From Little Rock we went to Oklahoma City and went to a nice City Park we had found on our last visit for our daily walk. The next morning we went to a nearby State Park and lake for our daily walk and in the afternoon we visited their cute little zoo. It is said that this zoo is one of the ten best for children in the country but I am not sure who votes as they are number 3 and the Bronx zoo number six.

 

In the morning we drove north on I35 into Kansas and went to the New Horizon factory in Junction City. When we arrived we lined up the trailer with the side of the shop where the water and electric was located and disconnected the truck. Horizons evidently leaves these hook ups active as people are continually coming to the factory for repairs. After unhooking I connected the electric line and we drove to the dam for our morning walk.The path a hard dirt surface for walking and biking was built and is maintained as a joint effort by the Army Corp of Engineers, Ft Riley and Junction City. The path with the dam at one end and Ft. Riley at the other is a little over 5 miles. We walk about 2 1/2 to 3 and then turn around. We only got to the Ft Riley end when we drove there and walked from that end. When we got back to the trailer I put some water into the fresh water tank so that we would have water for the shower, toilet and kitchen use. While the hose line was available it is not prudent to leave an active hose line connected when you expect the temperature to drop below freezing. The tank on the other hand is heated by our heating system. In our absence another trailer had pulled in so we spent a few minutes talking with them before going in for dinner and the night.

The next morning the parking lot, truck and trailer were covered with snow which was still lightly coming down. After talking to the repair crew and explaining our needs I hooked up the trailer and put it into the shop. While the workers repaired the housing for the fresh water tank we went to breakfast at the local Cracker Barrel. After breakfast we went to visit Ft Riley one of if not the oldest functioning fort in the country. General George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Cavalry had been stationed here. When the plains Indians had been subdued and many other forts were closed Ft Riley became the Calvary headquarters for the U.S. Army at the urgings of General Philip Sheridan. The fort has since been used as a training schools for cavalry and light artillery and as a training center for all the wars of the 20th Century. Many well know war heroes in addition to Custer have been stationed here including "Jeb" Stuart, R obert E. Lee, Terry Allen and George S. Patton. U. S. Olympic equestrian teams trained here and the fort has been the home of both the 1st and 24 th Infantry divisions. A self driving tour is available which passes many historical buildings including one that is similar to the house Custer lived in when he was here. The tour passes many monuments including one for "Wounded Knee" the last battle with the Sioux, some have called it a massacre rather then a battle as unarmed woman and children were slaughtered as well as the warriors. there is also a new monument to 9/11 and the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as a statue of an old Trooper on horseback and the grave of Chief, the last Calvary mount registered ito the U.S. government. The Trooper Statue sits outside two museum which we visited. The U. S. Calvary Museum and The Fort Riley Regimental Museum. the Calvary museum houses uniforms, guns and artifacts and tells the history of the horse Calvary, not mechanized. The regimental museum has pictures , along with uniforms and one or two video displays telling the history of the units stationed here and some of their their assignments. After our tour we went to the Ft Riley side of the path for our daily walk. when we got back to the factory we met with the owner who gave us a tour and showed us the newest models under construction.

It snowed again the next night and we spent the night in the trailer which was still in the shop. By the time we were done with our walk at the dam they were done with our trailer. By then the roads were clear and the sun was shining. We paid our bill and drove to Oklahoma City where we stopped for the night. I sort of liked the campground in Oklahoma City. It wasn't far from a nice park where we walked and it backed onto a Love's gas station and I was able to get free WIFI (wireless Internet) from the campsite. On our way out we stopped in a truck wash and got the road dirt off the truck and trailer. Kansas sands but doesn't salt their roads and both the truck and trailer where filthy.