Day 24 Garden City to Dodge City.

After the electrical storm and torrential rain of last night it was a relief to open the door and find the world was more peaceful. It was a lovely morning again with high cloud. Today was a short ride so it should be a 'recovery' ride, but the wind is always a factor.
The usual 3 with Alan set off and after a mile or so found ourselves going south and we wondered if we were going the right way, but we were and soon turned left to go east on Highway 50. We kept the pace down so that we could really recover after the last two days and the scenery was pretty much the same as before, flat and featureless. As Gerrard the mechanic said, 'The only interesting thing on the horizon is the horizon.'
There were more huge cattle pens near processing plants and the smell was awful. Lucky it was dry or the stuff on the road would have gone everywhere. Huge farms now with crops of wheat and corn and long irrigation gantries, some about a quarter of a mile long. Huge grain silos also dominated the skyline.
We only stopped briefly at the SAG, which was after 28 miles, and on we went. After the town of Cimerron we stopped at an Historical Marker which gave information about the Santa Fe Trail as used by the early pioneers. There were still grooves visible where the wagon trains had passed and information boards that were very, well, informative.
The next highlight was just short of Dodge City when we found the 'Dodge City' marker with the cowboy sillouettes (is that spelt right or is there an h in there?). Usual photos and then a couple of miles later we were rolling into town and exploring Boot Hill, but only after we had hit a DQ. The road in town, especially near the hotel was terrible and we had to 'dodge' about to avoid potholes that had families living in them. I was leading and ended up pointing out the good bits.
Didn't go to the show that night down at Boot Hill in Miss Kitty's as I spent the time on the computer. Reports were mixed about the show.
Had news about Bob in that he had a fracture to the base of his skull and spent a good deal of time in ITU, but he is making a recovery and has posted an e-mail to us on his web site. He recalls that he hit something that made him fall, so at least it was not a medical reason. He should be out of hospital before too long and hopes to meet us when we go through Ohio, but not to ride.
Today's distance was 55.5 miles.