On Safari!

Sunday, July 23. Ft. Scott, KS to Chanute, KS.

As we left Ft. Scott this morning, we got a clearer picture of this southern-midwest town. My first impression of the town when we arrived yesterday was that this was a cowboy's town. The (historic) downtown area dates from around 1888. Many of the town's streets are brick, even beyond the main street in town. This is a town that is holding its' own; the buildings are well-kept and painted. The building trimmings aren't ornate, but there is quite a bit of detailed woodwork around the eaves of each building. One building's awnings were wooden slats that had been curved to form a graceful, sloping shape. The railroad tracks run near the downtown district, but the MK&T trains have long since ceased stopping in Ft. Scott. There are plenty of trains still running through the town, tho. We heard their whistles throughout the evening.

Once you're clear of the downtown district and the residential areas that surround it, the Ft. Scott Community College and a large hospital and medical complex are the last signs of city life to be seen for nearly 20 miles.

This area of Kansas is rocky, hilly (I was as surprised as you) and not suitable for corn or other grain fields. Beef grows pretty well here, though, particularly Angus Beef. And if you have cattle, you need horses. We saw a fair number of both on today's ride.

The hills we rode today are long, slow inclines, although we did climb a couple that might be classified as foothills. Today's weather was about as perfect as you could ask for--temps in the 80's, blue skies dotted with puffy white clouds, and a cool NW breeze blowing 5-10mph. It felt like Atlanta in November. We rode for about 30 miles without finding a town, village or c-store, but since it's Sunday there's no telling if anything would have been open, anyway. Matthew spotted a gravel drive and some tree shade, so we stopped there for our customary trailside snack of PayDay bars. I wandered off to find a "necessary" spot, and ended up with some grass burrs in my shorts. (Have I mentioned how envious I am of men's plumbing?)

A small, mixed breed dog found us while we sat--he was very meek and Matthew befriended him immediately. I don't know where he could have come from, and how he found us so quickly. Dogs seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to sensing bicycles, though. (Or maybe we do smell that strong)

Back on the road again, Chanute was only about 20 miles away, and the riding was glorious. The ups and downs kept me from getting bored, and I think that the sight of us kept the cows and horses from getting bored. We almost got a couple of horses to run with us, but both times they didn't quite take the bait. A few miles before Chanute, we saw a large sign advertising the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum, located in Chanute. Thinking that a safari museum in the middle of Kansas was going to be a pretty cheesy affair, I started to wonder what we'd find in town.

We pulled into Chanute and made a left at the light, following directions we'd seen on two motel billboards. As we made the turn, I saw the Public Library and Safari Museum, both installed in the restored (historic) railroad depot.

Just after the turn, we came on the Safari Brewing Company and the Tiogo Suites Hotel. We stopped in front and went inside to check it out.

The hotel is one of the first fireproof hotels to be built in the US, in 1929. After some extensive restoration a few years ago, the hotel is now open again. The Safari Brewing Company is located off the lobby of the hotel, brewing up 12 original beers with names like Safari Wheat, Cabeza de Vaca, Crocodile Razz, Bora Bora Brown and Serengeti Stout. Mugs, Pints, Frosted Fishbowls, Giraffes (1/2 yard) and Growlers are served up, even on Sundays. The hotel has 12 rooms, all named for famous Kansans such as Buster Keaton, Vivian Vance, Osa Johnson and ZaSu Pitts (We are staying in the Louise Brooks room.)

And since the Safari Museum was open (and nothing else in town is) we dropped over for a visit.

Martin and Osa Johnson were adventure and film pioneers. Both from Kansas (Osa was born and raised in Chanute), this pair traveled to remote parts of Africa and the South Pacific from 1917 to 1937, inventing the genre of wildlife documentary films as they went. Neither of them had any training, unless you count Martin's stint as a cook aboard Jack London's ship "The Snark" when he was 23. Osa married Martin when she was 16, and had not been 40 miles away from Chanute prior to that! It's a fascinating story, and the museum has some wonderful artifacts from the Johnson's lives as well as from various parts of Africa. Osa and Martin filmed parts of Africa that no longer exist, and their photos and films have been used by scholars and researchers for many years. The museum trip was a great diversion in an unexpected spot.

For the next week, temperatures are expected to climb into the 90's again, so we'll try to get early starts to beat the heat. Tomorrow's destination is Eureka--can't wait to see what we'll find there.