Black Blobs!

North America » United States » Kansas » Kechi
October 29th 2006

Published: November 15th 2006

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It is another cold but sunny and clear morning - thankfully the wind is blowing a little in the “right” direction and the aroma from last night has disappeared. As they say in Dodge City it is the smell of “money,” but as we were not yet in Dodge City the smell was pure “Feedlot!” We are now officially on our “Mad Dash” back to Kechi, with only one “scheduled” stop along the way…

Statistics

Starting Destination: Lamar, Colorado
Ending Destination: Kechi, Kansas
Ending Destination GPS: N: 37° 47.875’ W: 97° 16.752’ Elev: 1380’
Miles Driven: 372.2
Estimated Total “Round Trip” Distance: 11,507.3 miles

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Lamar is not very far from the Kansas, so we didn’t have to go far before we were back in Dorothy country and had to change into our red shoes… Our plan for the day, as usual, seemed to get a little derailed as we passed some interesting sights along the way, including…

(1) The Knee High Power Lines… In western Kansas the wind blows and blows and blows… In an attempt to protect the power lines, and reduce the stress on the supports, the power lines were installed on poles that were significantly shorter than the usual. (2) The Mysterious Silo Failures… We saw several Navy Blue grain silos that looked like they were a little out of shape at the top. On further inspection, it looked like they had suffered a structural failure at the top of the silo and the conical roof was not aligned properly. Was this related to the aforementioned wind? (3) The effect of high gas prices… When traveling through Garden City we were surprised to be passed on the highway by a Police Car with a Bike Rack on the back! Was this the effect of high gas prices or just that there has been an increase in bike related crime in town!! (4) The “Scenic” Overlook… As we were driving along the highway, Carl was describing this overlook that he had passed while on BAK (Biking Across Kansas)… where the view was - in his mind - less than scenic! Seriously, we were not more than 20 miles down the road when we came across the overlook he was describing - we were overlooking Dodge City Money… aka a Feedlot! Only this time it was us taking a photo to include on the blog, instead of the lady from New York in Carl’s original story! (5) The Santa Fe Trail… Yes, for those of you in the know, we had been following the Santa Fe Trail for most of the day. But in this particular location, there was a marker, some interpretive signs and you could actually walk out onto the prairie and see the remains of the wagon ruts from wagons traveling the Santa Fe Trail. It is amazing to think that wagons traveled through the area more than 125 years ago and you can still see signs of their passing! Thankfully we can travel a little faster than the 12-15 miles per day that was the average for those traveling in the 1800’s!

(6) Dodge City… Yes, the famous Dodge City from the “Wild West!” Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to do more than take pictures from the truck as we passed through town - and no, this was not because we were too busy holding our noses!! I guess this is kind of an inside joke… Dodge City is almost the birthplace of the “feed lot,” in fact if you ever decide to travel to Dodge City by plane you need to make sure that you have an up-to-date map as the old airport has been converted into a feed lot… Cattle and airplanes don’t really mix, especially if they are trying to share the same field!! (7) The Mullinville Follies… As you drive into the small town of Mullinville from the west you encounter the epitome of “yard art.” Some humorous, some making political statements and some just plain ’ol crass!!

(8) Green Fields, well sort of… Throughout our trip we have been seeing mostly brown fields - wheat (and other grains) stubble, burnt summer grass, and the effects of drought… Until Kansas… where we have seen many “green fields,” the farmers have planted wheat and it is growing… everywhere!! It is kind of amazing to us that we had to wait to get back to Kansas before seeing any green!! (9) The World’s largest hand dug well… Located in Greensburg, this well is considered a masterpiece of pioneer engineering… Unfortunately, when we arrived at the visitors’ center and well were closed - we couldn’t walk down into the well and had to be satisfied with taking pictures and marveling at the accomplishment.

The Black Blobs…

Our one scheduled stop for the day was at Carl’s friend Paul’s ranch near Pratt in South Central Kansas… We arrived to find Paul and Henry elbow deep in preventative maintenance for one of Paul’s tractors… After working on trying to understand equipment maintenance requirements for most of the past 18 months, Maria was very interested to hear Paul’s views on “run to failure!!” But we were not at Turkey Creek Ranch to see the tractor… we wanted to see the “Black Blobs!” Paul took us out into one of his fields to see the cattle… and not just any cattle, hopefully the parents of “Certified Angus Beef” cattle.

Actually, Maria thought they acted more like sheep as they enthusiastically followed the farm truck - hoping to be able to partake of the “goodies” that would “fall” off the back!! Maria was also thankful that she had somewhat paid attention so some of the things her father talked about cattle when she was a child… It meant that she wasn’t totally lost during her conversation with Paul!! Our tour of the “ranch” also included the creek, although it didn’t look too much like a creek - there was too much water!! Alas, all too soon it was time to go… We were due in Wichita for dinner with friends…

Back to the Beginning…

We arrived back in the Wichita area a little early for our dinner… so we decided to collect the keys to the house from Carl’s friend Troy… We had hoped to see Troy also, but he didn’t have many lights on in his house and Carl didn’t want to run the “spider” gauntlet to get to the front door!! After an enjoyable dinner we arrived back at the house in Kechi… complete with “for Sale Sign” and not feeling quite like home - there was nowhere enough “stuff” cluttering up the place!!

Carl’s Travel Trivia

Yesterday’s Answer: The natural force that deposited the sand at Great Sand Dunes National Park is the Wind.
Today’s Question: When the “World’s Largest Hand Dug Well” was completed in 1888, how deep was it and what was the diameter?