Sunday, 2 August
Prairie Dog State Park
It was a crisp, cool morning with clear blue skies as we set out for our two-hour drive to Prairie Dog State Park around 10 a.m. We mostly traveled along State Highway 36, passing a sign boasting that it was the fastest route between Denver and Kansas City.
This park was one I had been most excited to visit. A charming two-foot prairie dog statue greeted us next to the entrance sign, setting the tone for a well-maintained park. Our site, Site 112 in the Shady Rest loop, was a 100-foot deep, dirt back-in spot. While it was close to the lake, a dense forest of trees and shrubs blocked our view. However, we did have a small path through the trees leading to the water, although it wasn’t particularly scenic. The site offered a lot of privacy and the way our trailer was oriented allowed for afternoon shade, which was a nice bonus.
After setting up camp and enjoying an adult beverage, we drove around the park. Since it was late in the weekend, most people were packing up and heading home. Similar to our previous park, many trailers were parked in the primitive areas closed for the workweek. Despite the lack of activity, these sites didn’t feel neglected. They were moved frequently enough for the grass beneath them to remain well-kept. I later learned that the park sold season passes but required trailers to be moved monthly to different spots.
The lake itself had numerous small trees poking up through the water, and it appeared to be about half the size of the previous lake. The shores were overgrown with brush and mud, making it less picturesque than I had hoped. Still, it seemed like a great spot for fishing, as the area looked popular with anglers.
The park also featured a late-1800s adobe house and an old school building. We stopped by the adobe house, which was crowded inside, so we admired the windmill and old farm implements displayed outside.
Next, we drove over to the dam, only to find that it didn’t have a paved road leading to it. Unlike the dams managed by the Corps of Engineers, this one was overseen by the Bureau of Reclamation. Surprisingly, the spillway wasn’t releasing water, even though the lake appeared high. Crossing the dam took us outside the park, so we had to loop back around to re-enter.
When we returned to the park, we stopped for a photo at the park entrance sign and left one of our #ShryockRocks in the prairie dog statue’s paws, marking our visit in a small but meaningful way.
Adobe House
The adobe house, which had been crowded earlier, was now empty, so we decided to take the opportunity to explore it. Tours were only available on weekends, making this a chance we didn’t want to miss. The house was fascinating because, unlike many late 1800s settler homes built from sod, this one was constructed using a mixture of straw, dirt, and clay, thanks to the readily available clay dirt in the area. Unlike the adobe houses in the Southwest, however, this home wasn’t made with hardened adobe bricks. Instead, it was built from soft adobe mud shaped into bricks, stacked, and then smoothed into place.
The house remained occupied until the late 1940s, and much of the original furnishings remained intact. We found an original wood-burning stove, icebox, pump sink, wardrobes, beds, and various tools inside. The curator encouraged us to touch everything, explaining that he believed visitors could only truly appreciate the items by experiencing them firsthand. When I asked about the restoration funding, he told us that he largely financed the work himself because he viewed the restoration as a hobby.
Though the house was rough in spots and still needed work, the curator had only recently started restoring it. His goal was to complete the restoration by the following year. Recently, he replaced the roof, restored it to its original shape using cedar shakes, and repaired the house’s interior and exterior. He had also begun replacing any modern items with those from the late 1800s to maintain historical accuracy.
He then took us outside to show us the other projects he had been working on, including the windmill restoration, water cistern, and a trough used to keep food cool with cold water. We could have easily spent hours chatting with him as he shared stories about his businesses, the town, the state park, and various other topics.
Evening
I eventually broke away, and we returned to the trailer for a taco dinner. After relaxing a little while outside, we went inside and watched our favorite RV YouTube shows with our spotty cell phone reception.
