After our first two nights out, we departed Lawrence KS this morning under gray skies and headed down the Kansas Turnpike to Wichita and McConnell Air Force Base. It was a relatively short 162 mile drive today. As we headed southwest we drove through the Flint Hills area, "a unique tallgrass prairie ecosystem found in central North America centered on Kansas and northern Oklahoma (where they are known as the Osage Hills). It is a tallgrass prairie, a type of temperate grassland, marked by few trees but abundant forbs and grasses that can grow up to 10 feet tall as their roots reach deep for water."
We rolled into McConnell Air Force Base main gate about 1330 hrs.
Processing through the gate quickly, we headed down to the Outdoor Recreation office that runs the family campground "FamCamp". They had our reservation and payment, so we were quickly on our way to the FamCamp. We will be here for three nights before continuing on south to Oklahoma City.
Outdoor Recreation guard cat on duty. I bet it weighed 25 lbs!
There is a governing directive for Air Force FamCamps. Army has their rules as does every branch of service, and they are all different. To complicate things even more, there is no consistency between bases. Some take reservations, some don't. Of those that do, some allow reservations as much as a year out, some six months, some 45 days, and some 30 days. Generally, military retiree's, Medal of Honor recipients, disabled veterans, POW's, and retired government civilian employees can use FamCamps. The rule set is pretty complicated, but like anything else, there is a website and a couple app's that makes it easier. We try to use FamCamps whenever they are close to our route.
The Krueger Recreation Area (FamCamp) is beautifully maintained. There are a limited number of full hookup paved camp sites and a couple fishing ponds nearby. The local Boy Scout troop has done some work here to enhance the area including stocking of the ponds for catch and release fishing, and preservation of a "Honey Bee Tree"
We set up quickly and enjoyed a sunny but breezy afternoon here. We grilled some burgers for supper and watched the Cubs-Reds baseball game. Later we took Liberty on a stroll around the pond.
Liberty soaking in some rays!
Tomorrow we plan to visit the Kansas Aviation Museum which is right here on base. Later we will meet up with John Kimball and his friend Jane for dinner at a local German restaurant. John is a great friend and military comrade of mine. He is the retired Kansas State Command Chief and was in the Communications Flight here, so his career path was very similar as mine. John taught my Command Chief class at Lackland Air Force Base in 2007 after I returned from Iraq.
Thanks for following along. When we get to Oklahoma City I will publish the stats.
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