Dalton Defenders Museum

Hi all --

 Dianne here.  Roger and I learned at our Workamper meeting that we would be on the new weekend shift, working Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays.  We are on different shifts, so that we don't have to leave the "boys" caged up for 11 or 12 hours a day. (Roger here...  it makes no difference to Big Chuck since he is always loose in the motorhome and free to make cat noises at the great-tailed grackles that taunt him while he sits in the window). 

  I am on days, working 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Roger is on nights, working from 5:00 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.  Roger has arranged to carpool on the night shift, which solves the one car problem.   This is the shift assignment we expected, because we had volunteered for the new weekend team, and had requested different shifts. Basically this means we won't see each other at all from Friday morning until Tuesday morning, but then we have the next three days off together.  

Drawing the weekend shift also meant we had another week to kill in  Coffeyville before starting work.   We were really ready to get out of the motorhome for a while.   The weather here has been so crummy (rainy and cold and gray) that we've been stuck inside.   We decided to be tourists this week and see some of the local sights.

On Tuesday, we drove back into Missouri to visit Colaw's RV Salvage.   We learned about this place from veteran RV'ers at the rally in Ohio last month.  Colaw's has the largest selection of salvage parts in the US.   There is a motorhome "graveyard" out back where parts can be stripped from different makes and models.  There is also a large indoor showroom of new and salvage parts.  We didn't venture out back (Roger here... because it was gray and cold, the weather norm so far here), but spent a lot of time nosing around the showroom. We were able to finally find lug nut covers to replace the ones that we lost the first week we owned our motorhome, after having new tires put on at Camping World.   (They didn't tighten them properly, so we lost 14 of them as we drove it home).   We'd been unable to find the correct size and shape in any store, truck stop, or even on line.   When we inquired about buying new ones to replace those that were lost, the dealer explained they would cost about $14 EACH!   We dug through boxes of them at Colaw's and were able to find several exact matches and some replacements that would work, for a better price of $2 each.    We stopped for lunch at the Golden Corral in Joplin, MO.  My old lunch buddies from my job at Hamilton Southeastern Schools referred to it as the "Olden Corral" when we ate there for lunch before I retired.  I consider this quite an insult.  I must also report that there were younger people in the restaurant - two toddlers with their grandmother.  There was also a six-year old who single-handedly emptied the bread center of all nine of the warm rolls.  The toddlers and the bread thief were all definitely younger than Dianne and me.

Thursday we visited the Dalton Defenders Museum

 in downtown Coffeyville.   I'll let Roger elaborate on that for you.  Following that, we had a delicious lunch of chicken-fried steak and sides at Lanning's, a mom and pop restaurant/bar in the historic section of town.   Since I knew we'd soon be getting lots of good exercise in our new workamper jobs, I even splurged and had some homemade pecan pie.   I reasoned that they probably made good pecan pie here, since this is a big pecan growing area.   I was right; it was delicious!   We even have a grove of pecan trees right here at Walter Johnson Park.  We watched the CNN version of the escaped mylar flying saucer while we ate, and were very relieved to find out, when we returned to the motorhome, that the little boy was not in the balloon.  

Roger here...  The Dalton Defenders Museum was very interesting. 

 I had heard of the infamous Dalton Gang, but did not really know that much about them.  Four of the five of them met their end in Coffeyville in 1892 when they attempted to rob two banks at the same time - an attempt to upstage Jesse James.  One of the townsmen recognized the gang as they entered the town and tied up their horses in an alley.  Several courageous citizens of Coffeyville, armed themselves at the local hardware store 

(still in business), and  ambushed the gang members as they exited the two banks - four of the defenders, including the sheriff, died along with four of the gang members.  A lot of the shooting took place in the pictured alley 

across the street from the banks where the horses were tethered.  One of the banks has been restored - really neat looking. 

 The one surviving gang member, Emmet Dalton, survived even though he was shot 23 times and served 14 years of a life sentence before being paroled and moving to California.  I had always thought of the wild west being in the far western states of Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and California.  Our stay here in Kansas has helped remind us that a goodly portion of the western legends took place in Kansas, Oklahoma and, of course, Texas.  

