Cottage on the Knoll at Cedarcroft Farm B&B

Now a Mobile SIte

2012-01-29T14:24:00.003-06:00

Yes, mobile devices can now get basic information about us. We have a 4-page mobile site on the new InnsMobile Directory. Here's the link. The QR code should take you to the directory.

We'll also have a completely new website in a few months!

Last minute availability

2011-10-20T07:22:00.002-05:00

We've had a late cancellation. If you're looking for a bargain, we're offering 20% off for the weekend (that's a $100 savings!). Please visit our website, www.cedarcroft.com for links to the availability program. It's best to call first, then make the reservation on-line - mention the discount in "remarks.".

Summer is almost here

2011-06-17T09:47:00.003-05:00

Here's what's happening at Cottage on the Knoll at Cedarcroft Farm, Warrensburg, Missouri's romantic hideaway: With all the rain this Spring, all the meadows and plantings got off to a great start. The coneflowers and daylillies are starting to bloom, along with the wild milkweeds (have you ever smelled a milkweed flower? Very fragrant). Bill mowed the trails in the back 40 again, and the woods trails west of Bear Creek.

Yes, we're pretty well booked for the next 6 weeks, but plenty of space thereafter. Come see us!

Pres. Clinton coming to Warrensburg

2011-05-02T13:16:00.002-05:00

Yes, former President Bill Clinton is coming to Warrensburg this weekend for UCM graduation. The event is sold out, but folks can still enjoy a relaxing weekend at Cottage on the Knoll at Cedarcroft Farm, with fireplace, jetted tub, and 80 acres to explore.

Cedarcroft Civil War connection mentioned

2011-04-20T09:14:00.004-05:00

Cedarcroft's Civil War connections were mentioned in the BnBFinder.com Blog earlier this month. Here's a picture of Bill giving a talk at the library as his great-grandfather, W.L. Truman, set 50 years after the war. W.L. Truman wrote a post-war memoir, which Bill uses as a source. It's available on-line for reading only. The 1867 Farmhouse, where guests check in, was built by Sandra's great-grandfather, John A. Adams, a Union veteran.

Restaurant map updated

2011-04-03T09:08:00.002-05:00

I've updated the restaurant map for the Warrensburg area to include two new restaurants (that we've not tried yet), plus some that were left out of the original map. Check out the restaurant page and our map:

View Where to eat around Warrensburg in a larger map">

Map to Windsor Amish Store

2011-03-13T17:23:00.002-05:00

We get calls asking about the Windsor Amish store because we mention it on several pages of our website. Today we drove the roads leading to it and improved the directions - and added a map. For directions and the map, see Cedarcroft.com/mo/windsor.html.

If you plan to visit the store, remember
* Closed Sundays & Thursdays (& certain major religious holidays)
* No phone - these are Amish people
* Outdoor "facilities"

Spring is coming (we hope).

2011-03-09T13:22:00.002-06:00

On a cold, gloomy day like to today, it's difficult to feel Springlike, but the signs are there. The meadows now show a touch of green, the robins (& buzzards) are back, and bees are buzzing around the maples on warm days. We sill have to clean up the residue of a hard winter, but at least we won't freeze while doing so.

The rains scour the creek and bring new artifacts to light, ranging from prehistoric to recent. Soon, it will be perfect for walking the trails and watching wildlife - like maybe this weekend? Come stay, and you can check out Sunday at 1 PM (CDT).

Two new maps

2011-02-28T14:54:00.003-06:00

I have created two new maps for Cedarcroft Farm guests (and anyone else) looking for something historical to do in the area. One is a map showing the National Historic Register sites in Johnson County, MO; the other shows sites associated with the Old Drum story. Here's your links:

National Register Sites with map keyed to driving tour

Old Drum Sites

Enjoy!

We have a local map!

2011-02-22T10:06:00.002-06:00

Did you know that the Cottage on the Knoll has a local map on our website? Now, you can find parks, wineries, restaurants, golf courses, and more near Warrensburg, MO!. We're only an easy hour from Kansas City.

SNOW!

2011-02-01T15:48:00.004-06:00

The Cottage on the Knoll, Warrensburg MO, is officially snowed in. The tractor had trouble making it down the lane to the road. With 8-10 hours more of snow followed by a day or so of heavy drifting expected, I doubt if we'll be accessible for guests before the weekend is over. We still have Valentine's eve and night available.

Winter is here

2010-12-15T09:41:00.003-06:00

We've had our first snow of winter, and it drifted into the lane. The flock of wild turkeys that visits the bird feeder left tracks all around the Cottage on the Knoll, which, naturally, is snug. We have plenty of firewood for it, as I cut up some dead elm last week.

Looking for someplace quiet & secluded to spend New Year's Eve with that special someone? Take a look at our New Year's Eve Special

Beautiful weather

2010-10-27T08:58:00.002-05:00

The weather is beautiful for a while longer, so the Warrensburg's Cottage on the Knoll is perfect for your Halloween getaway. A a walk through the woods in the daytime is relaxing - and if you're quiet you could see deer or wild turkeys. If you want the Halloween mood, take a walk at night. If you'd rather go to a costume party, there's a great one at Player's with the Nace Brothers playing.

Come see us!

September 2010 report

2010-09-04T06:53:00.002-05:00

It's September, we've had our first slightly cooler spell (lows in the low 50s) at Cottage on the Knoll at Cedarcroft Farm. I mowed the trails across the creeks yesterday and can report the state of the wildflowers and wildlife.

The most common wildflower is bidens, with its bright yellow flower. Other common yellow flowers are sunflowers and Jerusalem artichokes (a type of sunflower). Tall thistle, with some ironweed and red clover provide some purple touches; the most common white flowers are Joe Pye weed and whorled milkweed.

Milkweed means Monarch butterflies - I saw a large monarch caterpillar on a whorled milkweed leaf, and a very small one on another one. Monarchs aren't the only butterfly active - we have swarms of butterflies of all colors and sizes. When I mowed Scruffy's paddock, the barn swallows and dragonflies had a field day with the small insects stirred up by the mower.

I scared a duck off the pond in the back 40 and also saw several deer, but no buck rubs yet on the sumac, which will start to turn to a brilliant red in the next few weeks. The creek crossings are much easier now, with rock surfaces. Come, enjoy the autumn, the prettiest time of the year in the woods at Cedarcroft.

Wi-fi now active!

2010-08-31T19:35:00.002-05:00

Wireless high-speed internet is now available at the Cottage. Now you can stay in touch during your getaway - if you want to!

Wireless Internet on the way!

2010-08-24T20:43:00.002-05:00

We are excited. Centurylink has extended DSL out our road, and we'll have it added at the Cottage in a few days. I'll post new pages at www.cedarcroft.com as soon as it goes live.

Flowers are blooming

2010-07-08T18:38:00.005-05:00

Yes, the flowers by the porch at Cottage on the Knoll at Cedarcroft Farm are in full bloom - purple & white coneflowers, daisies and more (pictures 1 & 2). The meadow in front of the cottage is full of Queen Anne's Lace, with rough blazing star just starting to add some purple to the sea of white (picture 3 is the view from the porch).

The lane to the cottage is also full of flowers, and the warm season tall grasses are shooting up. Come see us and enjoy our hospitality - and the flowers.

Independence Day greetings

2010-07-04T07:48:00.002-05:00

Here at Cottage on the Knoll at Cedarcroft Farm we're taking it easy on a rainy 4th. We spent yesterday at Clinton's Olde Glory Days with its almost-two-hour parade. We'd planned to look for artifacts in the creeks, but it's a little to wet right now - perhaps later. I also like to take some time to re-read the Declaration of Independence and reflect on the words; you might take a look at the offenses attributed to King George & his ministers and compare them with the state of our nation today.

The wildflowers are blooming profusely - the meadow is a sea of white from Queen Anne's lace. Our coneflowers continue to spread and all are in bloom, along with assorted daisies & black-eved susans. The native grasses are shooting up all along the lane to the Cottage. It's worth a visit.

Late June

2010-06-25T07:46:00.002-05:00

Summer has come to Cedarcroft (I know, it's felt like summer for a couple of weeks). The purple coneflowers are definitely blooming now, as are the butterfly milkweed, black-eyed susans, and queen anne's lace. I mowed the trails in the back 40 again; take a walk and imagine yourself in the prairie when the wind moves over the grass.

We've had some website problems because of a server crash where the sites are hosted, but those seem to be behind us. Email addresses are all working again. Our on-line availability/reservation system was not affected.

Summertime and Cedarcroft is blooming

2010-06-10T12:39:00.002-05:00

With all the rain and warm weather, everything is growing rapidly. Wildflowers in bloom right now include common milkweed and butterfly milkweed, both favorites of monarch butterflies. Also Queen Anne's lace, red & white clover, daisies, black-eyed susans, and tickseed coreopsis; tall ironweed is just starting. While butterflies adorn the meadow by day, fireflies sparkle like stars at night. The woods trails west of the main creek are now mowed; I imagine those in the back 40 are getting ready for another visit with the brush hog.

While Sandra's getting ready for weekend guests, Bill's getting ready to dress in gray wool and camp out at the Holden Civil War reenactment. He expects it to be hot & steamy, especially if promised thunderstorms appear.

Grass is high, trails are open

2010-05-27T14:19:00.002-05:00

Today I mowed the trails in the back 40 so our guests this weekend at Cedarcroft's Cottage on the Knoll can explore the area north of the middle creek. The water in Bear Creek is still up a bit and many areas are mushy from all the rain, so I'll save the trails west of the creek for when it's a bit dryer.

