16 October 2014 - Into Kansas

Beautiful day today with bright sunshine and moderate temperatures.  It was good to get on the road again with dry concrete and mild traffic.  We left Columbia, MO and continued west.  It did not take too long to cross the rest of Missouri with its rolling hills, trees and fields.  We drove into Independence and saw the KC Royals Stadium and the KC Chiefs playing field.  The Royals are now in the World Series.  We crossed the Missouri River and into Kansas.  We did miss a poorly marked turnoff in the midst of a construction  zone and found ourselves headed south toward Witchita and had to stop, check the map and make a correction.  It went well and we found ourselves back on I-70 heading for Topeka, Salina and points west.
I-70 starts in Kansas City and stretches west until it ends near Richfield, Utah.  The road was smooth and only a few short areas of traffic cones.  However, from KC to Topeka, it is a toll road.  It is well maintained but we found no Welcome Center for the state and none of the service plazas had a map of Kansas.  So we used what we had and Ronda got on her cell phone to check out points of interest along I-70.  The first spot we found was Boonville, KS. Bet you have never heard of it, we certainly hadn't.  It was founded on a site where some sons of Daniel Boone found a salt lick and set up a process to make salt to ship up and down the Missouri River.  Eventually it became a large railroad hub.

Now it is a sleepy little town that once was a major center of commerce.  This railroad depot was built and was a stop for the MKT Railroad. That stands for Missouri, Kansas, Texas Railroad.  Products on the river and the railroad met here to be dispersed or sent to other locations.  Because of the Texas connection, the depot had a bit of a Spanish mission design.

One of the last old cabooses on the line was restored and now kept at the depot as a small railroad museum.  They have done a good job in this caboose and the depot. We met a lovely lady that was so helpful in telling us about the town, the depot and caboose and where to go to get good photos of the Missouri River for our Freddy Photo.   We drove to the highway bridge across the river to take pictures.

Where we parked, an old building had an interesting mural, painted to reflect points of history in the town of Boonville.  You can see Daniel Boone, ox drawn wagons of the pioneers, the old time railroad and the riverboat steamers.  It also showed Indians and Pony Express Riders.  This quiet little town has had a very fascinating history. It is remarkable the things you can learn about the history of this country when you don't fly by on the freeway, but take a little time to explore.  We enjoyed a brief visit to this town and the quaint buildings and homes, dating to the pre-Civil War days were great.

Here the Missouri is wide and it is easy to see how it could be a major commerce route.  In the background you can see the old railroad bridge, no longer used.  It was made to rise to allow ships to pass under. Now it is part of the Katy Trail, a walking trail along the old rail right of way. Katy is short for the KT Railroad.



Leaving Boonville, we stopped at a bakery that said they had Kolaches.  However, they only had some with sausage and jalapenos so Mom got a fritter and I succumbed and bought a maple bar with bacon on top.   It was like eating bacon and pancakes.  I have noted that as the trip has progressed, my diet has suffered.  I will have to really repent on my return and be much stricter about what I eat.

Further along we turned off to visit Wamego, KS, which has the Oz Museum.  In fact, the 10 mile road from the freeway to the town is labeled "The Road to Oz".  We found the museum in town and it was a cute little place.  Inside were all sorts of memorabilia from the Wizard of Ox.  I found a complete set of the Oz stories by Frank Baum and bought it to share with all my grandchildren.  Other places in town also use the Oz tale to tout their businesses such as Toto's Tacos and The Wicked Stitch, Yarns and Fabrics.   

The window of the museum had a phrase on it from the Wizard of Oz story. I am not sure if the reflection of Ronda has any significance.  I did try to get her to buy a T-shirt with the statement on it: "Life just has not been the same since that house fell on my sister."  I could not convince her.

Inside the museum they had displays from the story including a monster Tin Man, trying to look happy but perhaps a bit scary.  I love the eyes on this figure.   It was here we took a Freddy Photo.

On the way back to the freeway, we found the Mt. Mitchell Heritage Prairie Site.  It is a relatively small place where the terrain has been left untouched to be an example of how the prairie looked when the pioneers rolled over it. There are even some old wagon ruts in this area. It is waving grass and occasional small groves of trees, like you see here.

 

We also passed an  old, abandoned one room school built in 1928.  The bell is still in the tower, it cannot be rung, but it was a cute finding.  We then continued west and tonight we are staying in Hays, KS.  We had a great dinner at a BBQ Steakhouse with some of the best BBQ Ribs I have had. Literally fall off the bone tender and a great flavor.  Dietary disaster!!  Oh, well.  We will be home soon.