Stuck in the Middle with You

When we road trip, we are usually sleeping in a different place each night. Throw in exhaustion from the previous day's activities on top of disorientation from only being semi-conscious, and it's almost guaranteed that I will narrowly miss bashing my face into a wall as I try to find my way to the bathroom in the dark without my glasses. Today I woke up in the middle of the night especially confused, thinking that we were home because the winds were howling outside just like the Santa Anas in Southern California. 

Hang on!

And they were still gusting at about 30 mph(!) this morning at Fort Larned National Historic Site when we arrived around 8:30AM. After getting our obligatory pic of the entrance sign, we drove in to the parking lot and walked about a quarter-mile to the visitor center. 

On the Prairie

Unit #182

After eating a quick breakfast in the hotel this morning, we checked out and headed south on US-69, arriving at Fort Scott National Historic Site just before 9:00AM. From the alert on their website, I knew that the park buildings were temporarily closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but it didn't occur to me that it also meant the visitor center would not be staffed. Oof. 🤦🏻‍♀️ 

A Journey of a Thousand Miles...

...begins with a single step.  -Lao Tzu

Or, in this case, a journey of *three* thousand miles begins with a single *park*!

In order to get to our last two stops in Independence, MO before closing time, we had to stick to a tight schedule today. So we said our goodbyes to my parents and were on the road by 7:45AM. 

An hour later, we arrived at Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield. Since we have been here many times before, this was just going to be a "stamp-and-run" stop. But because the visitor center wasn't open yet, we walked over for a selfie in front of the house while we waited.

Wagons Ho!

Our main purpose for this trip was to box up the last of R's family mementos and bring them back with us to CA. I guess we could have shipped most of the stuff, but how exactly do you pack antique samurai swords? That's not exactly something that we'd trust in a checked bag either... 🤔

So, since we had to drive cross-country, I was very excited to map out a route to visit several national park units on our one-way trek, especially because the ones in the middle of the U.S. require some intentional effort for us to get there. For the most part, we will be following the Santa Fe National Historic Trail from Kansas City, MO to Santa Fe, NM, with a few detours in Kansas over the next week. 

Head 'em up! Move 'em out!