The grasses in all the meadows are high and lush. I'm happy to see the native eastern gamma grass continuing to expand their areas. Assorted flowers are blooming, including yarrow, red & white clover, wild roses and some daisies. The purple coneflowers that we planted show signs of giving more blooms than ever before, and the tickseed coreopsis is blooming. We're lookimg for a place to plant more yellow coneflower, another native plant.

Getting things done

2010-05-18T18:51:00.002-05:00

Today was a very good day at Cedarcroft. Among today's accomplishments are:

- Blading down the lane to level the crown a bit and fill some potholes
- Changing the tractor over to mowing configuration and mowing the main route to the creek crossing
- Trimming most of the branches that were reaching out trying to touch cars going up and down the 300 yard lane from road to house (hey, as wet as its been, trees grow fast, too)
- Getting the hinge on the washer door replaced for the second time in 9 months - don't use chlorine bleach with an LG washer!

Tomorrow is a quick trip to Sedalia for some horse vitamins for Scruffy and lunch at El Tapatio, then get ready for the BBIM Board meeting in Jefferson City on Thursday.

Migrated blog

2010-04-27T09:21:00.002-05:00

Sorry not to have posted for quite a while. I have been trying to resolve the problem with migrating this FTP blog to save the previous posts, as required by Google's decision to stop supporting FTP blogs. While this change to a Blogspot URL is not what I had in mind, it will have to do for a while.

Meanwhile, Spring has certainly sprung at Cedarcroft Farm B&B. Sandra added a huge patch of iris behind the Cottage, and there will be a bumper crop of coneflowers in front - but the coneflowers won't be ready to bloom for over a month. The big rains this weekend certainly moved things around in the creek; one would hope some artifacts and points may have been uncovered. We're closed for Spring Cleaning for the next two weeks, but come see us after mid-May.

This blog has moved

2010-04-16T10:09:00.001-05:00

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It's February!

2010-02-01T11:10:00.002-06:00

Which means more trips to the woods to cut firewood. The ground is white again; the inch-and-a-half we got Friday night is still with us despite two bright sunny days. I saw 5 deer behind the house this morning, and the songbirds and turkeys have depleted our feed supply.

The Valentine's Special at the Cottage is taken, but we have plenty of other dates available this spring.

I know I posted since June!

2010-01-25T10:34:00.002-06:00

Yes, I'm sure I posted since June. Must have done something wrong, though, because it (they) didn't take. Well, anyway, it's winter in Missouri. The snow cover that started shortly before Christmas is gone, the ground thawed and got muddy, and now is freezing again. That's good, because I need to cut more firewood - and it makes the trails passable.

Meanwhile, at the Cottage - we've posted our Valentine's Package. Valentine's Day is a Sunday, but for many that's a long weekend with President's Day on Monday. 2-day minimum (which is standard for a holiday weekend, anyway), and lots of extras that are normally priced separately. Take a look!

Wildflower season at Cedarcroft

2009-06-13T06:36:00.003-05:00

With all the rain, the wildflowers are taking off. Along the lane to the Cottage on the Knoll you'll see the orange of Butterfly Milkweed, the white of Queen Anne's Lace and the purple of Purple Coneflower. If you look more closely, you'll see the tiny yellow blooms on the cool season grasses such as Eastern Gamma. Out in the meadows you'll see the white of Yarrow and certain milkweeds, the purple of Red Clover, the yellow of Coreopsis (OK, that's an escapee from the Cottage flower beds).

On the shady side of the Cottage, the Purple Coneflowers are starting to bloom. Just a few more days and the view from the Cottage porch will be a mass of coneflowers.

Fortunately, I've not found any instance of the one purple flower I don't want to see - musk thistle. Meanwhile, the trails are mowed, Bear Creek and its tributaries change every big rain and there's lots to do outdoors at Cedarcroft's Cottage on the Knoll.

Rain + Sun = Flowers

2009-05-29T19:49:00.002-05:00

A lot of rain has fallen at the Cottage on the Knoll at Cedarcroft Farm, and the plants are happy. The coneflowers aren't ready yet, but the Cottage will have a bumper crop in from of the porch. Behind the Cottage the tickseed coreopsis are blooming in bright yellow - a few have even escaped into the meadow. The native warm season grasses along the Cottage lane are coming along and spreading nicely, and the day lilies will bloom before long. I expect I'll be able to mow the trails tomorrow, so guests will be able to explore the back 40 without wading through deep grass.

We thought we'd offer something special for those folks who are willing to commit themselves 30 days in advance, so we're offering them a 15% discount on stays. The discount begins with stays in July. Like the hotels, the discount is for firm reservations, prepaid 30 days in advance.

Come see us sometime soon!

Spring, maybe?

2009-04-11T18:52:00.002-05:00

I say "maybe" because of the number of cold spells we've had in the last few weeks. However, the grass is growing, the daffodils are in full bloom, the peach tree by the Cottage is starting to bloom, and the mockingbirds are singing. Sandra planted 6 trees along the Cottage lane today, including redbuds and dogwoods; it will be a while before they're ready to put on a show.

I took some new pictures of the Cottage this evening. We changed the TV to a 32" LCD in November, and we've added some of our contest pictures on the walls (yes, they're for sale). I'll process them this evening and post them in t he next few days.

Our only available weekend in April will be the 24th & 25th, but weeknights are available. Come see us at Cottage on the Knoll at Cedarcroft Farm.

PAII Bed &Breakfast Conference

2009-03-30T16:18:00.002-05:00

Today was the Association Leaders workshop. An excellent session, raised some questions and answered some. Tomorrow, I visit the vendors and head for home, ready to apply what I've picked up to enhance guest experience at Cedarcroft and to improve my state association. Trees are green in Atlanta, and I hope the cold weather is done back in Missouri!

Battlefield tour

2009-03-29T06:11:00.002-05:00

While Sandra's at home watching the B&B and hoping not to shovel snow, I'm touring battlefields en route to Atlanta for the PAII conference. First stop was Franklin, TN, where Gen. Hood ruined his army. A very spiritual place for me, as my great-grandfather W.L.Truman was there. See his memoir. First picture (from bottom reading upward)is McGavock Cemetery where most of the Confederates who fell in that battle were buried. Second is of the Carter house, focus of much of the fighting.

Friday I visited Muefreesboro battlefield (Stones River to Yankees). The wrecked cannon was in an area called the "Slaughter Pen" - and you can see how odd & rugged that part of the battlefield was. Then I went to Chickamauga, but took no pictures.

Last stop was New Echota State Hist. Site (GA) - Cherokee Capitol until the removal, restored. Picture taken thru a wavy-glass window.

Today it's off to Allatoona & Kennesaw where Missouri Brigade was deeply involved.

A nice day-trip

2009-03-17T07:06:00.003-05:00

We took a day trip yesterday. Breakfast in Clinton, then a stop at the overlook of the Sac & Osage rivers near Osceola, where we counted up to 20 boats at one time full of people trying to snag paddlefish. The picture shows the main Osage channel, the spur at the lower left is the Sac (all is part of Truman Lake)

From there, we gallivanted through the backroads to Stockton, largely rebuilt after the tornado a few years ago, and on to the Nathan Boone State Historic Site. Nathan was Daniel's youngest son and quite a pioneer in his own right. After a history lesson, we drove north though Fair Play where I took the window picture, then we went on to Smith's Restaurant in Collins for a late lunch - we split a tenderloin sandwich and still had enough to bring some of it home. Then it was on to Pomme de Terre river below the dam, looking for good pictures (& seeing geese).

Last stop was Scott's General Store in Iconium, near the H. Roe Bartle Boy Scout Camp, where we picked up some Nehi Orange. Only 299 miles.

Green grass is coming

2009-03-15T08:59:00.002-05:00

Yes, the meadows are starting to green up, the trees are budding, and the creeks are mudding (not everything about Spring is 'nice'). We are fast approaching the second-best time of year (Autumn is best) to visit. Spring Breaks bring mid-week guests to Cedarcroft, which saves them a bit and also avoids the weekend rush.

We'll be raising rates by $10 in July, so now's the time to visit.

From the MO-KAN B&B conference

2009-03-04T04:51:00.002-06:00

An excellent conference with lots of new ideas for the bed and breakfast. Today, we'll be working with Google Gadgets and Google Local to improve the kind of information we provide our guests. I am trying to figure out how to change our on-line availability program to reward guests who reserve well in advance - they're the ones who deserve the rewards, not those who wait until the last minute. Hotels routinely have the option of a 10% discount for reservations made 21 days or more in advance - paid up front and non-refundable - why can't B&Bs? I'm working on it!

Meanwhile, when I get home, it'll be straight to the woods with a chain saw - the guest woodpile is completely depleted. In cooler weather (or downright cold) our guests at Cedarcroft love the real fireplace.

Snow's over

2009-03-02T11:20:00.001-06:00

We had about 5" of snow Saturday, but the roads are clear. The farm will look pretty for a while and it brought much-needed water for our meadows. The birds are thankful for the feeder in front of the Cottage on the Knoll.

For the next couple of days I'm at the MO-KAN Heartland Bed & Breakfast conference in Independence, MO. I hope to get some good information to make your stay better.

What's happening at Cedarcroft, Feb-March 09

2009-02-23T07:29:00.002-06:00

We're looking forward to nice weather here at Cedarcroft. It WILL warm up, trees will bud, grass will turn green and days will get longer (especially in the afternoons after Daylight Savings Time starts March 8th).