The museum also had exhibits confirming other prominent citizens of the town including, Walter "the train" Johnson who was an outstanding pitcher for the Washington Senators in the 1920's AND presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie, who (though growing up in Elwood, IN near my hometown of Pendleton) taught high school in Coffeyville prior to his political career.  There were also exhibits of the Osage Indians who at one time flourished in the Coffeyville area, before it was overtaken by the white man.

I could not resist taking a picture of Dianne next to the Indian figure. 

 When the museum manager saw me taking the picture, he left his post and insisted on placing a cowboy hat on me and taking a picture of the two of us.

Today was our first day of work at Amazon - five hours of orientation and safety training, and no actual work.  As a former HR director, it was interesting to see how a large corporation does the same thing that I used to do for my former school corporation - the same, but different!  Tomorrow the real work begins.  We will let you know about our new blisters, as we are told that we will be walking up to 15 miles a day.

The Good, The Bad, The "Pretty Good," and the Ugly

  Roger here....  

THE GOOD...

The first day of the trip from Celina, Ohio to Coffeyville, Kansas went well.  We spent the morning and early afternoon in Celina getting ready for the long trip.  I aired up the tires on the motorhome and the car to the levels that we think are correct.  (We will know the exact levels when we receive the printout from Rick Lang who weighed our rig at the rally.)   With the additional air, our new Doran tire pressure monitoring system will let us know in real time if any of our tires are below the inflation level that we want them to be - peace of mind.  

Our second task of the day was to get rid of, or redistribute, some of our weight.  (The weight of the stuff in the motorhome - not Dianne's weight or my weight)   The initial weighing of the motorhome at the rally indicated that the total weight of the rig was good, BUT that the rear axle was carrying too much weight, while the front axle could handle some more.   We spent a few hours moving heavy items from the back to the front, and putting items that we did not need in the car to store at our little house in Pendleton.  In order for this to be effective, we had to weigh each item so we could redetermine the new weight on each wheel.   We did this on the bathroom scales.  While it was a lot of work, it was very worthwhile to know that we are no longer overweight on either of our axles - a good feeling.  By the way, 

Jasper, Chaplin, and Big Chuck (the cat) enjoyed a little lounge time while we worked.

We left Celina at 2:00 p.m.   Pendleton was directly on our route, so we stopped by to drop off our post office box key and unload the unwanted items from the motorhome.  Since we needed to buy a couple of things for the motorhome, we then headed for the Camping World on the south side of Indianapolis to spend the night.   You can park there for free with  30 or 50 amp hookups.  We had a quiet night catching up on TV shows that we had recorded.  It was a full day, but much was accomplished.

THE BAD...

Day two started well.  We slept in, bought some light bulbs at Camping World, and moved down I-70 toward Missouri.  Everything went pretty well until we approached St. Louis.  We decided to take the southern interstates around the city to I-44, rather than the northern loop.  Our GPS "Sacajawea" agreed - BIG MISTAKE!   Two miles after exiting I-70 all traffic stopped.  For the next three miles (and one hour) we crawled along in a stop-and-go construction zone.  Ouch.  Oh well, we weren't in any hurry. 

 After crossing the Mississippi River, Dianne began looking for a place to stop for the night.  We thought we might try to get halfway through Missouri before stopping for supper and spending the night.  Those of you who know me and my semi-obsession to have everything planned would have been very proud that we did not start planning until what we thought would be an hour before the stop.  What ensued next has set me back several years - deep into an anal-retentive state.

