Aug 4, 2008--Topeka to Oakley, KS

Good Grief, we're still in Kansas! They really need to break this state into two states--East Kansas and West Kansas. We started today from Topeka and headed south to Council Grove which is the start of the Santa Fe Trail and is smack dab in the middle of the Flint Hills which are really very pretty. From Council Grove we drove south to the Tallgrass Nature Preserve which is a ranch that was donated to the Nature Conservancy but is run by the Federal Park Service. All of the buildings were made of limestone that was quarried locally. Quite impressive was the stone outhouse. Being from Indiana and being old enough to remember and actually use an outhouse a time or two, I was totally awestruck by the stone outhouse. I have heard of a brick s---house, but had never heard or seen one made of stone. I guess we can go home now as I've probably seen the most impressive sight. After our little side trip we headed back to I-70 and continued to slog our way west. What's the difference between Arizona and Kansas in a heat wave? Nothing, except Kansas is green. Our in truck thermometer at one point showed the temperature as 106 and it was 100 or above most of the afternoon. I've talked with some locals and they assure me that the western boundary of Kansas is "just up the road a piece". I think we've actually slipped into one of those old Twilight Zone movies. JK

I enjoyed the Tallgrass Prairie and adding one more stamp to my National Parks passbook. Picture one looks out over the Flint Hills and three is of the aforementioned outhouse, both at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. The second picture is one taken as we were traveling into Council Grove on KS 177 which is a scenic byway. They had different metal sculpture posted on the hills as you came into town, very cool. It was a great drive to see the largely undisturbed grassland of the prairie. BK