May 22 -23, 2021
We stayed at Webster State Park near Stockton, KS. Kansas has a state law for their state parks that requires campers to spend two nights on the weekends. We knew that ahead of time so it was no surprise. One pleasant surprise was, unlike all the other small towns we drove through, there was a grocery store in Stockton so we were able to get a few things. We continued on to Webster SP, stopped at the registration office only to find out they charge $5/vehicle permit to enter the state park. We found our pull through campsite, parked, and hooked up. Pull through sites are nice because I don't have to unhook the Jeep. As we were setting up, the ranger made his rounds to make sure everyone paid their $5 vehicle fee. After checking the rv and the Jeep, he came over to me and said "you don't have a permit for your Jeep." I explained that the registration office told me how much I owed and that's what I paid. He said "well, the charge is for each vehicle regardless of whether one is being towed. But, if you don't disconnect the Jeep from the rv, we'll just let it go." Hmmmm . . . .
We did have an unusual experience later that evening. It was very windy at that state park, so we opened all the windows and door and just had the screens to keep the bugs out. When it was time to close the solid door, I opened the screen door to get the solid door and HUNDREDS of May flies in the nymph stage swarmed into the rv. Even though they don't bite, just seeing that many in the rv made us feel like we were itching. We got our vacuum cleaner with the hose and took about 45 minutes clearing the rv of the May flies. Steven Spielburg couldn't have come up with anything like that.
May 23
We left Webster SP and about 40 miles along the way we stopped at the Cottonwood Ranch. After the Civil War, the West became a symbol of opportunity. Abraham Pratt of Yorkshire County, England, sold his liquor bottling business and homesteaded 160 acres of land in Sheridan County, Kansas. A couple of years later, he returned to Ripon, England and convinced his two sons to come to the US and purchase 320 acres from the Kansas Pacific Railway. In the late 1800's the Pratts built a one room native stone house, then a few years later, wings were added to the house and outbuildings and corral walls were built. Most ranchers raised cattle, but Pratt and his sons raised sheep. Below are pictures of the farm buildings.
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