Just one hour of driving today gave us a nice leisurely morning at the little Grain Bin.

These stairs gave 0% wiggle room for error!

It was really a cool AirBnB! They maximized every inch of space and make the most of everything. These blue chairs come together to make single bed.

It was a little tight with the 4 of us in here (especially since the boys have become man-child sized lately), but it was on only one night, and know we can say we slept in a grain bin … plus not a bad view for a cup of coffee especially when the chickens come to check out the new people.

We said goodbye to the Little Grain Bin Inn and headed off to Dodge City, formerly know as the wickedest little city in the world. Along the way, (thankfully the way was only an hour or so today), we drove through a lot of little towns with old school architecture.

It is hard to explain how flat it is out here – you can see for miles and miles.

After our 6+ hour driving days, this day was a breeze. Before we knew it, we were in Dodge City!

I had high hopes about seeing an old western town, cowboys in a gunfight, and Mrs. Kitty from Gunsmoke in Dodge City. We could see the outlines of the buildings and stopped in the Visitor’s Center to see how best to see everything. Turns out, the “old timey” town part is now gated inside the Old Boot Museum, so to see the gunfights and cowboys, we would have to each pay the $18 admission fee. We’re not $72 into Cowboy history, so we placed our pin in the map, said hello to Marshall Matt Dillion, climbed in the train, and walked around the City for a bit.

Leo challenged Marshall Matt Dillion to a game of Shadow boxing, but we’re not sure who won 🤣

Unfortunately, nothing else was very cowboy-ee in Dodge City, but we did find the first Teacher Hall of Fame in the United States.

We made our way over to the Dodge City Municipal Park, and found a pop-up Mom’s Cafe.

And guess what was right beside the park, the Long Branch Lagoon.

For almost the cost of one of us going to the Boot Museum, we all got into the Long Branch Lagoon, but we all didn’t get wet… wanna guess who opted for a quiet shady spot 😉

Someone may have gotten the fingers stuck for a minute in the tables…

We were really impressed with this little water park. It was clean, plenty of seating and the people were really nice. We didn’t see many families that didn’t inclde a mom and a dad at the waterpark.

Several hours later, waterlogged and tired, we left the Long Branch Lagoon, and checked in at our Next Airbnb, Grandma Holt’s House. This house was awesome. It was literally like going back in time and staying at your grandma’s house. You instantly felt at home. The furniture was comfortable but had a grandma feel – even had a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Holt on the table.

Seriously, the only way it could have been more “grandma” is if there were a candy dish on the coffee table with that really hard candy that all stuck together that every grandma kept out for company 🤣

We headed out to the local grocery store, Dillon’s, and came home to start the washng machine to get caught up on a week’s worth of laundry. As the washer and dryer ran, we decided to fully commit to the Grandma Holt experience, and go with a fried chicken dinner!

Bellies full and dishes washed, we continued with the Grandma experience, and almost feel asleep on the couch watching The Rifleman. 🤣

(which is why this post is done today instead of last night)

Hallelujah! We woke up to beautiful skies and sunshine so Toadstool Geological Park was a go… as soon as we could get these boys up and moving. Thankfully the Airbnb owner left us juice and homemade rhubarb scones, so we made coffee and had a nice breakfast before we packed up for another reeeaaallllyyy long driving day.

Once we packed the car with our bags and cooler, off we went to the Oglala National Grasslands. It was a beautiful drive with meadows that looked like a page from Little House on the Prairie. The Grasslands began to give way to sand and stone… we were nearing Toadstool Geological Park

Toadstool Geological is a lot like a Mini-Badlands National Park. We decided to do the interactive trail, since we were a little short of time trying to squeeze everything in today due to the rain. It was a beautiful hike and the temperature was perfect. Mike and I hiked, and the boys climbed over and on any available surface.

Even worked on a few optical illusion pics

We left Toadstool and headed to Fort Robinson. Fort Robinson has been used repeatedly by the US Government to detain folks. It was where Crazy Horse surrendered and then later died during of revolt against the leaders of Uniter States. The Fort later housed German prisoners of war during World War II. Since then, the Fort is used like destination for families in the summer and holidays.

We left Fort Robinson, and head for Carhenge. What is Carhenge? Exactly what it sounds like… Stonehenge made out of cars 🤣

It’s pretty weird to be driving along near Alliance, NE and then BAM! Painted cars buried in the ground 🤣🤷🏼‍♀️ but what better Roadside Attraction?!?

The boys wanted this picture of TowMater, and of course a dinosaur skeleton. And I thought the fish made from car parts was pretty cool.

Souvenir ornament purchased and pin placed in the map for Climax, NC,

We said goodbye to Carhenge and headed back into the town of Alliance for a little restocking (2nd loaf of bread and another pound of turkey). The Alliance Safeway must not get a lot of visitors before I felt like people were all staring like a telepathic message we sent out “new person in town” 🤣🤣 Anyway restocked and ready, Mom’s Cafe opened on the journey to Ness City, Kansas.

We have 5 hours ahead of us and initially, it seemed like a beautiful day for a drive…

We made it back into Kansas…

And then, the rains moved in…

The thunderstorms out here are no joke. Wind gusts up to 70mph and just sheets of rain with hail the size of quarters!

As we got to the end of the storm, the clouds were crazy. They looked like something out of a movie or the apocalypse

And then to watch it lighten as the storms would clear…

I have a whole new appreciation for the movie Twister now 🌪️

With the storms and threats of more, we decided to grab a pizza from Pizza Plus in Ness City and take back to our Airbnb for dinner. Ness City is small town about 70 miles north of Dodge City.

Pizza in hand we headed to our Airbnb – a renovated grain Silo! And of course, another dirt road…

We didn’t get many outside pictures due to storm but definitely will tomorrow. The inside was really cool. Almost like a camper with every bit of space maximized

We didn’t get any photos upstairs because once the rain started hitting the tin roof, the Browns were snoozing… which is also why Friday’s post isn’t posted until Saturday morning 🤣) Once we are up and going, it’s a short one hour drive to Dodge City! 🤠