Get the Hell out of Dodge! Part 1
The vast green lush fields of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri stretched as far as the eye could see. Communities grew smaller and further apart as we traveled further and further west in our intrepid truck Benny, pulling our trusty 5th Wheel, the Jet. How different our lives to those pioneers who came before us, in their ox-pulled wagons. No fear of starvation for us, as we pass Walmarts in nearly every sizable town. No risk to life or limb for us, as traffic eases and the locals prove friendly. As we pass through Independence, Missouri, I recall this is where Brigham Young set off from with his Latter Day Saints, searching for Deseret, which he found westwards in Utah. Earlier traders and pioneers had followed the Santa Fe Trail south west. The Santa Fe Trail was set up to trade with that city which was once in Mexico. Santa Fe is now in the state of New Mexico, territory won from the Mexicans as a result of the American-Mexican War which ended in 1848. The remains of t