Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve located in the Flint Hills of Kansas

Man we have never seen fireworks like we did last night. The city of Dodge, Kansas puts on a great show (which we saw seated in lawn chairs while Henna tooled around in the Best Western parking lot on her long board). But starting a couple of hours before sunset and then lasting past midnight the citizens of Dodge launched a non-stop onslaught of professional grade fireworks. OK, we are from Illinois where fireworks are harder to purchase than firearms, but a man from Indiana (home of cheap gas, tobacco, and, yes, fireworks) told me had never seen this type of fireworks in the hands of amateurs. It was insane. And fun to watch.

Dodge, by the way, is a pretty laid back kind of quirky little town. All within a few blocks is the nicely restored Front Street (which sells the typical Western touristy things) and Boot Hill. The latter was once an informal paupers cemetery where frozen to death buffalo hunters, gun fight victims, and “dancing girls” often were buried without a coffin. The skeletons have long since been interred elsewhere and now is a recreated cemetery/mini town that features frequent gun fights and a nightly variety show.

Other things to do in Kansas include visiting the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Made possible by the Nature Conservancy, the preserve consists of the largest remaining strand of never plowed over native tallgrass prairie. Keeping the system in check are prescribed fires and a bison herd.

A Texas horned lizard