abs are starving due to shrinking kelp bed, their food source.

The foot fills a healthy abs' shell. 

Overcast day telegraphing a big storm due to hit

tonight

I am camped in my preferred spot,  overflow parking.  38.570352, -123.331768   I like it for several reasons. No reservation required, always open. Ocean views, the regular, often full, campsites are in the woods without ocean views. No trees shading my solar panels. $5 less than campsites. For self-contained RVs it is perfect IMO.

Wine Country

I am visiting with my brother Don and his lovely wife Ann. Wine country, my brother is a vintner and I don't drink. My loss.

My brother's house peeking out of the pines. Vines all around.

My morning walk through the vines. Spring is popping.