Monday, 3 August
Prairie Dog Nature Trail
After our morning coffee, we took a hike on their nature trail. The mile-long circular trail was a mixed concrete sidewalk and dirt path with various kiosks. Some had nature information, but most contained laminated pages from the Princess and the Pea storybook that you read as you walked the trail. Along the trail, various trees were planted in wire mesh to protect them from the deer. Because of the rain, we also saw lots of animal tracks.
Kayak
When we returned to the trailer, we had a nice breakfast of French toast and sausage before taking the kayak out. We drove over to the boat launch area and mostly kayaked along the dam for a couple of hours. It was a leisurely float.
Norton
After showers and lunch, we went to the nearby town of Norton to explore some of its local attractions. Unfortunately, the “Also Ran Gallery,” which features portraits of presidential race losers, was closed. However, we found several restored vintage gas stations, where we stopped to pose with the truck for photos.
We also visited the local grocery store to pick up a few supplies, where we were surprised to learn that shopping carts weren’t allowed to leave the store due to concerns about theft. Instead, the staff took your groceries directly to your car for you.
Before returning to the state park, we treated ourselves to two pints of Baskin-Robbins ice cream, which we brought back to enjoy at our campsite.
Prairie Dog Town
We had learned that the park had a black-tailed prairie dog farm, so we thought it would be fun to enjoy our ice cream while watching the prairie dogs. It turned out to be a great idea. The farm was bustling with prairie dogs, and a lovely picnic area was nearby. We spent over an hour there, watching the little creatures pop in and out of their holes, scurry around, and interact with each other.
The prairie dogs closest to us were inquisitive, barely poking their heads out before chattering at us. As we walked closer to their burrows, we managed to get within a few feet of a couple before they quickly darted back into their holes. Thankfully, our binoculars allowed us to get a great view of those farther away. They were absolutely adorable, and seeing them in the wild rather than at a zoo was such a treat.
Evening
We had Philly steak sandwiches with chicken and Italian melted cheese that evening. Later, we sat enjoying the evening weather before going inside to watch some more Netflix videos I downloaded on my phone.
Tuesday, 4 August
I woke to light rain falling, so we enjoyed our morning coffee indoors. When the rain stopped and Lisa started heading outdoors to start breakfast, she discovered about a dozen turkeys hanging out about 50 feet away from the trailer. Before we could get some good pictures, they walked deep into the woods behind our trailer, away from us.
After breakfast of blueberry pancakes, we took off to do some touring in the area. Since some of our destinations were several hours away, we decided to skip kayaking. The winds were expected to get up to 30 mph gusts anyway.
Kansas Prairie Museum, Colby
Our first destination was the Kansas Prairie Museum in Colby, Kansas, a little over an hour away. Along the way, I looked up the history of the small towns we passed, many with populations of around 100 people. Many seemed to have been founded by immigrants from Germany and Czechoslovakia. Most were shrinking in population but still seemed to have thriving communities and a lot of pride in their history.
Colby was a fairly large town that benefited from being located along a major interstate. We went straight to the museum, and I think we were the only visitors there, which made me feel more comfortable and safe in this pandemic environment. It also helped that the museum person had a mask and took our temperature before selling us our tickets. They also had hand sanitizer available, plexiglass shields in front of the register, and signs posted that stated that masks were required when near others. I would have preferred that masks were necessary at all times, though.
Inside the museum, the primary exhibit was the Kuska Exhibit, which explored the lives and collections of Joe and Nellie Kuska. The collection includes glass, furniture, ceramics, toys, dolls, stamps, clocks, coins, silver, jewelry, and other antiques. There were a couple of different collections, and they were nicely displayed along the walls in a single large room. One of the odder displays was a preserved chair a famous actor had sat in while coming through town.
Outside the museum were several historic buildings that you could visit. A small country house, a sod house, the largest barn in Kansas called the Cooper Barn, a schoolhouse, and a church. You could scan QR codes to get a narrated tour of each building. The sod house was the most fascinating for me. The barn was touted as one of the Eight Wonders of Kansas because of its size, but it did not seem large to me.
