This was a joint District Conference and the Mexicans really knew how to throw a party! Open bar on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening events...the basics of Tecate, Tecate Light, Red & White Wine, Whiskey & Tequila.

Just before Socorro is Box Canyon, a BLM site that Rozalyn found as they are driving from Calgary to London, ON (just a little bit bored maybe!) We decided to check it out but it is not likely a place we would stay at as it is mainly a large parking lot for the rock climbers that practice here. But is was a nice stop to see it anyways.

And then we made it to Socorro, NM.  Looks to be a bit of a quirky town with its connection to UFO sightings.

As we drove from Socorro, we took a moment (about an hour) to stop at the Abo Ruins, a National Monument before we stopped for breakfast.

This is another Spanish Mission (of which there are a few in the area) from the late 1600's. It really is surprising to us how much the Spanish had influence here in North America. 

And then it was off to have a late breakfast at the Alpine Alley Cafe. Luckily we got in there before the motorcyclists arrived.  Service was quick, food was slow to arrive, food was delicious.  The atmosphere and everything about this place was just perfect.  You cannot be in a hurry to enjoy this lifestyle!

Spending the next 2 nights here at Ute Lake State Park - $18.00 a night for Electric & Water.  It's windy here during the day but luckily the air is warm.

Found a free spot to spend a few nights on IOverlander...Ford County Lake State Park.  Most of the campsites are not level and were recently sprayed for weed control but it is quiet. Some locals drive through this area, maybe to fish as this is a stocked lake and there is a day use area as well.

15 - Exploring Dodge City

Spent the afternoon doing a walking tour of historic downtown Dodge City.  They are busy doing a lot of road construction trying to beautify the area....should look great when they are done.

Some of the wall murals we saw in the downtown area.

Spent the night at a Harvest Host location and toured the salt mine that the city is well known for.  The Hutchinson Salt Co (originally the Carey Salt Co)  is still active today, gathering Rock Salt that is used mainly for de-icing roads in the winter and some commercial applications...like ice cream making and seasoning cattle feed and salt licks. We did not tour the actual mining part as that is off limits to the general public.  The underground mine is 650 ft below ground and about 2.5 miles by 4 miles in area located on the east side of town.

After visiting the museum we went to downtown Hutchinson to see what we could see.

There was a nice display in Rotary Park and the Rotary Club of Wichita was the 30th club in the world.

After touring a bit of the downtown, we drove back to Kansas City, KS to have dinner and enjoy a baseball game, The Kansas City Monarchs playing in the American Association of Professional Baseball (not affiliated with MLB) at Legends Field.

2024 is the 21st season of pro baseball in Kansas City, Kansas. That story begins in 2003, when the organization now dubbed the Monarchs moved to the Kansas City Kansas and called themselves the Kansas City T-Bones. That name stuck for 17 seasons, and the T-Bones won two league titles during that time in 2008 and 2018.

The T-Bones name stuck around until the pandemic, which put baseball on hold in Kansas City and across the country. During that time the team re-branded as the Kansas City Monarchs, taking the field for the first time with their new name in 2021.

The modern Monarchs are the reigning champions of the American Association of Professional Baseball, having won two league championships in 2021 and 2023. They finished with the league’s best regular-season record in 2021, 2022 and 2023, the first time in league history the same team had the best record in the league three seasons in a row...www.MonarchsBaseball.com

A short drive from the museum is the Truman House and Truman's boyhood home.

After spending almost 3 hours at the museum, it was time for lunch and we found that at the Court House Exchange.  

Ended our day in the small town of Sullivan, MO.  Stayed a night at Muddy Banks Brewing.  It was a quiet night once the Cicadas stopped their electrical buzzing!

After getting set up, we headed to downtown to check out the Soulard Farmers Market.  Looks like at one time, this was a popular place but now it is sparsely attended as there are not many vendors on site. Oh well, it was a good chance to see another area of the city.

And then it was time to go see the Gateway Arch National Park.  They have a great museum in the lower level with lots of information on St. Louis and on the creation of the Arch itself.

24 - Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site  & The St. Louis Zoo

Started our day with a short hike to the top of Monk's Mound at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. This was a community of about 120 structures representing the largest prehistoric Indian community North of Mexico, populated from AD 800 to AD 1400. The information center was closed for reconstruction but I'm sure if it had been open we would have learned much about these people.

From here we headed to the St. Louis Zoo. On the way passing by the St. Louis Arch and Busch Stadium.

After spending a few hours at the zoo, it was time for an early dinner and for that we headed to an area in St. Louis called "The Hill".  Italian immigrants settled in this area and we had a wonderful Italian dinner!

25 - Grafton, IL 

Spent our last day in the St. Louis area driving up to the small touristy town of Grafton.  It was a pretty day for a drive but this is also when the truck started to have transmission problems...not being able to stay in 10th gear.  Luckily after speaking with a Ford service advisor, this is something that can wait to be fixed...we'll look into that once back in Arizona. No pictures of Grafton but the drive was pretty along the muddy Mississippi River.