Our first attempt to stop was at a Walmart in Sullivan, MO.  We gassed up at the Flying J and confirmed in our Walmart printout and "Walmart Locator" book, that this Walmart does allow overnight RV parking.  We intended to buy groceries there, including our supper.  We arrived at the Walmart to discover that bars had been erected over ALL the entrances, at a height of ten feet, preventing an RV or large truck from entering.  We slowly proceeded down the narrow access road looking for a place to turn around, only to discover that similar bars prevented entrance to all the businesses on the street - restaurants included.  We finally found an abandoned parking lot (very unlevel) to turn around.  After making the turn and exiting the lot, the uneven ramp to the street caused our hitch to scrape the pavement - luckily no damage, but some tense moments until we checked things out.  The merchants at Sullivan, MO probably lost about $200 in the purchases we would have made.  It was the most UNWELCOMING place we have ever visited.

Back on the road....  (hungry with no supper), we considered several private campgrounds and possible Walmart stops.  We passed a Good Sam sign next to a motel that was not listed in our guides.  We decided that if the next exit, did not work out, we would go back.  At the Rolla exit, we got junk food at McDonalds at a truck stop and decided that a two-mile drive on local roads to the Walmart was not worth the risk (based on our experience in Sullivan).   So, we traveled back east to the Good Sam Park from the previous exit - another mistake.  When we got to the park, we discovered that it was an uneven gravel area behind a run-down motel.  There were no signs that even indicated an office.   I got out to check things out on foot.  Scary!  Knocked over hookup sites and dingy trailers that looked like they had been there for a year!   I walked completely around the motel to make sure that we could get out, which we did quickly.   (Dianne here:  I can't believe that they advertised that place from the interstate, and with a Good Sam logo, no less!)

So...  Back on the road.  It was beginning to get dark.  We drove another 20 miles to our final destination for the day - a private park in the Ozarks three miles from I-44 down a very narrow road that was literally falling apart.  Fortunately, we did not meet an oncoming vehicle, and we did not fall off the road in one of the crumbling (turning to mud) areas.  The park itself was pretty nice, and was on the bank of a pretty river.   The staff was friendly.   Too bad we had no time to enjoy it.

THE PRETTY GOOD....

On the third day, we decided to drive the rest of the way to Coffeyville.  Since the city park, where we hoped to stay, does not take reservations, we wanted to secure a spot before everything filled up.  It was an uneventful drive.  We left I-44 in Joplin, MO and drove an additional 80 miles into Kansas, 

arriving in Coffeyville.  We were able to drive into the park and secure a spot with a southern view (the satellite works!) thanks to the advice of Mike, a fellow work camper that had been communicating with Dianne and others about what to do when we arrived.  Within an hour, John (also a work camper and a chaplain), knocked on our door with all kinds of information about Coffeyville, church services, and working at Amazon.  He even picks up everyone's mail at the post office three days a week.  We have already met a lot of really nice people here, including Mike and his wife Joyce, from Pensacola, Florida.

The campground, 

though not luxurious, is fine.  It reminds me of a county fair ground. 

 The sites are gravel with grass between the sites.  We have water and electric hook ups and a honey wagon that pumps out our holding tanks three times a week (a job Dianne says she would NEVER do!)  We have views of the livestock buildings and the rodeo arena.  The only concern about the campground is that it is adjacent to the Verdigris River, which is subject to flooding.  In July of 2007 the park was under nine feet of water!   Oh well, it is October, and it is not raining - probably nothing to worry about.  

Yesterday, Dianne and I had an employment meeting in the nearby town of Independence, a really neat town that I know we will be visiting frequently.  The meeting was pretty simple.  We both peed in a cup and took a skills test.  No big deal.  We will probably start work next week.  We still don't know our shift or our work assignments.

THE UGLY...

It is Thursday, and it is raining and raining and raining.   Remember what I said about the flooding in Coffeyville?   Well, we are under a flood advisory.   The rain is supposed to continue until tomorrow morning.  

I went out in a downpour to load up everything outside and to unhook everything except the electric connection, just in case we need to make a quick exit.  The dogs did not enjoy their rain-drenched walk this morning, but they did do their business much quicker than usual.  

We will let you know about our adventures working at Amazon.com.  That is, unless we float down the river into Oklahoma.

By the way, it is still raining.