Life After Cows...Part Seven...

Eastward we go!

We were hoping to avoid big interstates as much as we could today, since we had a window of several days to get to our next set destination.  After all, part of the fun of this trip was seeing unexpected sights along the way!  We angled northeast on Route 40, and then farther north to Route 36, which runs pretty much directly east along the northern edge of Kansas. 

A little over an hour into our travels, we came across our first unexpected sight for the day.  McCarty Family Farms, in Rexford KS.  We stopped in and got a personal tour of their facility.  In total, between their three farms, they milk over 7000 cows, and have a direct contract with Dannon.  We were not allowed to take any photos, but I will say, it was a state of the art facilty!

Back in the car we went, and enjoyed the trip along the "super 2", as Stan referred to Rt 36.  We were rolling along, minding our own business, when out of the blue we saw one of the "historical marker" signs that we were keeping our eyes out for...

Hmmm...sounded kind of interesting to us!  We followed the directions for x amount of miles north and x amount of miles west, which is so common in the midwest, and found the small park which is at the geographical center of the lower 48 states!

This is the kind of thing that we enjoyed finding.  It didn't have to be fancy, just interesting, and in this case, something that I would imagine most people would have no idea existed!

Lebanon, Kansas...

By this time, the afternoon was quickly passing, and we began to wonder if we would get to Fairbury  before dark.  There is a park there where you can still see the ruts in the ground from the wagon train as it crossed the prairie heading towards Oregon, and we really didn't want to miss it!

Just before dusk, we got to Rock Creek Station, a park outside of Fairbury Nebraska.  The visitor center was closed, but we walked around for about an hour, by which time it was getting pretty dark.

Rock Creek Station was a stage and Pony Express station, and some of the buildings have been reconstructed so we could see what it may have looked like in the mid 1800's...

This particular section has been relatively undisturbed, and if you look closely, you can see the wagon ruts in the weeds, going up the hill, heading west...

Down at the creek bottom, there was a sign explaining where the wagon trains originally had to ford the creek...

It explains how difficult the crossing was, and the reason for the bridge that was built...

This picture is taken from a distance, and if you look closely, you can see the toll bridge in the distance...

In the summer time, wagon rides are given at the park, so this section of the trail is definitely well defined... 

Of course there were also grave markers...

By the time we were finished exploring, it was dark and time to move on.  We were so glad to have been able to visit the park.  I would say this got crossed off of our bucket list...except there is a place in Wyoming that you can see the ruts worn into the rock from the wagon wheels, and grooves from oxen's feet and from people walking.  When we were at my Aunt's house in Colorado, we had no idea how close we were!  We'll have to catch that the next time!

On to Lincoln Nebraska for the night, and then our trek towards Chicago.