April 17 thru 21, 2024, Junction City, Kansas

We continued north but wanted to take our time to avoid any surprise cold weather. So our next stop was a Corps of Engineers campground, West Rolling Hills on Milford Lake near Junction City, Kansas. The 229-mile drive was entirely on secondary roads but they were nicely paved More importantly, there was very little wind. I guess it was pretty early in the season since we were nearly the only ones in the park. 

The next day 30 mph winds were creating white caps on the lake - I sure was happy we had no immediate plans!

Junction City did not have a lot of attractions so we paced ourselves. The "Atomic Cannon" was on display outside Fort Riley Army Base. It was one of only three manufactured and was never fired before being decommissioned in 1963. Fort Riley is home to the 1st Infantry Division officially nicknamed "The Big Red One". 

It was a nice hike to the top of a hill to check out the Atomic Cannon. David was a bit underwhelmed by its size.

It was designed to fire an 11-inch shell more than 20 miles. It was high on a bluff overlooking the base. The soldiers did train with live rounds that we were able to hear from our site more than 5 miles away.

On the path up the hill, Joani spotted an extremely colorful lizard. He posed nicely for me but I definitely need to get better with my focus.

Further down the path, we found a much smaller lizard with no color. 

The wind continued for several days. While we had rain, radar showed snow in Kansas west of us. Our temperature stayed above freezing and eventually warmed up again so we could hike around the park. We discovered an abandoned campground loop. You can just make out the sign for the Nature Trail below.

The loop pavement was not holding up well against the elements and finally devolved into loose gravel before it disappeared completely where erosion had swallowed the road completely into the lake. Of course, Joani had to see if there were any interesting rocks along the shoreline.

Not a single interesting specimen.

I spotted another red-headed woodpecker but he eluded my camera. I was lucky with the heron (I definitely need a lot more practice following wildlife) and the pelicans posed nicely.  

With plenty of time during our stay, Joani was able to plot out the next couple of months of travel and make reservations. We have never been booked so far in advance!