On Thursday, we travelled from Greensburg, Kansas to LaJunta, Colorado. We made three stops on the way.

Stop number one was the Dalton Gang Hideout in Meade, KS. Apparently there were three Dalton brothers who were outlaws: Bob, Grat, and Emmett. They built an underground tunnel through which they could escape when the authorities came looking for them. We walked through the underground tunnel which went from the house to a barn down below on a hillside, which was built half underground on the side of the hill. There is a museum in the loft of the barn where there was some authentic western memorabilia as well as information on the Dalton Gang and their family.

 

Stop number two was Dorothy’s House and the Land of Oz in Liberal, KS. The name of the street the house is located on is Yellow Brick Road. Really, not kidding. GPS said to turn right on Yellow Brick Road. (It did not say to follow the Yellow Brick Road, but we figure that out on our own.) 

We visited a replica of Dorothy’s House from the movie The Wizard of Oz. The actual house that was used in the movie was a miniature model. They hung it from the ceiling by a string and swung it around during the tornado scene. A life size house was built here to look exactly like the miniature house used in the movie.

There was also a building that housed the Land of Oz display. We took an interactive guided tour. The tour guide was dressed like Dorothy and spoke in the first person as she told of her harrowing adventure during the tornado, and her journey to see the wizard in the land of Oz. She was probably a very inexperienced tour guide, as she kept repeating things, forgot some things, and almost fell over when she clicked her heels three times. “Dorothy” led us down the “yellow brick road” and occasionally stepped out of character to share with us some tidbits about the making of the movie. For example, the actresses that played the parts of the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch were totally out of character for their parts. “Dorothy” told us that the lady who played the wicked witch was actually the nicest person on the set, and the lady who played Glinda, the good witch was very mean and yelled at everyone a lot. She also told us that Judy Garland had tried out for the part of Dorothy on Broadway, where the show was playing while the filming of the movie began, but was told she wasn’t pretty enough for the part. Then she ended up with the part in the movie.

 

  

After our tour, we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the shade under the trees outside Dorothy’s house. Even in the shade, though, it was very hot, as temperatures on Thursday reached 108.

Stop number three was the Historic Adobe Museum in Ulysses, KS. They call it the Historic Adobe Museum because it is constructed of adobe blocks, not because it gives a history of adobe. The story tells the history of life on the high plains of Kansas, with many murals and exhibits of Indians, buffalo, stage coaches, and all things western. There is also an old hotel next door which was built in 1887. The hotel had period furnishings and it was interesting to see what hotels looked like in those days. (I think our camper is more luxurious!). There was also a one-room schoolhouse which is actually used by some of the local schools for special classes during the school year.

 

hotel

One of the displays that we found interesting was the decade-by-decade panorama of life in the 20s, 30s, 40s, etc. into the 2000s. It was interesting to see how cars changed over the years. The very first display was from 1909 when the first cars were built. The interesting thing about the display was not the car, but the rules for pedestrians. Because cars were so new, there were certain rules that pedestrians were expected to abide by. Well, you might think, using some common sense, these would be rules like: look both ways before you cross the street, etc. Well, not exactly. Here are the “Auto Rules for Pedestrians” from 1909:

Rule #1: Pedestrians crossing boulevards at night shall wear a white light in front and a red light in the rear.

Rule #2: Pedestrians must, when an inexperienced automobile driver is made nervous by a pedestrian, hide behind a tree until the automobile has passed. (If this were still a rule today, everyone would be jumping behind trees when they see me coming down the road in the truck pulling the camper!).

Rule #3: Pedestrians shall not, in dodging automobiles, run more than twenty miles an hour (did they wear speedometers?)

Rule #4: Pedestrians living at the end of the year, and not permanently disabled by an automobile, should celebrate their good luck by staying home and enjoying a good cigar. (Is that how New Year’s Eve celebrations got started?!)

There was also a display of the different types of telephones used over the years. There was a rotary phone that reminded us of Joe’s parents’ phone, which they had well into the 2000s. We eventually bought them a push-button upgrade phone, but we discovered that they kept replacing it with their well-loved rotary phone after we would leave.

 

After we left the Adobe Historical Museum, we drove west, where we said goodbye to Kansas and drove into southeastern Colorado. The scenery here, although not yet that of the Rocky Mountains, is beautiful in its own way: high desert landscapes, craggy peaks, and flat-topped mesas. We arrived at our campground in LaJunta where we will be for two nights. It is so nice to set up the camper, knowing that we do not have to take it down again in the morning. It takes us about an hour to set it up and another hour in the morning to take it down. I am learning new terms that I never thought I’d need to know in life, such as chock blocks, stabilizer bars, jack stabilizers, elevated jack blocks, electric tongue jack, weight distribution hitch, electrified slide (not a dance), water pump switch, adjustable water pressure regulator, two-stage water filter, right elbow water connector, a stinky slinky (don’t ask, but it has to do with the sewer line), gray water tanks, black water tank, fresh water tank, 50 amp/30amp/20 amp electricity options, voltage verification check, lead-acid batteries, etc.

After we set up Thursday night, Joe commented that he would like to get some authentic Mexican food. We just happened to notice a place on our way to the campground, so we drove back down the road a couple of miles and stopped for some really good tacos, enchiladas, and burritos at Mauricio’s Taco Shop. Not only the food, but the place was very authentic. Here are some photos: