Along the Santa Fe trail

Our first stop on Day 2 was in Woodward, OK at the Plains Indians & Pioneers museum.  Never knew anything about Sam Houston's youngest son Temple Houston, but this is where he truly made his mark as a orator, lawyer, and gunslinger.  May be best known for his "soiled dove" defense of a local whore ... http://demo1.ask.com/wiki/Soiled_Dove_Plea

We then headed west towards Ft. Supply.  Were greeted at the gate by Bob Lea, curator of the site for the past 20 years and responsible for its renovation and upkeep.  Don't know if he greets all visitors and provides tours, but since it shares ground with a state mental hospital and mental facility, wouldn't be surprised!  Ft. Supply was one of the longer-lived outposts along the Santa Fe trail because it served to protect the reservation Indians from the whites long after the iron horse had replaced the wagons on the trail!

We moved on to one of the winners in our Town High School Mascot game ... Buffalo, OK - home of the Bison!  Now they clearly get it!  Other towns of mention ... the Winters (TX) Blizzards and the Shamrock (TX) Irish.  Buffalo is also home to Shorty's cafe, surrounded by beat-up old white farm trucks, obviously there for the chicken-fried and the apple pie!  Flaky crust, extra spicy, with crisp apples - definitely a four-star slice of pie.

Then on to Ft Larned, KS, also a guardian of the Santa Fe trail, and truly the best-preserved fort I've ever visited.  One feels they could put three company of cavalry in the field with a single bugle call.  Barracks, hospital, blacksmith, bakery, magazine, quartermaster store, officers' quarters - all there and fully-furnished.  Highly recommended for insight into frontier life and defense.

Education is like a ball and chain to some...

SOOooooo jealous!  I never got to fold the flag with a ranger at a National Park!!!

We raced sunset along the Santa Fe trail to reach Pawnee Rock, an outcrop of Dakota Sandstone with travelers' names from 100+ years ago scratched into it, before settling in Russell, KS for the night.

Trip miles = 985.3

Honorable mention on food for Meridy's in Russell for their bacon-wrapped pork loin.

Today is Halloween ... can't decide if I'll be a world traveler or upland hunter.  Hmmm...

Miles and miles of Texas

We were able to launch a little before sunrise on Monday, which I feel gives a fresh start, especially when the sun rises over a 37-degree morning!  The sheer size of the Lone Star State sometimes overwhelms my love for it, and despite pressing hard, it just takes a long time to find a border!
All those miles provide an educational opportunity into the insights of classic rock 'n roll and outlaw country, the only channels that UPLNDR can seem to dial in clearly on the XM signal.  The good news is that Rush has finally been nominated to the RnR Hall of Fame, righting a wrong that has been out there for too long.  Despite selling tens of millions of albums, creating numerous rock anthems, and providing chronic lyrictosis for many teenagers ("living on a fish island..."), I believe the media snobs were always put-off by Rush's veiled politicism and support for individual freedoms (The Trees and Red Barchetta come to mind), albeit on the opposite spectrum of U2, whom everyone loves.  I hope none of the band members show up for the induction! 

No his mind is not for rent
To any God or government
Always hopeful, yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is

But, I digress...

Sophia crossed the Red River for the first time, startled by the throaty strains of "OOOOOOOOOklahoma..." and the marked lack of water.  We were soon in downtown OKC for our first destination.

And a somber one at that ... the Murrah Federal building destroyed by McVeigh on 4-19-1995.  The site is so well done, a fitting monument to those who died and those who gave so much attempting to preserve life, a nice place to reflect on the fragility of life, the evil that exists, and the indelible American spirit that overcomes all tragedy.  Thankfully, there's no celebrity treatment of the idiot perps - in fact, if they sought a legacy of some sadistic sort, they'd be sorely disappointed.

 From OKC we headed west to Cheyenne and the Battle of Washita NHS.  Really a misnomer ... Custer swept down on Black Kettle's sleeping village of Cheyenne, killing and capturing mostly women and children until he was forced to withdraw back to Kansas when warriors from neighboring villages appeared on the ridges above him!  Not much of a battle and if Black Kettle had listened to his wife and camped just a bit closer to the other tribes, it may have been the last ever written about Custer.  Research Black Kettle a bit to see how resilient he was, survivng the Sand Creek Massacre and then just trying for one more winter of freedom with his people.

We'll cross the Boy General's path multiple times on this trip, and encounter the many episodes of Indians who sued for peace and were overrun by the pioneers and US Army.

No significant food events on this day other than the introduction to fried green beans at the Old West Cafe in Sanger, TX.  Goes good with ranch dressing!

678.3 miles

Counting down...

Rig is just about loaded and ready to go.  Mission control has scrubbed a predawn launch, so will be off in the morning at some reasonable hour headed for the Federal Building in OKC...
All the lists have been checked off and if we don't have it now, we'll look for it on the road!
As usual, Kali not willing to risk being left behind and has secured her spot already.

Keeping up with Sophia

If you've logged in to check on our trip progress, here's the link to go directly to Sophia's blog ... http://sophiatrip.blogspot.com/
 
Both blogs run thru my gmail, so it may be interesting for you to follow how she sees vs. Dad sees as we make our way along...

 

 

She'll hate me for this photo of our first camping trip together in NM on Father's Day 2011 because she was wearing glasses, but, oh well...

WTP Photo Essay, Sept 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Success!!!  After multiple years, countless miles of hunting above 11,000', and extremes of weather, we finally found the elusive white-tailed ptarmigan, completing Kali's American Upland Grand Slam!!!