This week is a week of evening meetings - local genealogical society tonight to learn about DNA testing. Bill goes to his Libertarian/anti-zoning political meeting Tuesday, followed by a trip to the State Capitol to talk tourism on Wednesday. Then it's Mid-Missouri Artists on Thursday, and the archaeological society Saturday. Bill goes to the MO-KAN Heartland Bed & Breakfast Conference Monday - Wednesday (he's President of Bed & Breakfast Inns of Missouri). Whew!

Bill is also taking over command of his old Civil War reenacting unit, the 5th Missouri Infantry, CSA, in order to revitalize it. For information on Bill & Sandra's historical interests, see our Civil War Pages.

We still have plenty of time for our guests. Bill will cut some more wood for the fireplace today, so check our availability and come see us at Cottage on the Knoll at Cedarcroft Farm.

Longer days ahead

2009-01-31T08:31:00.002-06:00

Yes, days are getting longer. While weather in February can be mean, it can also be nice, with the promise of Spring to come. I'm putting up the wild game feeder today, where it should be in plain view below the Cottage - it'll be a bit before the deer & turkeys discover it, but Sandra has seen eight (yes, 8) turkeys visiting the bird feeder at the Cottage.

Our Valentine's Special has been booked, but plenty of other dates are available at the Cottage on the Knoll at Cedarcroft Farm. Make sure you check out our Availability page at www.cedarcroft.com before you call or reserve on-line.

Several nice days ahead

2009-01-18T09:04:00.003-06:00

It looks like we'll have several beautiful days before winter sets in again at Cedarcroft Farm B&B. Yesterday I helped out at the Johnson County Historical Society moving large & ungainly pieces of equipment so they could start planning space for the Smithsonian exhibit due this fall. Today it's watch football & load shotgun shells for skeet season, maybe work on the 1000 piece puzzle Sandra would like to frame - it has horses on it.

We saw a notice of a Western Art exhibit in Kansas City thru February, so we'll plan a trip up to the gallery to have a look. Sandra expects terrible weather around the 3rd, as her birthday seems to be a target for ice storms. If Channel 41's Gary Lezak's Long Range Cycle theory is correct, I think she'll miss the really nasty stuff. We have some 2-fer meals to use up in January up there, anyway - they came from the local PBS station.

Meanwhile, the Cottage on the Knoll is still available for Valentine's weekend.

Bill

Valentine's Day Coming

2009-01-16T08:56:00.003-06:00

It's cold & snowy today, but snow does make the farm pretty. By tomorrow AM, there will be lots of wildlife tracks in the snow and dozens of birds at the feeder. Meanwhile, the Cottage is nice and toasty.

We've adjusted the price on the 2-night Valentine's Special - check out the Valentine's Special Page.

Happy New Year

2009-01-03T08:37:00.002-06:00

We are into January and the weather continues to be typical of Missouri - if you don't like it, wait a few minutes. We've said goodbye to our Christmas decorations for another year and started working on the next holiday (Valentine's - see our "special"). I will be busy cutting firewood whenever the ground is dry enough to drive to the woodlot, and Sandra is getting caught up on her mailing lists, etc. We're planning a trip to the Kansas City Sports Show sometime next week - it runs Jan 7-11 - to pick up more tourism info and ideas for us and for our guests.

We continue to be active in local affairs, with Sandra working with the Arts Council and Bill on the Temporary County Zoning Commission (see OldDrum.net for the activities there. Bill is also working on getting ready for skeet season, which starts the 10th (weather permitting).

Whatever the weather, the Cottage on the Knoll provides a snug hideaway; if the ground is dry (or frozen) there are lots of open trails. We still have the wild turkeys around and we'll be putting out a deer feeder below the Cottage. Winter is good for seeing wildlife - we very occasionally see a bald eagle flying around, and breeding season for bobcats will be soon.

Bill

New Year's Eve Special

2008-12-28T07:52:00.005-06:00

If you've been "up in the air" about where to spend New Year's Eve, Cedarcroft's Cottage on the Knoll is available for your private romantic celebration for only $279 + tax (@ only 5.725%). The new 32" LCD TV is there for your enjoyment; it's HD, but we don't have the dish upgraded yet. See New Year's Eve Special at our website for details for your New Year's Eve.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T21:21:00.003-06:00

Wishing all our guests, past and future, a great holiday season. We have survived the spell of nasty cold weather and it looks like we will miss the snow forecast for overnight. The turkeys are visiting the bird feeder again, joining the cardinals, blue jays, juncos and other birds. Hope y'all can stay for a visit.

Plan for New Year's Eve

2008-12-10T17:37:00.002-06:00

The Cottage is available for New Year's Eve. We request a two-night minimum and a premium price, but you won't find anything like what we offer for your intimate New Year's Eve getaway. Your stay includes lots of extras (no, we can't provide Champagne or wine, but we do include non-alcoholic bubbly). I'll have the special Special page posted later tonight.

December 1st Update

2008-12-01T08:19:00.002-06:00

We finally had our first snow, maybe an inch that mostly melted. Weather was beautiful over Thanksgiving, and we did some gallivanting - Boonville & Prairie Home on Thursday, Warrensburg & Sedalia on Friday, Clinton on Saturday. Friday we went in a bit after the rush and still picked up what I wanted at Office Depot.

Our biggest buy we made on Thursday, a 32" HDTV for the Cottage. It's really nice - and will be nicer once we have the Dish Network upgraded. I'll post here and update all the websites when it's ready to go in HD; meanwhile, it still offers a better picture than the old 27" SD. Also, I guess it's time to post our New Years, Valentine's & Super Bowl Specials.

Winter is (almost) here

2008-11-18T08:41:00.003-06:00

Has it been since September that I last posted? By now, the leaves are off (except for the shingle oaks - they'll stay on until spring) and you can see what's going on in the woods. Birds are visiting the feeder, and the smell of wood smoke is in the air. I'll be spending a lot of time in the woods with the chain saw cutting more firewood, but it shouldn't bother our guests, since I'll be about 600 yards away.

It's a great time to take a walk in the woods because the biting bugs are gone and leaves are off the poison ivy. Still have stick-tights and other seeds that stick to clothes, but they're a minor irritant.

It's a good week. I got a nice buck on Sunday - I'm second from the left on the deer hunting picture. Today I turn 65 and I sure don't feel it. Folks tell me I don't look it, either. I will enjoy a nice party at a local Mexican restaurant today, then enjoy the 60-degree weather tomorrow before getting ready for guests over the weekend.

Bill

Home at last

2008-09-15T19:17:00.002-05:00

We got in about 2 PM yesterday (Sunday), in time to watch the final disgusting minutes of the Chiefs game. We took US-54 the rest of the way across Kansas to Eldorado Springs, MO, stopped at Clinton for dinner & groceries, and worked hard getting unpacked and working. Turning on hot water, stuff like that.

It was a great trip, can't wait to go again.

Miles: day - 266, total 2859.9
Gas used - 133.5 gallons, 21.4 mpg

Day 12, 9/13/08

2008-09-13T18:31:00.001-05:00

Change of plans: We decided to skip Ponca City and spend the night outside of Wichita instead. We went through a lot of areas that showed heavy flooding overnight, and we wouldn't be surprised if there was some further east. We'll take US-54 out of Andover in the AM all the way to Eldorado Springs, then to Clinton & lunch/groceries. Should be home by 2.

Today we left Pampa in fog & mist and had mist off and on much of the day. Our only sightseeing stop was Alabaster Caverns State Park - not the most scenic since it had no flow formations, but interesting. Took pictures. Tonight we're at a HIE instead of the Comfort Inn originally planned.

Day miles - 320, to date 2593.7.
Gas used: 121.4 gal/21.3 MPG

Day 11, 9/12/08

2008-09-12T21:19:00.003-05:00

A damp day, so no pictures. Two neat museums and a side trip highlighted today's travel. First one was the Panhandle Plains Museum in Canyon TX. Plenty of: natural history, paleontology, oil industry, cars, and ART. Then, it was back to Amarillo and the Kwahadi Dancers building - this is a scouting-related place with an excellent small museum which is well-interpreted. Everything done by volunteers. It's also the venue for their dance group which does both powwow and traditional Indian dances. Side trip was to Alibates Flint Quarries NM. We got there too late to get a tour, but it was scenic.

Spending the night at Pampa TX in an HIE; ate BBQ brisket for supper. It was good but it's not KC! Tomorrow's plans are flexible because of the flooding going on due to a cold front, the remains of a Pacific storm and whatever happens from Hurricane Ike.

Miles today - 250, to date 2273
Gas - 106.3 gal/ 21.3 mpg

Day 10, 9/11/08

2008-09-11T19:08:00.003-05:00

Our siteseeing today was appropriate to the date. We visited the ruins of two pueblo missions, where religious & secular demands on the natives led to eventual abandonment & destruction. The two are part of what's called the Salinas Missions - Abo & Quarai. Both show the remains of fancy churches built of stone, while the pueblos where the Indians lived have deteriorated into rubble piles.

After that, it was mostly driving below the speed limit. We took US-60 for many miles, then US-54 east to Santa Rosa, & finally I-40 to Tucumcari. US-60 & US-54 both traverse Missouri, so it's interesting to see other parts of these highways. Tucumcari is home of the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum - really neat, see our 2006 trip postings/pictures at www.missouridaytrips.com.

Total miles - 242, for the trip - 2023.
Gas used to date - 94.7 gal, 21.3 mpg.

