Day Fourteen

Oh, what a night!

Cannot believe the night we had. Must be the most disturbed night's sleep that we've ever had. Firstly the air con doesn't seem to work properly. The room was just about cool enough but the system does not get it anywhere near the temperature you want. When it does come on, it makes an absolute racket. Then the road noise is loud as there is an old crappy window and a wooden door out onto the balcony, neither of which block any sound.

If that wasn't bad enough, at precisely 4am a train went by and as there is a level crossing across the street it blew its horn constantly as it approached. Check out yesterday's video to see how loud that it is. Another train went by later on.

At 6am the bloke next door decided to have a natter as loud as he possibly could. Plus a load of motorcycles started up early and revved about a bit.

All in all, a bit of a sleeping disaster. Needless to say our efforts to get up early, fell by the wayside.

When we did get up, we headed down to breakfast, which turned out to be fairly poor as well. Just a real lack of anything.

We won't be leaving positive feedback on Tripadvisor.

Eventually, we were ready to go out.

First stop was the Sante Fe trail. We headed about seven miles west of Dodge. Back in the day the trail passed by here, lots of people transporting stuff in wagons, etc. What is now there is the marks in the ground left by all the wagon wheels over the years. These are called wagon ruts.

http://www.nps.gov/safe/learn/historyculture/exhibits_dodge_city_ruts.htm

There are a few boards at the site telling you about things. We wandered along the constructed path to see the ruts. You can just about make them out, but the signage isn't that helpful as it doesn't actually show you where the are. When you look on Google earth, they are easily visible, but from the ground it is much harder to see.



Rut the hell?

The ruts can be seen right in the middle of the above picture, on the far greener hill. You might have to click on it to see it better.

We stayed for a bit before heading back to Dodge.

Next stop was the Boot Hill Museum http://www.boothill.org/.

The museum is built next to the original Dodge City Boot Hill cemetery, hence the name. Cemeteries got the name Boot Hill as they normally housed people who had died with their boots on, either having been murdered or hanged, rather than having a natural death.

The museum had exhibits about the area, including the Native Americans who were here before the Westerners turned up. We spent time looking at everything. Saw a buffalo.

Good bison

Next we headed out to the reconstruction of Front Street from circa the 1870s to watch this.

It was fairly enjoyable, although at times they did seem to get a little confused with what was going on. We had to sit in the sun to watch. It was midday, hence it was very hot. I could feel the sweat dripping as we watched. Ann took some action shots.

Good shooting, Tex

When the show finished we headed across the street into the buildings. Each one is laid out like the original would have been. Got a drink and a cookie in the café. Cooled off. Ann had sarsaparilla.

Henry Miller was as busy as a fizzy sarsaparilla

Next, Ann made go next door against my will. Then she made me do something else against my will. This picture is the result.

Oh dear

When we had finished looking around, we headed back to the car. We then did a bit of a drive around town having a general nose about.

For lunch we decided to go here.

https://www.sonicdrivein.com/

We didn't  know how it worked so we just drove in! Pressed a button. Ordered some food. Waited. Didn't know what happened next. We presumed that someone would bring our food out and take payment, but we weren't sure. As time passed we started to get nervous that we had got it all wrong, but eventually our fears were relieved when someone turned up with our food. We ate it, it was good.

Headed back to the hotel for a while, before we headed out later on.

Nipped to the IHOP next door for a quick dinner, before we headed to our main event, the Dodge City Round Up Rodeo.

We'd been to a rodeo before in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, during our first trip five years ago. But this was Dodge, cowtown, the home of the wild frontier. This rodeo seemed much bigger. We arrived about 15 minutes before it started. Got tickets and got in.

Some woman sang the Star Spangled Banner and then it was action stations.

First up was the bare back riding.

Next was the steer wrestling.

Team roping followed.

Then the tie down roping.

Saddle bronc riding. Pretty much the same as the bare back riding, so won't show that.

Then the women's barrel racing.

Then finally, the big tamale, bull riding.

It was a fabulous night. We both immensely enjoyed it. Glad we made the effort to go again. Once if was over we headed back, stopping off at the garage opposite the hotel to get some supplies.

It's been a really good day, considering how badly it started. Hoping for a quieter night tonight!

Buffalo Seen - 1

Moose watch - Low

States Visited - 11