Wichita, Kansas

Wichita was our next stop. The largest city in Kansas, it has a population of about 400,000.  It's bigger than our home base of Salt Lake City, but feels like a small town -- maybe because it doesn't have many tall buildings.  Wichita is home to many aircraft manufacturing companies and we drove by a lot of them -- Spirit, Learjet and Airbus for example. It's also home to the Koch brothers, owners of the countries second largest privately-held company and financial supporters of conservative and libertarian causes and organizations.

The confluence of the Arkansas River and the Little Arkansas Rivers is in Wichita. The area where the rivers meet have lovely parks near the water. We walked along the banks and over two foot bridges where we saw the "Keeper of the Prairie," a beautiful sculpture at the confluence. Also along the river is a the Veterans Memorial Park, which we explored.  

We went to two brew pubs:  Riverside and Wichita Brewing: both were great but we liked Riverside best -- just a nicer venue.  We took the dogs to one of the biggest fenced dog parks we've ever seen (outside of Bend, Oregon) -- it was at Chapin Park which is also on the Arkansas River.  And we drove around the city -- it's well kept and there is a lovely neighborhood of historic-looking homes on the north side.  

We camped at the McConnell Air Force Base Fam Camp on the east side of Wichita.  The base is home of the 22nd Air Mobility Command. Its mission, said the Fam Camp Guide we were given, is to "provide Global Reach by conducting air refueling and airlift when and wherever needed."

Three views of Wichita's "Keeper of the Plains," a 44-feet-tall steel sculpture created by a Native  American artist Blackbear Bosin.  It stands at the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers in downtown Wichita and was erected ahead of the USA bicentennial celebration. The land between the two rivers is sacred to Native Americans and home to the Mid American All-Indian Center.  

Downtown Wichita as seen from the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas River.  The round building on the right is the Exploration Place, a science museum.  Arkansas has a lot of great museum  including an art museum with an entire floor of Chihuly glass I would have liked to have seen. But our big sightseeing day was a Monday, and like in many smaller cities Mondays means the museums are closed.

Our campground at McConnell Air Force Base had just ten sites with a pond one one side and a big field on the other. (There are another 10 spots without as many hook ups elsewhere on the base.) We hardly ever see another RV made by the same manufacturer as ours (Lazy Daze) except on the west coast.  At this small campground two other Lazy Dazes came and went while we were there, plus our next door neighbors told us they used to own one.

Maddie on guard (as usual) in shadow while Arlo in the foreground takes a nap.  She worries enough for both of them. Kind of like me and Jim.

One of two tornado shelters near our campground.  Each one can hold 34 people.  That would be one tight and scary fit, but much better than riding out high winds in a motor home.