Cattle Grazing in Flint Hills, Kansas
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Cattle Grazing in Flint Hills, Kansas
A little “Cars” fun on Route 66 in Galena, Kansas.
We got a late start leaving Salina, KS this morning but we were able to catch up on some much-needed rest. Our first stop was downtown, Salina. After heading the wrong way initially, we used the GPS to find a random restaurant located in the downtown area. Everything was closed and there was no one in sight. We saw more movement in a couple of the ghost towns we visited on Route 66 so we got back on the highway in search for someplace more active.
Topeka, the capital city of Kansas, was our next stop. After driving through their equally barren downtown area, we began to wonder if all business was closed on Sunday in Kansas or was it due to the Memorial Day holiday. We figured the state capital should be a bit livelier than the average small town but the only place we stopped was at the post office to drop a postcard in the mailbox. Kansas City was our last stop on I-70 and we were certain we’d find some action there.
Just outside of Kansas City, we stopped to visit the Hollywood Casino. The casino is adjacent to the Kansas Speedway and a huge shopping plaza with tons of stores and eateries. We walked around for a bit inside and it’s a very nice place. Jazz picked up a chip for her collection and I indulged in a waffle cone full of “Chocolate Death” ice cream.
We returned to the road in search of downtown Kansas City. We set the GPS to 7th street and we were once again disappointed to find that everything was closed. We couldn’t even find a place to grab a postcard 🙁 And that was the end of our visit to Kansas.
We decided on a Flying J about halfway through the state of Missouri to make our stop for the night. Hopefully, we can find some interesting places to explore on the way home. We are contemplating a side trip down to Louisville, KY and have several good ideas about things to see from my cousin Myra, who lived there for many years. We still have a day or so to decide what we are going to do. At this rate, with nothing cool to explore near the highway, we will be home in no time.
~J&J
This morning, we got up at our usual time and did some shopping at Walmart for a few essentials. Seth, Erin and the babies stopped by Lady T to say goodbye before we left. Hopefully we will be able to visit again before the kids are in high school!
Once on the road, it took us about two hours to reach the Kansas state line. Kansas is very scenic in its own way and not as flat as Seth told us it would be. I guess compared to Colorado, anything is flat!
Seth told us that we had to stop when we saw signs for the “largest prairie dog”, which we did, at a place called “Prairie Dog Town” in Oakley, KS. We figured it was a statue but we never found out, as the place looked like a rundown zoo and Jazz won’t pay money to see locked up animals. We also attempted to visit Castle Rock near Quinter, KS but had to turn around because the pavement ended after a mile or so.
Nothing else seemed to catch our eye for today so we kept driving until we hit Salina, KS where we will stay the night at a Flying J. Tomorrow we will explore downtown Salina and maybe stop in Topeka and then Kansas City, KS.
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~J&J
Greetings from Miami… Oklahoma that is!
Today we completed the 66 tour of Missouri and the 13.5 miles of 66 in Kansas. Our first order of business was to locate an RV park to fill up our fresh water tank. Luckily, there was one right across from where we slept. Had to pay a fee for the water but we dumped for free the day before at the Meramec Caverns campground.
Just as soon as we got onto 66 in St. Robert we found ourselves in Uranus. This place should be called Man Town USA. Right as you enter Uranus (yes I said that) there is a huge complex with a 
party bar and grill, a tattoo parlor, gun shop and a Gentleman’s club. Although it looked all closed up at 9:30 in the morning, I am sure it’s pretty full at night, despite the huge billboard directly across the street that warns travelers about the evils or pornography.
From there, we headed west and stopped at Mr. Cs Route Post in Lebanon. This was a pretty cool souvenir shop with a nice jukebox playing the oldies as we shopped. We picked up just a couple things. Trying to spread out the shopping since I am sure we will be seeing lots of shops like this one. Speaking of shops, we happened upon what is supposed to be the world’s largest gift store. Yes! It was pretty big and we had ourselves a good time playing with the toys and trying on the goofy hats. Then we made a quick stop across the parking lot to the candy shop for a treat.
It sure was a beautiful day for driving. It was about 88 degrees and sunny which made cruising the small two lane back roads of Missouri pleasurable. The picturesque scenery makes you want to just stop and stay for a while.
There are a lot of museums along the Route 66 road, but if we stopped and explored all of them we would never make it home. We did however stop & chat for a spell with Gary Turner & “Mom” at the famous Gary’s Gay Parita. See our separate post on this location. It was such a special part of the trip we thought it should have a post of its own.
Winding through Springfield, Carthage and Joplin we eventually crossed the border into Kansas. Kansas has the smallest portion of Route 66 at only 13 miles or so but there is plenty to see. We found the Cars on the Route 66, formerly 4 Women on the Route, where the movie Cars got its inspiration for some of the characters.
We ended our traveling day just after crossing the border into Oklahoma, where we are about to get some shut eye in a Walmart parking lot in the town of Miami (pronounced my-AM-uh) . Oklahoma will be the longest stretch of Route 66. The old original was deliberately designed to cut clear across the state and we are looking forward to a mostly straight forward route.
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~J&J
Check out some of the locations we visited today.