Day 9, 9/10/08

2008-09-10T21:15:00.007-05:00

Albuquerque day, and a full one at that! First stop was the New Mexico State Fair. It's quite different from Missouri's, more compact, with shaded streets. It has 5 different arts venues - fantastic! Sandra will write a book on them, I'm sure.

We then had lunch at the Frontier cafe, across the street from UNM - good, and we sat right next to a picture of Tony Hillerman & Wes Studi. After lunch we visited the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology on the UNM campus, then on to the Museum of Natural History, the Albuquerque Art Museum, Old Town, and the Pueblo Cultural Center. Whew! Finally, we took a back road down the Rio Grande valley to Belen. Great SW-style restaurant there - Pete's Cafe. It's also notable for the decor, lots of Navajo rugs and RC Gorman prints, plus some assorted oils.

Tomorrow we take back roads to visit Abo & Quarai ruins, then on to Tucumcari & the Mesalands dinosaur museum. That's on the way home.

Day's travel - 81 miles. To date - 1781.

Day 8 - 9/9/08

2008-09-09T22:32:00.003-05:00

Santa Fe today. Had to fight traffic going downtown, where we arrived about 9 AM. Museums didn't open until 10, so we sat on the plaza and did some souvenir shopping. First disappointment - the Georgia O'Keeffe museum galleries were closed as the old exhibit was being shipped out in preparation for a new one. However, a private gallery next door had an exhibit of Ansel Adams photos, so we toured it (& several other galleries). 2nd disappointment - the Art Museum was changing exhibits as well, so we had very little new stuff to tour, just one of fancy glass.

However, the Palace of the Governors (ca 1610) had a fascinating exhibit on the Old Spanish Trail from NM to CA, lasting until the US took over in the 1840s. Then we visited the Museum of Contemporary Indian Art, with a special exhibit on Indian history in the area & relationship to the land. The International Folk Art Museum is really wild - I can't explain it.

Drove down to Bernalillo & checked in to the HIE, then drove on to visit Madge & Larry Harrah. Had dinner at Garcia's & visited for a couple of hours. On the way back to the motel, stopped at the fancy Sandia (Pueblo) Casino. I won $5 & Sandra lost abouut the same, so we're even with the Indian casinos overall on the trip.

Tomorrow - NM State Fair, a couple of museums, Old Town and even more good food!

Miles today - 85, trip thus far - 1700.

Day 7, 9/8/08

2008-09-08T20:40:00.002-05:00

Today was our day to visit Ghost Ranch at Abiquiu. Semi-oops, there's not a lot for a day-tripper to do. We enjoyed the visit, but we couldn't get into the back country without some serious hiking. We did see enough to get a feel for what inspired Georgia O'Keeffe. We'd allowed more time than we used, so from Espanola we took a side trip to Chimayo, supposedly a hotbed of studios & galleries. Didn't see many, but had a nice drive down toward Santa Fe on the High Road to (from) Taos.

Santa Fe - traffic was bad (I hate traffic!). We'll drive into the city in the AM from where we are at a HIE. Since no attractions open until 10, we'll stop at a Salvation Army store en route, sit on the Plaza, and hit some favorite shops. Then, we'll get our culture pass, visit the Palace of the Governors & the Art Museum, plus the Georgia O'Keeffe museum, then go to museum hill & hit a few other ones. Lunch will be at The Shed, a cafe where I took a prize-winning picture a couple of years ago. Then, it's on to Albuquerque, meeting Madge & Larry Harrah for dinner, and maybe a visit to the Sandia casino. We'll be staying at Bernalillo.

Miles today - 254, total to date - 1604.

Day 6, 9/7/08 - Mesa Verde

2008-09-07T20:30:00.003-05:00

Sandra is now an official Junior Ranger, with her own badge. We hiked about 2.5 miles on a pretty primitive trail to Petroglyph Point. That was after taking the tour to Cliff Palace, not the easiest climb up and down, either. We're two tired puppies. At least we allowed enough time this visit, and did different things from what we did in our 2004 trip.

We took a back road into Farmington, where the Holiday Inn Express upgraded us to a 2-room suite, no charge. Dinner was Mexican (again). And good (again).

Tomorrow is Abiuiu (Ghost Ranch - Georgia O'Keeffe country) and on to Santa Fe.

Today's mileage - 138. Trip to date - 1350.

Day 5, 9/6/08

2008-09-06T22:03:00.003-05:00

We left Alamosa early & drove through a couple of 10,000' passes - La Manga & Cumbres, much of it parallel to the railroad we took yesterday. Didn't get to see the train running, since we were too early. Both trains had 3 more cars on Saturday than on Friday - plan accordingly.

From Chama, we took US-64 across to Bloomfield thru a part of NM we'd never before visited. Spectacular scenery - of course (ho hum, that's New Mexico). Stopped at Salmon Ruins, where we'd never before stopped, visited the Aztec NM museum and said "hi" to the cat who'd given us a tour 4 years ago - now she's fat and sassy and demands attention.

The Farmington area is very grown-up - way too much traffic for my taste. We'll stay there tomorrow night after our long visit to Mesa Verde; may take one of the tours that requires going up and down ladders. Other possibilities include the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores.

Cortez is having a beer fest tonight & we didn't go. Isn't that terrible? Too disgusted with our visit to the Ute Mountain casino - took 40 minutes to hand-pay Sandra when a machine wouldn't print out her cash-out ticket. Had Mexican food twice more today, but it wasn't as good as either of the two nights in Alamosa.

Miles today - 282, total to date - 1,212 (68 more than our original plan - didn't leave enough slack in it).

Day 4, 9/5/08 - train ride

2008-09-05T21:28:00.003-05:00

Today was our trip on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR. Wow! Great mountain scenery, the feel of a train, and lots of coal smoke. Definitely needed a shower when we got back to the hotel. We highly recommend this ride - North America's longest (68 mi) & highest (10,000 ft +) excursion train. It's a narrow gauge train. For more details, go to their website (posted yesterday) or wait for the posting at www.missouridaytrips.com - it'll be a while.

Tomorrow - Back to Chama by car, then to the Jicarilla Apache museum in Dulce, on to Aztec ruins, then Shiprock & Cortez, to get ready for our trip to Mesa Verde.

Day 3, 9/4/08

2008-09-04T20:24:00.004-05:00

From Alamosa CO - We had a good day today. The prime stop was Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Monument, but the trip here was interesting. We followed the US-50 paralleling the Santa Fe Trail from Garden City to La Junta (CO), stopping at the CO welcome center at the La Junta depot. They have a Madonna Of the Trail statue, like Council Grove KS & Lexington MO. Took CO-10, 1 little-traveled road, to Walsenburg; saw quite a few antelope along the road. Had lunch in Walsenburg - strangest chile relleno I've ever had, essentially an omelet folded around some green chile. Odd, but good.

Spent several hours hiking and shooting pictures at Great Sand Dunes, the biggest dune field in North America. Hiked only into the footdunes (my word coinage - think foothills of the dunes) as my knee is sore.

Dinner at Alamosa was at Mrs Rivera's Kitchen, we had chimichangas with green sauce. mmm!

Todays trip was 350 miles, averaged better than 21 mpg. Tomorrow is the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic railroad! I'm taking 3GB of memory cards & 3 batteries!

Travel Day 2, 9/3/08

2008-09-03T20:52:00.004-05:00

September 3rd was essentially gloomy, with periods of rain & little sun until the last 20 miles or so. Not the best lighting for photography. We left Topeka on the KS turnpike, cut west on US-56 to Council Grove (an interesting town), then south to Tallgrass National Prairie Preserve. Cold and windy, but the grass was taller & better than on our first visit a couple of years ago. We'll see how the pictures come out after a bit of photoshopping.

Next, we visited Cottonwood Falls (of Prairie Erth fame) - neat brick streets and a classic old courthouse. From there, it was highway for quite a while. We visited Pawnee Rock, which is overgrown with trees so the view isn't what it was when the Santa Fe Trail was active. Next stops were in the Larned area: the Santa Fe Trail Museum and Ft. Larned Nat'l Historic Site.

Finally got to Garden City about 5:30 - 337 miles plus about 9 more running around Garden City. Our mileage is up to 20.8, as we drove about 64 MPH and had a quartering tailwind.

Tomorrow - US-50 to La Junta CO, cross country to Walsenburg, through the mountains to Great Sand Dunes and finally Alamosa.

Travel Day 1

2008-09-02T20:16:00.002-05:00

While the neighbors are haying our meadows, we decided to take a little jaunt. Today, we drove to Lawrence KS to see some of the museums at KU. At KU's Natural History Museum, we got a private tour of the fossil prep areas and the fossil storage area - helps to take good care of guests, as our guide, a recent guest, is a PhD student in paleontology.

Next stop was the Spencer Museum of Art. The special exhibit was a display of mostly-antique quilts. They were marked by extremely fine (small) hand-stitching - what a lot of work that must have been. The art collection covered late medieval to modern, but not a lot of examples of each. Top picture was a Thomas Hart Benton.

Had lunch at Milton's downtown on Massachusetts St (Lawrence's main drag) and had a really interesting chicken tortilla soup. I had a calzone & Sandra had a Mediterranean salad.

Then, it was on to Topeka & the Kansas Historical Society. Very well-done museum, with a special exhibit on weather to go with a great survey of KS history. While the history of the war was what you would expect from KS, it did note that the redlegs were pretty nasty and even mentioned Osceola & Harrisonville. They had a display where one could decide if John Brown was a hero or a terrorist (I lean to the latter).

