June 22

Kansas

We looked for the most direct route between Santa Fe and Lincoln, Nebraska, and decided on US 56 from Springer, NM through the Oklahoma panhandle and through Kansas. turns out we have been following the Santa Fe Trail most of the way.

As soon as we crossed into Oklahoma we saw them: huge, lumbering thunderstorms. We spent the rest of the day's drive avoiding hail, high winds, torrential rains, and tornadoes on either side of us, finally ending up last night in Dodge City, Kansas.

Today, we continued our trip through Kansas and north into Nebraska, stopping along the way to take in bits of history, including a visit to Fort Larned, Kansas. Fort Larned was established to protect the Santa Fe Trail from the locals, who, understandably, were pretty upset about all the riffraff coming into their country along the Trail. the Fort is pretty well preserved, including an acumulation of graffiti on the soft sandstone walls.
At the fort we met a couple from Tasmania who are biking the Transamerica trail from Oregon to Virginia. They average around 80 miles per day, and have encountered all kinds of weather, including the storms we drove through, as well as 100+ degree heat and 4 feet of snow.