Getting Out of Dodge.(City)

Hi all,
 Put in the travel cd we are On The Road Again. This is our first year since becoming full time RVers that we haven't been in Custer the first part of May. Our plan this year is to be in Wisconsin June and July then head to South Dakota for August and September. We are changing it up to be in Wisconsin for our grandson Noah's graduation and then a couple weddings in July.
 The past few weeks we had been traveling with former work camper friends Tim and Renee. They had stopped in to visit while we were at Roper Lake in January. As we visited we realized we both would be touring Utah and then heading east about the same time. So we made a plan to travel together for a bit.
  This was the first time we had traveled with anyone since full timing and I must say it has been great. We were able to enjoy some meals together and we had been having game nights that really changes up the routine. We exchanged learning each others favorite games which was fun especially after us guys found a way to win pegs and jokers.
 We ended up parting ways this past week as they were going to route a bit south to catch up with family. We will definitely see them again down the road.)
 Dodge City, Kansas was our next stop. We figured to stay a couple days to check things out. While Dodge City does not have as much historic hoopla as Tombstone or Tucson it still has a bit.
 It was part of the famous Santa Fe Trail and Fort Dodge was established to protect wagon trains on the trail. And of course the city is famous as it hired Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp to establish order.
 They run a trolley tour where you hear the story from the time of a dusty trail town to a bustling cattle and agriculture capital. You get to hear of the people and places that helped create what some called "the wickedest little city in the West." And we got lucky as they were running a free weekend trolley this week saving us the $8.00 pp fare.

playing cards with Wyatt Earp

"El Capitan" a tribute to longhorn cattle leaders

Front Street

The Home of Stone built in 1881

Santa Fe Depot and Depot Theater Company

  Next up was a short drive to Cedar Bluff State Park. We had changed our travel plans to head north because the eastside of the state was expecting storms. Well Mother Nature just does what she wants and we found ourselves in a tornado warning on Mothers Day. Sheesh, last year a South Dakota snowstorm and this year tornadoes- hows that for luck. We hid out by the bathhouse for a bit and did see a rope tornado, about as close as we want to be.

Limestone fence posts along Kansas road

Cedar Bluff Reservoir

Mothers Day storm

  We found Cedar Bluff Sate Park a pretty nice park. They have 121 hook up sites plus quite a few primitive areas. It is situated around the Cedar Bluff Reservoir a 6,900 acre fishing mecca. Although as with much in the west it is experiencing extremely low water levels.

 One more move east of Topeka to Perry Lake. They have quite a few campgrounds around this 25,000 acre reservoir including private, corp of engineering and state parks. We chose the Slough Creek Park. While we found it nice and quiet, we thought things looked a bit run down. We also thought the pit restrooms needing good cleanings. Roads and campsites were in rough shape also, not as nice as other corp parks we have stayed in.

site at Slough Creek