Most Everything You Need to Know About the Cedar Vale Knotanational Knotarally.
When is it?
May 5-7, 2017 on the Gregorian calendar. On the Chinese calendar, it's the 10th through 12th days of the 4th lunar month (i.e. Din-You, Year of the Rooster).
Where is it?
Cedar Vale, Kansas. The Gem City of the Sunflower State, in Chautauqua County, Kansas.
Coordinates: 37 degrees, 6 feet, and 18 inches North by 96 degrees, 30
feet, and 3 inches West.
More specifically, the Hewins Park Pavilion located on 101 Salebarn Road, Cedar Vale, Kansas.
http://www.cedarvalekansas.com/3/miscellaneous3.htmThe pavilion was built in 1913 by a Mr. Chester A. Bradley, and designed by architect Mr. Hayland. It is huge. Indeed, the National Historic Register officially classifies it as a "big a** pavilion." It even has a stage, side doors, 3 secret rooms and 2 tunnels.
https://focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/07000602.pdfThere is *plenty* of space for camping and RVs in the bucolic park surrounding the huge pavilion. There are toilets, electricity, and cold water showers. Dusty may bring in additional Port-a-Potties or gain us access to other civilized facilities.
What supplies are available in Seadur Vale?
Gas, beer, ice and typical convenience store sundries are available at the Conoco gas station in town. There is also the Cedar Vale Market, a regular grocery store that stays open until about 6:00.
If you need to buy hard liquor, there's a store in nearby Sedan. Not sure about ammo or macrame supplies.
Cedar Vale also has the Hilltop Restaurant, supposed to be pretty good. Pizza and other more exotic foods are available in nearby towns such as Sedan and Ark City
What if I don't want to camp?
There may be extra bunk space in one of the RVs likely to be brought to the site by fellow Guzzi enthusiasts. Let Dusty know and he'll try to hook you up.
The Cedar Creek Lodge is an easy, 3 block walk from the park. Phone (620) 249-9362. Cheap and basic lodgings. GliderJohn and I have both stayed there, and I probably will again.
Another place is the Hunter's Roost. Phone (620) 758-2498.
Dusty tells me there may be up to 3 private homes in Cedar Vale available for rent. Still working on details, but if anyone is interested in a house rental, please let us know.
What is there to do in Cedar Vale itself?
Well, of course we will have the usual Guzzi rally stuff in the park--snacking, dining, visiting friends, telling lies, bench racing, tire-kicking, campfires, music, sing-a-longs, and interpretive dance. We will have the usual competitions such as beard growing, suspender snapping, the evening spelling bee, and arm wrestling (Kansas style, not using Texas rules).
Despite the issues last year, Dusty promises to bring back Midnight Mumblety-Peg. We can count on disturbing but memorable jokes by SickBay from Louisiana. Voice impressions by Paul from Houston. Plus Dusty is an accomplished mime.
And I'm sure there will be the annual tradition of fixing whatever is wrong with motorcycles owned by me or Fubar.
Lookout Mountain is right next to the park. It is what they call a "teener" mountain in Kansas, soaring to the majestic height of 1,248 feet above the valley. The road to the peak is privately owned, but Dusty has connections and we can probably get the owner to open the gate for us so that we may ascend from our base camp at the pavilion all the way to the summit. I think this was part of the Great Osage Trail (Black Dog Trail).
There is a nice history museum in Cedar Vale. Again, Dusty is working his connections, and will probably be able to have the museum opened for our little group. There are rumors that the friendly townsfolk will be selling coffee and home-made pie at the museum.
What about day trips from Cedar Vale?
This area of Kansas may surprise you if you think of Kansas as nothing but flat farmland. Lots of interesting roads, with rolling hills, vales, and curves. And lots of dirt/gravel roads that are easily rideable by street bikes. Details on request or available at the rally.
There are two good motorcycle museums within day trip range of Cedar Vale. Twisted Oz Motorcycle Museum in Augusta, KS is 68 miles northwest.
http://www.twistedoz.com/And the Kansas Motorcycle Museum is 156 miles northwest in Marquette, KS.
http://www.ksmotorcyclemuseum.org/62 miles southeast of Cedir Vale is the Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve (about 12 miles south of Bartlesville, OK). Well worth the trip--bison and wild critters, Native American artifacts and art, and one of the finest gun collections extant--especially old Colt firearms.
http://www.woolaroc.org/Also near Bartlesville is the Price Tower, the only sky-scraper built from Frank Lloyd Wright's design.
If you like green chilies and food made from green chilies, I'm told you need to check out Frank and Lola's in downtown Bartlesville.
http://frankandlolas.com/About 650 feet below ground, and 130 miles northwest of Cedar Vale, is the Strataca Salt Mine--an operating salt mine open to the public for tours in Hutchinson, KS.
http://underkansas.org/Also in Hutchinson is the Cosmosphere museum, with a huge collection of missiles and space stuff, including Nazi V1 and V2 missiles, lots of Russkie space stuff, and the actual command module from the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission.
http://cosmo.org/Speaking of old guns and ill-fated missions, Coffeyville, Kansas is about 53 miles east of Cedar Vale. On Oct 5, 1892, the Dalton gang attempted to out-outlaw the James gang by robbing two banks at once in broad daylight. Fail! The gang was shot to pieces in Death Alley after the locals armed themselves at Isham's Hardware Store next door. Three members of the gang still reside in Coffeyville, down at the local cemetery.
The Coffeyville area and the nearby Verdigris River basin also boast the distinction of being the lowest point in the State of Kansas, at 679 feet above sea level.
West Mineral, Kansas is home of Big Brutus, a huge coal mining steam shovel and associated museum. Or maybe it was electric. Not sure, but the big brute is retired now about 107 miles east of Cedar Vale.
Arkansas is renowned for its wonderful, curvy and scenic motorcycle roads. The Arkansas Ozarks are a mere 200 miles to the southeast.
17 miles west of Cedar Vale is the site of the nation's first helium mine in Dexter, Kansas.
http://kuhistory.com/articles/high-on-helium/The locals were bummed that the gas from this well would not burn, but attitudes changed when Kansas scientists figured out the "Dexter gas" contained helium, and helium became useful for blimps in WWI, and atomic weapons in WWII. The Germans used hydrogen in their blimps. Unlike Dexter Gas, hydrogen burns quite vigorously.
Also in Dexter is Henry's Candy Company, a candy making factory more than 50 years old. And yes, they sell candy.
As the man said, "Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right . . . " Sure enough, 19 miles west of Cedar Vale is the home of the World's Most Famous Clown, a/k/a Weary Willie, a/k/a Emmett Kelly. Sedan now has a museum dedicated to its famous native son. That's all I'll say about this because clowns creep me out.
All I know about Wichita, 79 miles northwest of Cedar Vale, is that GliderJohn thinks highly of the BBQ at the "Pig In! Pig Out! Restaurant."
Folks, please chime in, correct any of my errors, and add your own information or mindless persiflage about Cedar Vale and the surrounding area.
Oh.
And please come join us at the Knotanational
Knotarally in Cedar Vale, Kansas.