Getting out of Dodge

We woke early and had an excellent breakfast at the Quality Inn, including biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, along with normal offerings typically available at motel breakfasts.

Sign in Galena along Rt. 66

Leaving Joplin, we picked up Rt 66 through Galena, Kansas. Several interesting Rt 66 scenes in and around Galena recalled the days before interstates, when Rt. 66 was an important byway for cross country travel. Little of Rt. 66 remains today, so we were happy to experience the route.

At Riverton, Kansas, we picked up US 400, which would ultimately take us across the state and well into Colorado. In many spots US 400 is a nice, limited access four lane road, and in other areas, it is a well maintained two lane highway.

We stopped at a Walmart west of Wichita for a stretch break, while we picked up salads for lunch and ice for the cooler. We stopped at a rest stop at Greensburg, Kansas, for lunch. A historical marker described the stagecoach stops in the area. We enjoyed our salads and the leftover Fazoli’s breadsticks. Later we found out the town is the home to the world’s largest hand dug well which is 32 feet in diameter and 109 feet deep.

Kinetic art of M.T. Liggett

An interesting stop just west of Mullinville, Kansas, is the kinetic art of M. T. Liggett. This quarter mile stretch of US 400 has hundreds of sculptures, many with social or political messages. Mr. Liggett, a self-professed curmudgeon, poked fun at politicians of both parties as well as societal trends.

Our next stop was Dodge City, where we spent some time walking around the old part of town. Most of the buildings in the old part of town date to the 1870s. This would have been after the setting for Gunsmoke, but Dodge City was still wild at that time.

Marshal Dillon running Steve out of Dodge

We found the visitors center, where the helpful worker provided a lot of information and a walking tour map. We bought and sent post cards from the visitor center. The attendant gave us poker playing cards that were used at the Boot Hill Casino and hand sanitizer bottles from the local Boot Hill Distillery. We walked around town, finding various statues, sidewalk plaques and murals that discussed the town’s real and television celebrities. A reconstructed Dodge City, behind the Boot Hill Museum, portrays the town as it looked on the Gunsmoke television series.

After taking some pictures, we got underway again on US 400 following a northern leg of the Santa Fe Trail. The Cimarron Trail crossed the Santa Fe Trail near Dodge City. West of Cimarron is a National Park roadside stop for Charlie’s Ruts, a place where ruts from wagons on the Santa Fe Trail can be seen to this day. A simple white gate and mailbox mark the spot where Charlie Bentrup, who bought the land in the early 1900s, found ruts where wagons crossed the swales. Unlike what is shown in popular culture, the wagons traveled four abreast, where possible, making it easier to defend themselves if attacked. Newly installed metal artwork showed wagons and riders.

We stopped at Lamar, Colorado, for dinner at McDonalds. US 400 ends and US 50 begins in eastern Colorado. We enjoyed US 400 taking it for most of its 481-mile length. We took US 50 to Pueblo, CO, and found a Days Inn near I-25 northbound, that we would be traveling on Friday.