Rained heavily for a while, thanks to Gustav & a cold front. Staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Topeka; ate at a yuppie-Mexican restaurant & can't wait for the good stuff in NM!

Total travel - 120 miles.

Tomorrow - Council Grove, Tallgrass Nat'l Preserve, Pawnee Rock, Lyon, Ft. Larned & Garden City.

Early August Events

2008-08-03T09:42:00.002-05:00

This is August and there's a lot to do around here. I just finished mowing the trails so they shouldn't be too hard to walk.

First, the State Fair is just 26 miles from our gate; it runs from August 7th thru August 17th. However, we don't have any availability during the fair.

That brings us to Nature and wildflowers. Rain & heat sure help the plants grow, and there's much more green than you'd normally see this time of year. The Cottage is energy efficient with a ground source heat pump.

Orange - The tiger lilies are done for the year, but a few butterfly milkweeds are blooming in shaded places. Yellow - the blackeyed susans are still blooming away, and I noticed a few gray goldenrod blooms starting - they normally bloom later. Purple - the purple coneflowers are fading, as are the rough blazing star, but the tall ironweed and tall thistle are coming on; red clover blooms summer-long.

Our native grasses along the lane to the cottage are doing very well, with some of the big bluestem starting to head out. Some people call this grass "turkeyfoot" because the seed heads are splayed much like a turkey's foot. We see lots of deer tracks in the creeks, which are down and very walkable despite the 2.5" rain last week.

Gas & Summer Update

2008-06-27T19:04:00.004-05:00

The weather is beautiful, despite the frequent rains. All manner of true wildflowers are blooming - Black Eyed Susan, Queen Anne's Lace, Chicory, White Heath Aster, Red & White Clover, Yucca, and my favorite, Butterfly Milkweed. Then, there's the planted flowers: Purple Coneflower, Tickeseed Coreopsis, Tiger Lilies (aka daylilies). The native warm-season tallgrasses are starting to grow; the cool season tallgrass, Eastern Gamma, is doing well in the back 40. The main trails are opened, although mowed a bit high, and the creek has many new sandbars for the arrowhead/artifact hunter.

Warrensburg gas prices are very competitive. This past week, most stations were $3.69, at least 10 cents below what we saw in Kansas City on Tuesday. Together with our Summer Special, Cedarcroft is a very affordable getaway.

Temporarily closed due to water leak.

2008-04-28T09:48:00.003-05:00

We discovered a leak in the water supply for the Ultrabath which will take a while to fix. I do not think we will be able to accept new reservations in the cottage for dates prior to May 10th. I will keep the availability at our website updated so you can see if we're open sooner.

Sorry about the problem!

Bill

Sounds of Spring

2008-03-20T19:51:00.002-05:00

We had lots of rain over the weekend, but we're high and dry. Our creeks never even reached bankfull. The meadows are squishy and the creek crossings are muddy, but I still led our guests on a trip to the Back 40. As we neared the pond, it got loud - the frogs were croaking away at their mating songs. The grass is starting to green up, and buds are starting to show on the trees. The big turkey flocks are still all-hens, but the toms will join them shortly and begin their display, often in the meadow below the Cottage.

If you're a Civil War buff, plan on attending the Burning of Dayton (MO), just south of Garden City (off MO-7). That will be March 29-30, and the website is BurningDayton.com.

Bill

Back to it

2008-03-15T09:07:00.002-05:00

I've been remiss. I haven't posted any news since October! Lots of things have happened in that time - winter, deer season, winter, becoming president of the state B&B association, winter, a couple of 2-day B&B meetings, and more winter.

In any case, Spring is almost upon us. No more 3 weeks in a row of lows in the 20s. Daffodils are starting to poke through the ground, and a tiny bit of green is showing in the meadows.

The Cottage has gone through the bad weather pretty-much unscathed, and it's time to start thinking about a Spring getaway. Come see us!

Kawhump - or Fall didn't last long

2007-11-08T08:50:00.000-06:00

Monday & Tuesday were beautiful, color had finally reached a lot of our trees. We had our first low-20s temperatures Tuesday night. Wednesday AM, the ground was littered with mostly-green leaves from Osage orange, mulberry and silver maple trees, and those trees were mostly bare. The leaves will just have to mulch themselves, because the lawnmower died a couple of weeks ago. I prefer nice crisp leaves on the lawn, because they're so much fun to walk through.

I've been cutting up firewood that I couldn't get out last winter/spring/summer because of the snow & ice/muddy creek crossings/heat. Our wood-burning furnace is running and puts a bit of aroma in the air. We burn mostly Osage orange & honey locust, the thorny stuff with a high heat content. The Cottage gets elm, maple and eastern red cedar.

One anomaly this year is the lack of "hedge apples" (fruit of the Osage orange) and honey locust pods. The early spring and late freeze did them in. Deer will be hurting for mast this winter, since to only trees that produced many nuts were the shingle oaks (red oak family). As soon as deer season is over, I'll put out a feeder below the Cottage.

We still have room for a mid-November getaway and for the weekend after Thanksgiving. Check out availability on-line.

October Time

2007-10-05T11:13:00.000-05:00

October is upon us, but it's still hot. Perfect weather for a picnic at Knob Noster State Park. A few leaves are turning and falling, but not many yet. We've had only a small amount of rain in the past week, so the grass isn't growing.

During check-in last week, a guest looked out into the meadow below the Cottage and saw a monster buck. Sandra says she saw it too, and they figure that it's maybe a 14 pointer. Yes, you could see him, too!

This weekend is Warrensburg's Chautauqua festival, with impersonators of Harry S Truman (my distant cousin), Mark Twain and George Washington Carver. Lots of music in several venues, as well. I'd refer you to the visitwarrensburg.org website, but it's not very informative.

In two weeks we have UCM Homecoming here in Warrensburg, and Warsaw Heritage Days is going on down there. They know how to run a small-town festival!

Enjoy the season - weather will change!

Fall's Here

2007-09-28T06:54:00.000-05:00

Yes, even though it's supposed to be in the 80's today, we see definite signs that the season is changing. One of the neat things this time of year is the butterfly migration. Monarchs, of course, but there are many other types of butterfly, large & small. Monarch butterflies are why I try to leave the milkweeds standing when I mow the horse pasture.

Another sign of fall - the sumac has started to change. Sumac changes color early and the leaves turn a brilliant red. The red will soon be enhanced by Virginia creeper and poison ivy, and we'll start seeing yellow on the elms and maples and Osage orange. Another thing to watch for on the sumac is stripped bark - caused by bucks rubbing their antlers against the whippy stalks.

October activities in Warrensburg & the surrounding area include the Chautauqua next weekend (see www.visitwarrensburg.org) and UCM Homecoming on 10/20. Here's an idea - come to Warrensburg on the 20th, see the parade, then head for Warsaw's Heritage Days. We're full for both the Chautauqua and Homecoming, but have plenty of openings the rest of the month - come enjoy the back 40, who knows what you'll see!

What's Blooming

2007-09-13T07:12:00.000-05:00

This is a really nice time of year, with all the fall flowers blooming. I re-mowed the trails in the Back 40 a couple of days ago & saw lots of Goldenrod, Jerusalem Artihoke & Sunflowers. The pond area is full of bright yellow Bidens. Also, the Indiangrass along the Cottage lane is in bloom - bright golden feather-like heads. For purples & reds, try the Red Clover, Tall Thistle (cirsium altissmum) and, surprisingly, Butterfly Milkweed (aesclepius tuberosa). Other flowers in bloom include White Snakeroot, Tick Trefoil (aka stick-tights) and Ragweed (take your allergy meds). Seed heads on the Sumac are starting to turn their rusty red (& deer rubs are just starting to show on some), but the trees probably won't turn until mid-October.

This is small town festival season. This weekend, the nearby town of Holden holds its annual Fall Fiesta. Warrensburg has a Chautauqua on Oct 6-7. Warsaw Heritage Days will be soon thereafter. We always enjoy the small town events because they're so friendly & one gets a flavor of the town.

Yesterday, we went down to Clinton to see the start of the 2nd stage of the Tour of Missouri bike race. I'll process the pictures & post some before long [oops -they didn't come out well - sorry].

September Already

2007-09-04T09:18:00.000-05:00

Here we are in September and it's still hot (and dry). The past weekend has been festival time. On Saturday, after taking care of the guests, we went down to Chilhowee (a small town about 15 miles from here) and enjoyed some food and listened to the Nace Brothers Band. A great crowd. One of the band members wondered how a town of 329 can raise $16,000 to bring int he kind of entertainment it does, when Warrensburg struggles to even think of a festival. May have some contest pictures out of Chilhowee.

On Monday, we went to Germantown's Labor Day Picnic - you won't find it on the map. It's an old Catholic parish that's been de-accessed by the Church and taken over by local folks. $8/person, family style. We got there early, and good thing. Great event. On the way home, we stopped at Deepwater (pop. 507) for their annual picnic - country band playing, carnival running, horse show about to start. Finally, after quick stops in Clinton (pop. 9311 - Olde Glory Days were back in early July) and Calhoun (pop. 491, 98th annual Colt Show a week earlier), we stopped at Windsor (pop. 3087). Windsor's weekend event was over except for the tractor pull, and their big local event is on July 4th.

All is not lost in Warrensburg, since there will be a Chautauqua on Oct 5-7. We're involved, but the bureaucracy is appalling. Also, we're fully booked that weekend, but come on down anyway for the event even if you don't stay.

At the Farm, as I said, it's dry. The native grasses are doing OK because they evolved to fit our climate, and are starting to look really good with waving golden plumes on the Indiangrass. Flower color is yellow, with goldenrod, assorted sunflower species and bidens starting to bloom. Once the weather breaks it will be perfect for the fireplace, so I'll be cutting more firewood soon.

Mid August Update

2007-08-13T18:29:00.000-05:00

Here it is in Mid-August, and it's HOT. Fortunately, the weather will break soon. We got another 1/2 inch of rain last Wednesday and the Indian grass is starting to head - our little tall-grass section is looking better than it has in years.

State Fair is still going on, and while we're pretty well booked for the remaining days, you can still attend. Also, if you're looking for UCM Parents' Weekend (Sep 14-15), we've just had a cancellation.

Enjoy summer while you can!

August is upon us

2007-08-05T08:37:00.000-05:00

It's supposed to be hot in August, and it is. Fortunately, the Cottage uses a ground source heat pump, so our guests can stay cool and comfortable and still use the Ultrabath and fireplace when it's 90 outside. I'll mow the trails again this week now that the brush hog is fixed.

The big activity in this area in August is the Missouri State Fair, Aug. 9-19. We're pretty much full during that time, but we encourage folks to visit the Fair anyway. The website is www.mostatefair.com. Then, classes start at the University of Central Missouri (UCM, formerly CMSU). If you're bringing your kids to college, why not take a day off for yourselves? Looking down the road, the only football dates taken are those of UCM Homecoming, so there's another opportunity.

The inch of rain we got last Tuesday was badly needed. The warm season tallgrass plantings along the lane to the Cottage are doing very well. A wild turkey hen and her brood have been using it regularly. We eventually hope that the grasses will spread and give us a real prairie patch.

Summer's Moving Right Along

2007-07-28T08:08:00.000-05:00

Didn't realize it'd been that long since I last updated the blog. Since several guests say they've visited it, maybe I need to keep it up more often. Here's what's happened lately:

Haying is done. All our meadows are now rolled up into big bales. They're not as pretty, but you can wander where-ever you want without wading through high grass - so less chance of ticks & chiggers.

Warm Season Grasses are coming on strong along the Cottage lane. Some of the big bluestem is already heading, with the spectacular Indian grass soon to follow. Unfortunately the purple coneflowers are past prime. We could use some rain now.

State Fair is only a couple of weeks away. We're already booked for the first 6 nights, but if you want to visit the Fair during your stay at Cedarcroft, Aug 15-19 are still available. Yes, we go to the Fair ourselves whenever we can, and have photographs entered in the Fine Arts contest.

Last Minute Discount: You might notice that our Availability page has a link to a last minute discount. Well, it's not quite "last minute," but there's about a 10% discount if you book on-line 2-5 days in advance. We do attach some special conditions, so read them carefully if you want to take advantage of the discount.

What's happening at Cedarcroft

2007-06-12T09:06:00.000-05:00

We've had a rainy spring/early summer, so the grass and trees are growing rapidly. The native grasses planted along the drive to the Cottage are doing well, and the eastern gamma grass in the back 40 continues to expand. That, of course, means the lawn is growing and has to be mowed frequently - not a lot of fun, but I want the trails fairly open as well as the lawn looking good. Also growing is poison ivy, as well as thorny plants such as blackberry - I call blackberry "chiggerberry" because it's a good place to pick up a case of chigger bites. We provide spray-on bug repellent to help protect you if you take a walk on the trails.

Bill

Showers, in and out

2007-05-29T20:32:00.000-05:00

We're in the middle of a stretch of intermittent thunderstorms, and I took the opportunity to replace & upgrade the shower heads in the Cottage. One side has an attached 4-way shower head, while the other has a hand-held head with the same 4 options. Remember - when you use both sides, you use up the hot water twice as fast!

BW

B&B Update

2007-05-16T07:57:00.000-05:00

We've been back a week now, and our priorities have been to:

1. Find homes for Miss Topsy's 4 kittens. Miss Topsy is a stray cat, obviously dumped by some city person, that arrived very pregnant in March. 2 weeks before our trip, she presented us with 4 kittens, 2 white & 2 black. So, we had to hire a kitty sitter as well as all the other arrangements. When we got back, they were running all over the place. So far, 2 have found new homes, 1 is definitely spoken-for, and there's a possible for the last one. Then, Miss Topsy gets fixed.

2. Replace the electric water heater in the Cottage on the Knoll. I made the mistake of building it for a 40-gallon heater, which proved insufficient. We've replaced it twice, added a softener, tried a tankless, all to no avail - it's the hard water. So, after 8 1/2 years we've updgraded to a 50 gal. heater, and believe me it was an adventure fitting it into place - it's a skoosh wider & taller than the old one, so plumbing adjustments were required. It works!

3. Mow, mow, mow. Grass was 6" to 12" high when we got back, thanks to the 3.5 inches of rain while we were gone. Mowed once last Wednesday, then again on Sunday. Will use the tractor to open some trails today, then mow the yard, etc., tomorrow or Friday before the guests arrive. I suppose I'll have to trim some trees, as well.

Anyway, come stay - there should be plenty of hot water, the grass should be short & trails open, and we won't make you take a kitten home.

Bill

Tueday, 5/8 - PM

2007-05-08T18:19:00.001-05:00

Home at last! Pulled in at 2:30 PM after 15 days and 3693 miles in 7 states. We were greeted by Scruffy (our horse) who wanted food & hugging, Miss Topsy (the stray cat) and her 4 kittens - 2 black with blue eyes, 2 white with a spot on the head. Also, grass from 6 inches to 1 foot high and a rain gauge containing 3 1/4 inches of water and a drowned bumblebee. Took over an hour to get all the credit card expenses into Quicken. I think we're finally unpacked and a load of laundry done. I see no damages here from any of the storms, so that's OK. It will be good to 'sleep in' in our own bed after 15 nights in motels.

What did we do today? Well, we left Tulsa in the middle of a big thunderstorm and I missed a road sign - so we took a somewhat longer road (US-412 & 69 instead of I-44) but still made good time. Because of flooding problems, we'd decided to skip old 66, so our only travel stop was the local museum in Joplin - the mining museum was excellent, but they knew nothing about Melissa Fuell (a leading Black educator from the area - she wrote a book about Blind Boone and sang with him), nor did they have anything on noted ragtime composer James Scott (first published in Carthage, the County Seat). Makes one wonder.

According to the car's computer, we averaged 20.5 mpg at an average of 44.3 mph. We stayed at 9 different Holiday Inn Expresses, 1 Holiday Inn, and 1 Comfort Inn. The worst of the HIEs was better than the Comfort Inn. Ate a lot of great Mexican/Southwestern food (green, please) and some good BBQ (no, it wasn't KC, but still OK). Visited 4 indian casinos (Acoma, Mescalero Apache, Comanche & Cherokee) and in the end broke even. Saw statues by Ft. Sill Apache sculptor Alan Houser at Ruidoso, Lawton & Oklahoma City - we recognized his style pretty easily.

I'll probably write a bit more after we recover. Sandra has 50 pages of notes & comments, so she'll transcribe them as I do the pictuers and before long we'll have a whiz-bang web page for our trip.

BW

Monday, 5/7 - PM

2007-05-07T19:58:00.000-05:00

Monday evening - I didn't post this AM ... because there was a thunderstorm in Lawton. We left after the rain had gone thru and visited the Oklahoma History museum in OKC - yes, they do have operating oil wells on the Capitol lawn. It's a very well done museum and I learned a few facts I didn't previously know. We left OKC in old 66 hiway, but ran into some heavy rain and switched to the Turnpike. Also, we skipped the Gilcrease because it woud have put us driving thru Tulsa in the rain during rush hour. We checked in at 3 PM, got settled, then went to the Cherokee Casino. Lots of specials today. We each got $5 free play for being new members, $5 for seniors day, and Sandra got $5 for ladies' night - plus 2/1 buffet. We ended up playing for a couple of hours, found some hot machines, and walked out after giving them back only $5 of what they gave us.

Tomorrow's plans have changed a bit, as well. A lot of the creeks & rivers around here are really flooding, so we'll skip Old 66 and stay on I-44 to Joplin. We'll plan to visit the museum there, then boogie on home to meet the kittens (and take care of everything that has been piling up - the worst part of a vacation).

Only a very few pictures today; I'll post when we get home.

Sunday, 5/6 - PM

2007-05-06T20:38:00.000-05:00

Didn't have all that far to drive today - missed the weather so far. Went thru a lot of flat country, broken up by eroded river bottoms - turned out to be pretty scenic. Got to Lawton about 1:30 & checked in to our HIE. Then went to their regional Museum of the Great Plains, then out to Ft. Sill. The post museum was closed & a bridge was out leading to Geronimo's grave, but we did get to visit the graves of Quanah Parker & Satanta. Drove from there out to the Washita Mountains Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, went thru their visitor center/museum and drove around looking at buffalo. Dinner at Cracker Barrel (the BBQ place we were looking for was closed) & mad a donation at the Comanche casino.

Tomorrow AM we're heading for Oklahoma City to see the state museum. After that, we may hit another museum, take old 66 to Tulsa, visit the Gilcrease and end up at the Cherokee Casino.

