Kansas Kamping (guest column)

By Herb Mercer,
    Merced, CA

For many years we have traveled with a small tent and spent a lot of quiet evenings camping. Most of these camps bring back pleasant memories – except one.

We lived in Omaha, Nebraska at the time and had spent our vacation in Colorado. We were late returning home and trying to make as much mileage as possible. Traveling through Kansas, our map indicated a county park ahead with camping facilities. If we pushed, we should reach it just at dusk.

On arrival we were disappointed. The grass was long and weeds were everywhere. Cattle had been in the campground and cow pies were plentiful. The toilets were filthy and in disrepair.

However, darkness was coming fast and we had little choice. We set up our tent. Soon mosquitoes surrounded us. To top it off, we were the only ones in the campground. Apparently others had sense enough to avoid it. Dorothy could have the whole state of Kansas to herself!

The next morning, we packed up and left early. Only a few miles down the highway we came to another campground. What a contrast! This one was new and clean. It was much larger than the one we had used. The restrooms were large and spotless. They even had hot water.

It was obvious what had happened. The county had built a new replacement campground and abandoned the old one. If only we had had a newer map, we could have had a much nicer experience.