March 14, 2010
This ride marks twenty-five years since I bought this Moto Guzzi California II. I would have liked to have made it a bit further west to the Cimarron Grasslands (being the destination of the first trip taken on this bike), but a late start on Saturday meant I'd be aiming for the Wagon Bed Springs crossing of the Santa Fe Trail (on the Cimarron River).
Kansas
Greensburg, Kansas. What's missing, of course, are trees.
They're all gone. This building (the courthouse), the grain elevator,
and several buildings on the east edge of town are all that stood after the
tornado passed through.
This motel is on the east side of town, so it was not (much) damaged (although you'll notice the new roof). The motels on the west side of town were scrubbed completely away.
Woods, Kansas. I don't know how big the town of Woods ever was, but this building and a few houses are all that remain.
Center-pivot irrigation is pretty common in this part of Kansas.
Wagon Bed Springs. This was a well-known reliable watering spot on the Santa Fe Trail (Cimarron Cutoff). These days, the extensive use of center-pivot irrigation (as seen above) pumping water from the aquifer has reduced or eliminated the flow.
Highway 25 crosses the Cimarron River a couple of miles downstream from the spring.
This time of year, you wouldn't expect to see any water in the river bed.
Lakin, Kansas.
Cimarron, Kansas.
Cattle feedlots are very common for many miles around Dodge City.
It's a bit worn and faded after twenty-five years (and 298,000 miles), but it still looks good and runs well.
Ardell, Kansas.
A large pile of milo waiting to be hauled away.