Wheatus
We ate lunch in the truck in the parking lot because it was still very windy, and then we went to see “Wheatus,” a couple of blocks away. Wheatus was one of the names given to a billboard along the interstate that featured Jesus holding a clump of wheat. Bought and maintained by a local family, this billboard was somewhat famous because its meaning was elusive since there were no words on the billboard, and the owners were unaware of the billboard’s purpose.
Monument Rocks
We then headed toward Monument Rocks, about another 50 minutes away. In the middle of the rolling plains were large chalk formations with the distinction of being the first landmark chosen by the US Department of the Interior as a National Natural Landmark. Surprisingly, you had to drive down about five miles of dirt roads to get to them, and they were located on private land. We walked and admired these formations, which stood out among the vast prairie around us with nothing on them but cows.
Oakley
We stopped at a local ice cream shack called the Dairy King in Oakley on the way back. Lisa got a Snickers Cyclone, and I got a chocolate chip shake. Trying to drink a chocolate chip shake through a straw is always a challenge, as the chips always get stuck in the straw, but I was up for the challenge. I did get a spoon in case the going got tough.
Last Indian Massacre in Kansas, Oberlin
On the way back, we stopped at Oberlin to visit the town where the last Indian massacre in Kansas took place. The story goes that a group of Cheyenne Indians was trying to return to their homelands in the north after being forced to reservations in Oklahoma. On their way through the area, they killed about a dozen people. We visited the monument and gravestones in the local town cemetery dedicated to this event. It was interesting. I also enjoyed seeing some of the other old tombstones there.
Station 15, Norton
Just before returning to the state park, we stopped in Norton to see the historic Station 15. This was a replica Stage Coach stop built from a log cabin found inside a house southwest of Norton. This house had been built as a fort for protection from Indian attacks. The original cabin had been hidden behind plastered walls of subsequent owners until the farmhouse was set for razing. The log cabin was then discovered, disassembled, and reconstructed in Norton. Appropriate furniture, clothing, and mannequins were donated to recreate the station as written about in an 1859 New Your Tribune article by Horace Greeley. The mannequins represent various characters from the area’s history: writers Horace Greeley and Albert Deane Richardson, station keepers Mr. and Mrs. William Bonney, Sr the parents of “Billy the Kid,” ex-Cincinnati lawyer Bonney, a young squaw mourning an Arapahoe brave accidentally killed in hunting buffalo here, stagecoach drivers “Wild” William Butler Hickok and “Red” Pat Dolan, Pat Garrett who shot Billy the Kid, Tiburcio Vasquez is a California outlaw who took this job to scout gold shipments, and Pinkerton detective Roy Bean among others.
We could only peek through the dirty windows of the cabin, and the mannequins made the place look creepy.
Evening
When we returned to the camper, the sky was threatening rain so I quickly started putting stuff away for our jump the next day. It never did rain, though.
Lisa made us some nice salads for dinner. Eventually, we wandered inside as it got colder and watched some Netflix before bed.
Wednesday, 5 August
We woke up to the warmest morning that we have had so far in this park but it still was chilly. Every morning so far, it has been in the 50s. Lisa did not pack for cool weather, so I had to lend her my only long sleeve shirt. She had to use a lap blanket in the morning when she drank her coffee.
Prairie Dogs
The high the last couple of days had been in the mid-70s, but the day started to warm up quickly as the weather was expected to reach 90. After a breakfast of yogurt and granola, we headed to the prairie dog village for one last visit. Unfortunately, there were very few prairie dogs out because it was overcast. We did spot a rattlesnake lying by a prairie dog hole before we left. Lisa filmed me throwing some corn cobs that I had found nearby. The snake was not happy. We sent the video to Savannah, who told us we were mean.
Departure
When we got back to the trailer, we finished hooking up the trailer and, after a good time at the dump station, headed to our next park. We also added some Happy Camper to our kitchen grey tank to try to overcome the smell coming from it.