Miles from Lubbock to Lawton - 303
Miles after checking in in Lawton - 82

Sunday, 5/6 - AM

2007-05-06T07:03:00.000-05:00

Sunday AM - We're off to Oklahoma today - weather does not look good as we'll be traveling thru and stopping in an area the Weather Channel shows in red. We won't be anywhere near Grensburg KS, but we've been thru it several times. Fairly short travel day today because the museums in Lubbock aren't open, but that gives us time to see some in Lubbock & Ft. Sill (if they're not blown away before we get there).

Saturday 5/5 - PM

2007-05-05T20:29:00.000-05:00

From Levelland TX (just west of Lubbock). Got up real early this AM because it looked like it would be a long day. Went up a scenic climb to Cloudcroft - the drive was scenic but we didn't see anything at Cloudcroft to take pictures of. Then it was cross country to Ruidoso, thru the Mescalero Apache reservation - lots of horses in the little valleys. Stopped at their casino (Inn of the Mountain Gods) and donated a few $. Over the hill to Lincoln, a neat little town noted for the Lincoln County War & Billy the Kid. On to Roswell, where we found that the UFO museum is now charging $5 to visit, the money going to moving out of downtown. We decided we like it downtown so instead went to the art museum - some nice pictures there, some Peter Hurds, even an O'Keefe. Most interesting was a large 3-panel painting of a Pow Wow - looked just like the one we saw.

Miles: 303.

Friday, 5/4 - PM

2007-05-04T21:04:00.000-05:00

Another big day. We left Silver City about 7 AM and went to City of Rocks State Park. For you Missourians, it reminded me of Elephant Rocks, but the rock is volcanic tuff rather than granite. The park is essentially a neat place to camp, with campsites scattered among the rocks.

Then we drove down to Deming, in kind of a barren area, and stopped at the local welcome center, which included an old steam engine. Then it was on to Las Cruces to visit Sandra's Uncle Murray. Then, over the hill to White Sands - it was very windy and the sand was blowing, making a light haze.

We're now at a very nice HIE in Alamogordo. Tomorrow's a long day, with stops at Cloudcroft, Ruidoso, Lincoln (Billy the Kid) & Roswell before going on to Levelland TX (outside of Lubbock). It'll be a long day and we're shooting for an early start, so don't expect a morning post.

Friday AM Addendum - Gas Prices

2007-05-04T07:52:00.000-05:00

Gas prices, whew. At regular gas stations, we paid a high of $3.17 at Chinle, AZ. We saw stations at $3.29 in other places, where we found other stations for $2.99. In Silver City, the going rate is $3.15. The most? I forgot to get gas in Sliver City before going out to Gila Cliff Dwellings and all those mountain roads had me woried. Fortunately, a little trading post out there had gas. I paid $10 for 2.7 gallons - that's $3.64/gal - but it's better than running out on a mountaintop in the absolute middle of nowhere.

Friday, 5/4 - AM

2007-05-04T07:08:00.000-05:00

This Comfort Inn was "OK" - nothing wrong with it but not the same quality as most HIEs. Does have a hot breakfast, though (make your own waffles)- if we get any with all the cyclists.

Today we visit City of Rocks State Park, then go on to meet Sandra's Uncle Murray in Las Cruces, finishing up at White Sands & spending the night in Alamogordo. High winds predicted for today, we'll see how that affects things.

Thursday, 5/3 - PM

2007-05-03T21:46:00.000-05:00

Whew - what a lot of mountain driving. We left Holbrook at 7 AM, but lost an hour when we went into NM. After a few miles of desert we went into a series of volcanic mountains. Stopped at the Chamber at Springerville AZ, where they have info and tours of an ancient pueblo we'd never heard of. Then thru more mountains in New Mexico, where we met the Gila Bicycle tour. I guess Missouri will be like that this fall.

The main attraction today was Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. While at a comfort stop, I read the literature we picked up at Springerville - "allow 2 hours each way." C'mon, it's only 43 miles. Yep, 43 miles, not more than 1/4 miles of which at a time is straight, and the curvy parts (like most of the road) are either climbing or descending. The cliff dwellings themselves are among the few you can actually walk thru. Only inhabited between 1270-1300 AD, a non-Mimbres group but part of the Mogollon culture, they say. Sorry, still running behind on pictures.

Dinner at the same place we ate at 5 years ago when we went thru here, and just as GOOD! We recommend La Cocina in Silver City. Jury is still out on the Comfort Inn here.

Sandra's high point - when she went into a Silver City grocery store to buy beer, SHE WAS CARDED! Not too often one can get a Senior discount and be carded the same day!

Miles: 326, time on road or sightseeing - 10:15

Thursday, 5/3 - AM

2007-05-03T08:01:00.000-05:00

Day 10 - a good night's sleep and we're heading generally eastward. Today's route is thru Arizona mountains to Show Low & Eager, then southward thru New Mexico's Mogollon mtns thru Alma to Silver City. The highlight will be a side trip from Silver City to Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument. Tonight our only non-HI stop, a Comfort Inn (the HIE was full). Hope to have time to get the pictures caught up tonight.

Wednesday, 5/2 - PM

2007-05-02T22:09:00.000-05:00

Only took 37 pictures today - it was rainy this AM and the Hopi don't allow photographs. We toured the Hopi Museum at Walpi, then drove thru a lot more empty country to Leupp. From there, we took an unscheduled side trip on bumpy gravel(?) roads to Grand Falls of the Little Colorado. The falls were dry.

Next stop was Sunset Crater National Monument north of Flagstaff. A 1000-year-old cinder cone that affected indigenous people of the time and is reflected in their oral records. Due to time constraints, we skipped the connected site, Wupatki.

Then, it was east on I-40 to Meteor Crater - finally got to see it after having to bypass it in 1961, 2002 & 2006. Drove thru Winslow Arizona - did you know they have a "Standing on the Corner Park?"

Stopped at the HIE in Holbrook. Had dinner at a buffet with some really neat murals, inside & out. Drove old 66 & saw a Wigwam Motel, with a lot of old 50s cars parked around it.

Distance - 340 miles.

Wednesday, 5/2 - AM

2007-05-02T07:03:00.000-05:00

Today we leave Chinle & Canyon de Chelly for other sites & sights. After a hot breakfast, we'll head for the Hopi Mesas & hope to visit their museum. Pictures are limited on the Hopi reservation. Then, we'll visit Sunset Crater, a volcano north of Flagstaff and perhaps the Wupatki ruins. Another possible sid etrip is the great falls of the Little Colorado, depending on time & what we hear. Finally, we plan to stop at Meteor Crater, a place that we've always had to bypass because of time.

No time to post yesterday's pictures yet, but you can see our 2005 pictures of Canyon de Chelly

Tuesday, May 2 - PM

2007-05-01T21:33:00.000-05:00

Another very full day. After a hot breakfast at the Thunderbird Lodge (the HI is too high), we got ready for our trip to Spider Rock. Adam Teller, (a local Navajo with an anthropology degree) of Antelope House Tours picked us up in a brand new top-end Jeep at 9 and we were off to the canyon. Lots of pictures, some good stories, and a much better feel for life in the canyon. 5 hours later, we got back to the motel, downloaded my pictures, and headed back out - this time for a tour of the rim overlooks. This tour was rather damp, but we still took a lot of pictures and met some interesting vendors at the overlooks. Said our final goodbye to Spider Rock and came back (listning to KCNN, Navajo Radio) to find our parking place still there. Amazing.

On the email - our farmwatcher, George, sent a picture of the kittens, who are out of the nursery box and gallivanting across the kitchen. It will be interesting when we return.

Sorry, no pictures tonight. Maybe I'll get caught up tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 1 - AM

2007-05-01T09:23:00.000-05:00

We're waiting for our tour guide to arrive at 9 AM. Gave me time to process pictures from the last two days and get them posted. Yay!

Today, we take a Jeep tour up Canyon de Chelly (tse gi) to Spider Rock. Hope to hear lots of good stories. Will get back maybe 2 PM, then take a drive along the rim for more pictures. Should use up both batteries.

Motel is a Holday Inn. Towels aren't as nice as HIE, and restaurant is expensive. Nice room, and we can load the car thru a sliding door.

More tonight - and I hope lots and lots of pictures.

I see I didn't comment last night - we drove thru some pretty spectacular scenery to the Bisti Badlands, then to Farmington and across to Ship Rock. Lunch has a burger on frybread. Drove over a rutty road about 2 miles, halfway to the rock, and took lots of pictures. Stopped at the Red Rock Trading Post mentioned in many Hillerman novels, then went on to climb Lukachukai pass where we celebrated our 30th Anniversary on an overlook. Drove down the other side, stopped at Totsoh Trading post (see last year's comments from Phoenix) in Lukachukai, then on to Chinle. Here, we had dinner at the motel, expensive but it WAS our anniversary. A full day - 264 miles.

Monday 4/30 - AM

2007-04-30T06:43:00.000-05:00

Never got the pictures processed yesterday, and there's a good chanc I won't get today's done either. Today is our 30th Anniversary and we'll go out for a real dinner tonight - at Chinle AZ. The agenda today is I-40 to Thoroeau, a state road thru Crown Point (home of the rug auctions), the Bisti Wilderness to Farmington, then across to Ship Rock, south to Navaho Rt 33 to visit the actual Ship Rock, then thru Lukachukai Pass to Lukachukai Trading Post (a small world story last year) where Sandra hopes she'll find me an Anniversary present (I bought hers at Open Doot Thrift in Sedalia back in Feb), and then on to Chinle and Canyon de Chelly. Will there be lots of pictures? You bet. Will I have the time to post any? Ha! Tomorrow even more - we'll take our tour in Canyon de Chelly and thank Spider Woman for her Rock winning ribbons for me.

