Yoder, Ks (Hutchinson), June 15-17, 2012

With wanting to see a museum in Wichita and not being able to find an RV park there we liked, we ended up staying in Yoder, about 40 miles away.  Nice RV Park called the Hitchin Post for $20/night, full 50 amp hookup. 

The museum in Wichita that was a must see for me was the Museum of World Treasures.

Here I am touching an actual fossil of a Triceratops, something not everyone gets to do.

Here is IVAN,a T-Rex whose skeleton is 60% complete, he was just found in 2005 in North Dakota.  It is awesome to see the actual fossil and not a cast.

This museum has a little bit of lots of things. Mummies, shrunken heads, signatures of all the presidents (JFK’s handwriting was impossible to read), pitch fork from Wizard of Oz, plus lots of other items,

 

 

 

 

 

including the signature of Marilyn Monroe (on her neck).

 

 

 

 

Plus, we had an opportunity to visit with the Founder, Dr. Jon Kardatzke.  He even showed us his first antiquity item he ever purchased, a coin from Jerusalem, it was in a very worn plastic case in his pocket.  Below is our photo with the Founder with Ivan in the background.

Sunday we visited the Underground Salt Mine in nearby Hutchinson, KS.  Amazing, is the best word to use.

We were outfitted with hard hats and emergency breathers (black strap with pouch at bottom).

First we descended down 650’, then viewed various displays with an opportunity to take a train and tram ride.

Plus we were given the chance to collect our own salt from a large pile.

This two thumbed glove was found from when it was used in the 50’s.  The miners would use the glove on one hand until the thumb wore through, then move the glove to the other hand and use the other thumb until it wore out.

An underground storage company now uses 88 of the underground rooms for document storage.  Medical records, Hollywood films, county and state records are some examples of the types of records kept below.

They reassure their clients with a guarantee shown above.

Certainly a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Tomorrow we head on down the road to Bartlesville, OK. 

Lindsborg, KS, June 13-14, 2012

After getting parked and set up at the Coronado Motel and RV Park in Lindsborg, ($22/night for full hookups, we had 30 amp because the 50 amp did not work), we headed out of town a short ways to see the Hoglund Dugout.
It was built in the late 1860’s and was home for at least two years while Gustaf was building a larger home.

The photos from the above Hoglund Dugout link show more stones including an entry arch.  Sightseers have made their mark.

We enjoyed visiting an operating roller mill where with many sifting processes would provide white flour, a much wanted product in the early 1900’s.  Ironically, now, it is the whole wheat product wanted for a healthy diet.

Here are a few photos of the inside.



Once a year, the switches are flipped and the mill rumbles to life and turns the whole wheat grain into the lovely white flour.  When we asked, we were told it only took 4-6 fellows to keep the mill operating.

This storm did NOT miss us, it rained with lighting and thunder for over three hours with 2.5 inches of rain resulting.  The gray X in the middle is Lindsborg KS.

This morning found this statue in the local cemetery.  Beautiful!

Then it was time to move a short distance down the road to Yoder, KS.  But when we tried to leave we couldn’t, the rain from last night made our campsite a quagmire.

Only the driver’s side rear duals were stuck up to the rims.  We tried what boards we had, but no go.
So a call to CoachNet resulted in a wrecker being dispatched to winch us out.

Soon the wrecker’s winch was pulling us forward and out of the mud.

Finally out of the muck!

Bob was one happy fellow!!
We were thankful the park host got out a hose and cleaned off our boards and also the tires, thanks Major.
Before…

After…

Tonight we are safely snuggled into our site at the Hitchin Post RV Park in Yoder, KS with sunny skies and no storms on the radar. $20/night for 50 amp full hookup.

Concordia, KS, June 11-12, 2012

With several points of interest to see in Concordia, we were up and at it early.  The Orphan Train Museum was our first stop.

Many displays and many stories, some good and some not. 

Before the children were sent on the train, they were pre-assigned to a couple in the destination city and given a number.  Here is a baby bonnet with the number 25 sewed on.

Our next visit was the Brown Grand Theater.  Beautifully restored a few years ago, but with recently discovered structural issues in the stage area, they can now only show movies until it is repaired.

While at the theater, we were asked if we had toured the nearby WWII POW camp, we told them not yet.  One of the folks at the theater told us we could meet him after lunch and he would give us a personal tour.

We had a wonderful tour led by Paul.

Later in town we stopped to see this floating rock, yes it weighs 1800 pounds, yet it floats and rotates on water.

Tomorrow we head to Lindsborg, KS.

Ellis, KS, June 8-10, 2012

I wanted to see the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, KS, but the RV parks in the Hays area did not have good reviews on the RV Park Reviews website, so Bob found a small city park in Ellis, about 10 miles away, that had great reviews, so that is where we stayed. 

Water and electric (50 amp) for $15/night, this little gem is called Lakeside Campground.  Even with the huge trees, we were able to get online with our Wingard (TV) and Motosat (internet) satellites. 

We had more fun watching the flotilla of geese in front of the RV in the lake, usually late afternoon they would appear.

And, they would just hang out watching us.

Our weekend here coincided with Ellis’ Riverfest Celebration. First up was their parade.

Then a food court.  We had some great BBQ pork and beef sandwiches plus a funnel cake.

Then the car show including this 1956 Ford Crown Victoria sporting its best were among the 25 cars on display.  What you can’t see in the photo is the metallic purple flames on the trunk and rear fenders.

Sunday was my day to visit the Sternberg Museum of Natural History (Fort Hays State University).

All I can say is it was awesome.  They had a special display of the giant African dinosaurs.  They are different than the ones here in North America.

Below is a photo of the skull of a Nigersaurus.

Below is probably the most photographed fossil.  It is a fish within a fish.  The 14 foot Ziphactinus ate the 6 foot Gillicus and then died before digesting its final meal.

Below is a photo of this fossil in the field where it was cleaned.

“Above: The fossilized remains of these fish, especially skull fragments and vertebrae, are fairly common in the Smoky Hill Chalk. Sometimes, the skeletons are very complete, such as this famous fossil of a "fish-within-a-fish" excavated by George F. Sternberg in 1952 (George is on the far left in the picture). This specimen is about 13 feet long and is on permanent display in the Sternberg Museum in Hays, Kansas. The six foot long, 'last' meal' is a related species of ichthyodectid fish called Gillicus arcuatus.”

Here is a close-up of the fossil showing the smaller fish within.

No dinosaur museum would be complete with the obligatory T-Rex!

Tomorrow off to Concordia, KS.

For anyone travelling in Kansas, check out this website, Kansas RV & Camping.  We picked up a 40 page booklet which lists the RV parks where you can stay in Kansas, many of which are not listed anywhere else.  The booklet and the website list the same parks.  The booklet also has a map with the parks marked and some interesting points of interest in each area.