Dodge City Public Library, Dodge City, Kansas

I've been fighting some sort of bug/vapors/possession since my visit to the Wichita Central Library. My eyes and nose act like I'm hyper allergic to something, I'm tired all the time, and I get dizzy spells and vertigo as the day progresses. I went to the doctor around the same time the symptoms started but my bloodwork shows nothing out of the ordinary, so I've decided it's possession. By what, I haven't a clue. Demon? Ghost librarian? Moth ghost? Mothman?

It makes traveling a challenge. As amped as I am underneath it all, I'm still very, very tired and looking ahead to an arguably grueling travel schedule. The pace is far more aggressive than leg one and I will be visiting more places. If this demon doesn't vacate the premises pronto, I'm in for a world of hurt. I can certainly cut some parts out, but reservations I've made pretty much lock me in for the long haul, whether I skip some of the sights (and a LOT of the libraries) or not.

I wanted to visit Dodge City since I'd passed it by to beat the weather on the way back from leg one. It was meant to be my last stop and I'd hoped to do some tourist-y stuff alongside the obligatory library visit. My current status as Madam Sleepypants McGullicutty made previous intentions more burdensome than I could bear.

The drive from Wichita was a lesson in perspective. Remember those beautiful Mulvane butterflies? The magical moment? Well, that magical moment is spread across the front of my car in a happy Disney rainbow of butterfly guts. They are indeed migrating. There are thousands, millions probably. And they are everywhere. All the way to Dodge City they spattered against my windshield, fairytale pixiedust flying into gobbets of frenzied carnage. My Disney moment turned to Tarantino butchery.

Speaking of dead things, I saw not one but two dead armadillos on the side of the road to Dodge. Which is weird because I saw no dead armadillos in all my time in Texas back in the spring. Must be a mating thing. I had no idea armadillos lived all the way up in Kansas. The more you know (rainbowww).

Once I arrived, I made quick work of finding the Dodge City Public Library, but I kept my eye out for anything historical or interesting along with way. Once I got to the library, I did some research to try to figure out where I might see some real, live history, but outside of museums, I didn't see many opportunities that were anything more authentic than "loving recreations." We have a cowtown in Wichita, too.

I know I know, snotgoblin, check your attitude! I am Over Tired, so I do apologize, but I also don't. Dodge City is actually a very nice, normal little town. It has a claim to fame and they make it work. There are historic places in Dodge City, but nothing I was interested in seeing (e.g. the distillery). I hear Deadwood and Tombstone are the same. It's funny when history is happening, no one thinks to preserve something so our descendants can oooo at it later. Ahem, WICHITA, Miss I Like to Tear Everything Down. Take a note. How the Alamo is still standing, I'll never know. Wasn't there a burning need for a Howard Johnson's back in the day? A convention center? NO, and they made that relic work for them, let me tell you. If you haven't been, it is a massive tourist destination with all manner of touristy things grown up around it (hotels, restaurants, angry signs yelling you in different directions). Hold on to your buildings, cities! At least some of them!

Dodge City may not have had the particular relics I was interested in, but now at least I can say I have been there. And I spent a little bit of time in their library, as well. It took about 3 hours to get to Dodge City from Wichita, and it was going to take another 3 hours to get to my next destination (another library!) before completing the day sacked out at the rest stop outside of Colby, Kansas. With that much planned for the day, I simply didn't have time to indulge.

I did, however, appreciate what time I did have at the Dodge City library, first and foremost because I had peace and quiet, a table of my own, and an outlet. Dodge City's library may be older, but they know what their patrons need.





The set up was different from other libraries I've visited, I would suspect because the library was intended to be a public space for not just reading and studying, but socializing and utilizing a variety of media in an open environment. The library itself is just one huge box. The majority of the space is reserved for the stacks, desks, circulation, etc., but there was a large section with lounge chairs, tables, and couches, plus one big screen tv playing off to the side. It was the first library I've visited that had a television out in the open, playing for patrons to come over and watch. The computer bays were also kept in this section. Per the norm (from my travels), I saw that almost all of the computers were occupied, and right next to them a group of old gents were gathered at a table, just shooting the breeze.

It sounds noisy, but it wasn't. I was able to really focus and make progress on the work I'd had in mind for the day. There were many patrons coming and going and I could tell this was a very well utilized community library. It sounds dorkalicious, but that kind of thing makes me glowy-stupid-happy. So do majestic cow statues.