Oh, the motel. Wifi worked this AM in the room, great comfy beds, shower fine. Big room, lots of space.

Sunday, 4/29 - PM

2007-04-29T21:21:00.000-05:00

We're at the HIE in Grants NM, after a very busy day. I'm having some internet access problems, so may not get the pictures posted. This AM, we went to Petroglyphs National Monument just west of Albuquerque. We went there last year and froze our begonias off - it was a lot nicer today.

Next (after a short visit to the Sky City Casino) we took the Acoma Pueblo tour. That's the one on an isolated 370 ft mesa, home of outstanding pottery. Lots of pictures. Finally, we went to a couple of sites in El Malpais National Monument.

Only 165 miles today, but a full day anyway.

Sunday, 4/29 - AM

2007-04-29T08:20:00.000-05:00

Getting ready to head out of Albuquerque to Acoma & El Malpais. We're running pretty early so will stop at Petroglyphs National Monument. It was cold last time we were there. This motel is not up to what we consider HIE standards - shower not as good, short on washcloths, inconvenient ice machine. Location was convenient, though.

Tonight in Grants. Hope it's better.

As a reminder, we post a sample of the pictures each day at www.missouridaytrips.com/travel/trip07

Saturday 4/28 - PM

2007-04-28T22:35:00.000-05:00

Another great day! We first drove down Old 66 (now Central Ave) to the Albuquerque Museum of Art. We had 20+ minutes of AM sun for picture taking at the sculpture garden, the a tour of the various art - it's OK, the picture I liked best last November is no longer on display. Then it was a walk in the park across the road to the NM Museum of Natural History & Science. Dinosaurs, earthquakes, volcanos and the Chixulub impact. Neat!

Lunch at Tony Hillerman's favorite restaurant, the Frontier. Posole for me, enchilada for Sandra. Back west to the Pueblo Cultural Center, where iterpretation at the museum has been upgraded since our last trip. And more - Apache dancers were there to put on a show (yes, pictures). About 2:30 we left for Coronado State Monument, a pueblo site from 1300-1600. The ranger was from nearby Santa Ana Pueblo and we talked for a while, took some pictures. Then we headed back south to meet Madge & Larry for supper.

Tomorrow, we're off to Acoma.

Saturday 4/28 - AM

2007-04-28T07:50:00.000-05:00

Slept very well last night, so should be ready for a full day of museums today. Albuquerque Museum of Art, Museum of Science & Natural History, Pueblo Cultural Center, and maybe the geology museum at UNM if it's open Saturdays. Then maybe we'll do some shopping - we found some thrift shops along various streets. Or maybe we'll run up to a State Monument pueblo ruins in Bernalillo. It's certainly too windy to go to Petroglyphs National Monument (last year it was cold & windy, this year would be warm & windy). Also we're looking for a cheap price on pinon coffee. We'll likely take another drive down Central Ave (old Rt 66).

We were either lucky or smart yesterday - heard on the morning news that some people waited 2-3 hours to get into the All Nations Powwow - Wow! If you're ever considering attending it, plan to order your tickets in advance or get there early.

Friday 4/27 PM

2007-04-27T20:24:00.000-05:00

What a day! We started out after that very blah breakfast and headed for the University of New Mexico's Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. It concentrates on the early people of the Southwest, with a reproduction of a dig site at Chaco Canyon, then showed the stages of settlement of the SW.

Then, we headed for The Pit, as UNM's arena is called, for the All Nations Powwow. Saw more color and fancy work than you can imagine. The vendor area was a huge tent, with vndors, mostly Indian, selling about anything you can imagine in dancing gear, music, books, jewelry and more - all Indian, of course. Had an Indian Taco for lunch, then found a seat in the arena for the Grand Entry. Think of the grand entry at a rodeo lasting 45 minutes, with over 3,000 contestants dancing their way in!

We saw a lot of different types of dances in the next 3 hours, very athletic in some cases. I took about 90 pictures, and will post a few after a trip to the hot tub.

BW

Friday 4/27 AM

2007-04-27T09:01:00.000-05:00

Not entirely happy with this HIE - cramped room, breakfast with no hot dish, shower not as good. We were spoiled. And we're here for 3 nights.

Now to today's activities - we're going to the All Nations Pow Wow & the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. Pictures are allowed at both. Dinner will be in Old Town.

Bill

Thursday, 4/26, PM

2007-04-26T23:08:00.000-05:00

A long & busy day. Left Raton at 7:10 AM heading for Santa Fe. First stop was Las Vegas (NM, that is - no casinos), where we had a 'small world'moment - turns out that a manager at the C-store where we stopped for a comfort break knows Sandra's uncle!

Got to Santa Fe around 10:15 and emptied our pockets of quarters to pay the parking meter. Toured the Palace of the Governors, the Art Museum and around the Plaza. We ate at The Shed Cafe, where we sat at the same table as last year - blue corn tacos (smothered) with posole - that's where I took the Santa Fe Courtyard picture that won some contests for me last year (available at www.missouridaytrips.com, travel, trip 06). Good thing we didn't need gas - it was $3.19 at some Sanat Fe stations.

Took the Turquoise Trail down toward Albuquerque, stopping at 10,628 ft Sandia Crest - what a view. After checking into the motel, we met Madge & Larry Harrah (whom we met through her book about Blind Boone) for dinner at Garcia's. Scrumptious.

HIE Motel is nice, but it's not what the previous two were.

Thursday, 4/26 AM

2007-04-26T07:43:00.000-05:00

It's 29 at Raton this AM. It'll be in the 70s at Albuquerque when we get there this afternoon - it's a good day for the layered look. We'll see Santa Fe, walk around the Plaza, visit some museums, and eat some more good New Mexico cuisine. One stop will be the cafe where I took the prize-winning picture called "Santa Fe Courtyard" last year. Then it's the Turquoise Trail to Albuquerque, have dinner with Madge Harrah, who wrote the childrens' book about Blind Boone (& many other books), and her husband, and prepare for tomorrow (PowWow, museums, food!).

HIE breakfast today included mini-omeletes & sausage.

BW

Wednesday 4/25 - PM

2007-04-25T20:48:00.000-05:00

Wednesday evening. It was a cold & windy day. We left Garden City about 7:30 AM and drove into a headwind; mostly on US-160 which takes us to Springfield & near Branson (yes, Colorado has towns of the same names - on the same road!). Drove thru miles and miles without seeing anything human except the scattered ranch and abandoned house. Those few towns after Springfield had no facilities. After Branson, we went thru a pass into the Raton Volcano field and our first pictures.

First stop was Folsom NM, where we hoped to visit the local tiny museum with info about an important find - flint points embedded in 10,000 YO bison bones; previous to this find, most scientific opinion was that humans had only been in the Americas for 3,000 years. The museum was closed, but we did finally find something to eat - the Folsom Village Inn, Rstaurant, Bar & Dance Hall - we split a tasty but expensive BBQ sandwich.

Then it was on to Capulin Volcano. Ever tried to walk the rim of an 8,000 ft volcano in 30 mph winds? We didn't. Just took some pictures (see the website) and on to Raton.

Some comments on the HIE here - TP was pointed and had a gold seal. The desk called to make sure everything was OK. A significant evening snack in the breakfast area. A welcome package (yes, commercial giveaway stuff, but still there in our room). Menu book at the front desk. B&B folks - they are going after us!

Miles driven: 281 plus 15 local. Travel/sightseeing time 7:15

BW

Wednesday 4/25 - AM

2007-04-25T06:14:00.001-05:00

Seen along the road on Tuesday:
- Oil well pumps painted in all kinds of colors - green & orange, red & blue, even more.
- Sod house & dugout house interior - dirt floors!
- on KS 68 past Louisburg, a little house on an island in a pond - called Grumpy Al's Place
- On radio station out of Wichita, playing Leroy Van Dyke (Sedalia's own) - 1070 AM
- Lyons has lots of murals and celebrate Coronado searching for Quivara - Pueblo folks sure got him out of the way.
- Great Bend "Kiowa Kitchen Best Mexican Restaurant"

Gas - best place in central KS was Great Bend, $2.68/gal. It's back to $2.79 in Garden City. Must be the oil wells.

Added 2 pictures to the site. Also, I bought my lifetime "geezer pass" to National Parks - $10 for 62 & up, and I'm definitely there.

Breakfast at this HIE was excellent - we had a choice of B&G, bkfst burritos, hash browns, brand name cereals, milk, juices (several types), rolls, bagels, etc. Not B&B quality, but the motels are catching up. Also, each bed had 2 firm pillows & 2 soft pillows. The beds are triple-sheeted with a duvet. Spa & pool were open 24 hours. "Know the competition."

Today we head for Raton via Capulin Volcano.

Day 1 - Warrensburg to Garden City

2007-04-24T20:45:00.000-05:00

Got off at 6:00 AM, avoided Kansas City, and headed into Kansas. Gas price when we left was $2.55. Stopped for gas in McPherson KS ($2.81) and lunch at a McDs in Great Bend. At Larned, we stopped at the Santa Fe Trail Center - a neat little museum with trail history, a sod house and more (pictures posted). Then to Ft. Larned NHS where we toured the old fort and took lots of pictures. Then to Garden City, where we arrived at 4:35 PM. Dinner at Cattlemen's Cafe (where we've eaten in Sublette & Liberal on earlier trips), staying in a nice HI Express.

Total road mileage: 427. I'm TIRED! See selected pictures