We "got outta Dodge" and headed east to Hutchinson. Just a short hop of about 200km. We (Barb) had hoped to golf in Dodge City but the wind was just too strong and gusty. I was fascinated by the difference in the fields where they used the massive sprinklers vs the dry dusty soil with little to no crops without the sprinklers. They must have lots of water!
So we drove to Hutchinson to do a tour of their Underground Salt Museum. We were able to join a tour leaving right away - turned out to be a group of women RV'ers - so Laurie was the token male with about 45 women! We went down in an elevator that was "industrial" and had 2 levels of boxes - so we were herded into one, it lifted and they filled the rest of the folks into the box below. Then we dropped 650'. It is a huge mine - they dig out box cars of road salt (It is NaCl)- and it has been in operation since the 1920's. We weren't in any of the areas where they are currently mining salt. But the museum shares the space with a company that uses the salt mine to store valuables - paper, costumes, movies, art...then several of the RV ladies stated that they keep their RV's in a cave - dry, constant temperature, protected from bugs or rodents. The block of salt is about 2'x 3' x4' - weighs about 3000 lbs!
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