Day 13, Thursday, June 15 - Canyon to Weatherford

Another hot one.  The main objective today (besides not getting overheated), was to visit the Washita battlefield.  At that we succeeded.  We got another late start, partly because we didn't have all that far to travel, partly because the breakfast area at the HIE was full of people off two tour buses, and mainly because I slept until 7.  After breakfast at McD's, we headed out on I-27 to Amarillo, then I-40 east.  I was surprised that the highway was so empty; we had a good tail wind so we made great mileage for the day.

Turned off of the interstate at Erick and headed north into the grassland country.  Stopped at the town of Cheyenne, where we found a local cafe (Zoe's) that had hot beef sandwiches for a good price, so we had a couple to fortify ourselves for whatever the battlefield site might have in store.  First stop was the visitor center.

The museum in the VC carefully treads a line - it's theme is "a clash of cultures,"  mentions the worthlessness of treaties, but doesn't go into a lot of detail on the massacre aspect - Custer was just "implementing policy" (aka following orders). It did mention the forced "de-indianization" policy aimed at the children.

We headed out to the actual battle site.  There's an overlook which gives a wide, if distant view, and leads to a 1.5 mile trail.

I started on the trail, but the 97 degree temperature soon turned me around, but not until I took several pictures of the restored prairie.

After an easy drive through the countryside, we got to Weatherford a bit after 3 PM, checked in at the HIE, did laundry, and had sinner next door at Lucille's (remember that old Little Richard song?  Has nothing to do w/ it).

Tomorrow we're off to El Dorado, KS, near Wichita, and do some visiting.  Saturday we get home!

For the day, 245 miles, 2314 for the trip.