Ramble On To Kansas: Wanted Dead or Alive, Day 2-Frontierland and Stull

On Saturday we went to Abilene, Kansas…..our own version of Frontierland.  Abilene was one of the first cattle towns and it is still a cute little town.  We went to the Old Abilene Town first because we wanted to get there in time to see a gun fight!  When we first got there it was pretty deserted.  “Wild Bill” Hickok started talking to me as we passed one building where a bunch of the re-enactors were hanging out.  He said for a dollar he could throw someone in jail if I wanted him to and I was like, “Can we all be put in jail?”  I mean, after all, everyone always thinks I’m going to end up in jail on these trips.  Might as well give ‘em something to talk about!

We were affectionately known as the Jailbirds after this in Old Abilene.  🙂

It’s possible we were way more entertained by being in Abilene than the average person would be.  🙂

Meredith & Thena are ready for the gun fight…..uh, sorta!!

I don’t think they stand a chance against the sheriff!

Back in jail….again….and laughing about it!

Thena’s wild and wicked ways finally caught up with her…..

I was the only one brave enough (or dumb enough) to play the spoons!  It was actually fun!

Probably the most difficult picture we took on our trip!  I had to set the timer on the camera and then climb up into the rickety carriage in only 10 seconds but we did it!

After we left Old Town we saw some of the rest of Abilene.  We turned around to go back to the Visitor’s Center and accidentally found The Kirby House, built in 1885 by a banker named Thomas Kirby.  It was turned into a restaurant in 1987.  We thought from the look of it that we wouldn’t be able to afford to eat there but the menu was very reasonable and the dining was casual.  We ended up having lunch there (bacon cheeseburger for me!) and it was awesome! 

During our road time coming back from Abilene we made this awesome video:  http://youtu.be/GPMR1ANVols  Seriously.  It’s awesome. 🙂

Once we got back from Abilene we planned on going to Stull.  We had already looked up a bunch of stuff about the cemetery and knew that the people of Stull weren’t too fond of outsiders poking around their boneyard.  I really thought some of those stories had to be an exaggeration until we actually got there. 

Stull is on the main road and we passed it before we even realized we were there.  I recognized it from pics I had seen on the internet but there was no sign to tell you it was Stull cemetery….there were only “no trespassing” signs.  We chose to ignore those since the gates were open and drove on in. (By the way, the song of choice for the trip to Stull was Rock of Ages).  The road through the cemetery takes you around the back and up a hill.  There wasn’t a place to park where you couldn’t be seen from the road but in our case, it didn’t really matter anyway.  There was a church across from the cemetery and there was a guy over there who must have been doing some work.  As we reached the top of the hill in the cemetery, he drove his huge truck over and parked in front of the gate.  Meredith saw him first and said, “What’s he doing?  He’s closing the gate!”  Apparently I thought he was just being stupid instead of threatening because I remember saying, “Can’t he see us?  We’re right here!”

When we reached the gate, there was no way we could leave the cemetery because his truck was blocking the way and he had also left his door open, so we couldn’t even try to get around it without hitting his truck……huge truck, I will say again.  I think he was probably overcompensating.  Anyway, we’re sitting there looking at him like he’s an idiot and he’s just staring at us.  I didn’t see him do it from the passenger side but Meredith said he motioned for her to roll her window down.  When she did he said, “Do you want to get locked in here?”  Well, now isn’t that a stupid question in so many ways……we’re sitting there at the gate and the only reason we can’t get out is because his big stupid truck is in the way!  And why are there “no trespassing” signs up if you’re going to lock us in, creeper?  Do you really want us staying all night???   I mean, I’m okay with that because then I could really check the place out!  Anyway, I was still thinking he was just being an idiot so we say, “No” and motion for him to move his truck and then he says…..wait for it………..”Leave and never come back.”  Seriously dude?  How many cheesy horror flicks have you been watching??

He finally shut his door so we could leave….make no doubt we wouldn’t have worried about his door if we’d needed to get away quickly.  I think it’s possible that all of our mouths were hanging open at this time.  We couldn’t believe that he had really said that to us.  If the people of Stull are going to deny all the crazy rumors about the cemetery, they need to call off their guard dogs.  That only makes things more suspicious.  I mean, if we had been doing anything other than driving through the cemetery it might have been different but we hadn’t even gotten out of the car!

What really made me mad was the fact that he was trying to intimidate three women and we really couldn’t argue with him because if he called the police, who was to say it wouldn’t end up being his cousin, Jim Bob, who would throw us into someone’s cellar and sacrifice us to the local pagan god for better crops in the upcoming year?  Oh, and creepy Bender guy also needs to know that the only man who intimidates me even a little is Jensen Ackles and he doesn’t do it by being a douchebag!

This is what’s left of the old church.  It’s mentioned in John Winchester’s journal.

For more shenanigans click here:  https://winchesterwoman.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/ramble-on-to-kansas-carry-on-wayward-son-day-3-natural-history-museum/