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.

Life After Cows...Part Six...

Last time we left you heading east through Colorado, back towards Kansas, where we planned to spend some time with my brother-in-law's parents.

We kept our eyes on Pikes Peak in our rear view mirrors as long as we could...

Once again focusing east, we saw quite a contrast in landscape from what we had seen the past few days...

I will admit, I'm glad we had filled up our gas tank when we left Colorado Springs, because we saw nothing...nothing...for miles.  I guess it's not fair to say we saw "nothing", but it was definitely barren!

Not long before we entered Kansas on Route 40, we stopped in Cheyenne Wells CO for a pit stop and pictures...

Our first tumbleweed...

We made our way into Sharon Springs, KS, and of course found the grain elevators...

We headed south of town for a few miles, and following my sister's directions, found our final destination for the day...

The Sommerfeld house...

We stayed with my brother-in-law's parents, who live in the very western part of Kansas, only a handful of miles from Colorado.  We have visited with Stan and Jan when they have come to PA to visit family, but this was a first for us, to visit their home in Kansas. Jim had been through Sharon Springs on the wheat harvest over 30 years ago, but of course didn't know them then. They very graciously welcomed us, and Jan had a delicious lunch waiting for us when we arrived!

Stan and Jim...

After lunch, we hopped into their vehicle and got a grand tour of the area.  We checked out one of Stan's center pivot irrigation units...

We saw lots of beautiful landscape, blue sky and cotton ball clouds!  It was fun to see how things were beginning to turn green as we made our way across the county.  Spring was definitely showing it's face...

Stan was acquainted with a neighboring farmer who has around 8,000 cows, and we got a personal tour of the facility.  We got to watch them milk in their double-24 milking parlor, and this picture fascinated me.  It spites me that I can't remember how many calves they have on milk, but it was either 300 or 500 bottle babies!  It was fun to watch, but I certainly had no trouble leaving that job for someone else to do!  :)

When we got back to the house, Jan prepared another wonderful meal feast for us!  Her gift of hospitality sure was being used, and we were so honored to be the recipients.

The next morning, Jim and I got up and took a walk.  We kind of saw the sun came up...

 ...and enjoyed walking around in Stan's fields to check out some of his equipment...

Jim checked out the grain truck...

...and we enjoyed watching the horses...

Our visit wasn't very long,but we really enjoyed our time in Sharon Springs, and appreciated Stan and Jan's warm hospitality!

Of course we were sent off with a huge breakfast...strawberry french toast...homemade cinnamon rolls, and much much more...

And did I mention that we also got to take lots of food along for our trip that day?

Thank you so much, Stan and Jan, for taking the time to host us!

Our next set destination was Evanston IL to visit my sister and family, and we had a couple of days to get there, so we studied our map and considered our options.  We decided to head north towards Nebraska, and then east, with a goal of getting to Fairbury Nebraska by late afternoon/evening.  We were interested in seeing some historical Oregon Trail sights.

Off we went, with a few rabbit trails in between.

That will be saved for next time...

Life After Cows...Trip Part Three...

It's time I get back to the details of our trip!  Work has been quite busy, and we're still adjusting to life after cows, so some things aren't getting done as quickly as I'd like...

I left off the last time with our arrival in Hesston Kansas, where we met up with Jenna!  We stayed at the guest house on campus, which is super convenient when visiting someone at the college.  Our first full day there, Jenna had classes all day, so Jim and I did some adventuring of our own.

Over 30 years ago, Jim spent a summer on the wheat harvest, cutting wheat from Texas to Montana with a crew based out of Inman Kansas.  Before we left on our trip, he did some research and found what he thought might be a current address for his boss, Randy Ediger.  He didn't have a phone # though, so we were going out on a bit of a limb.  We punched it into the GPS and went for a drive.  As we came to the driveway, we saw harvesters lined up beside a barn, along with some grain trucks, and so we pulled in to find out if our search had been successful.  There was a young man working in an implement shed, and Jim hopped out of the car to talk to him while I waited.  A few minutes later, a man came out of the house saying "Jim!  You made it back!"  Randy recognized Jim right away, and we had a wonderful visit with him!  He was very gracious to receive unexpected guests, and made us feel very welcome!

Jim has a lot of great memories of his time back in the summer of 1987 on the wheat harvest!

After we left the Ediger farm, we headed just a few miles south to the little town of Buehler...

I had gone out on a limb of my own the day before, and contacted a fellow blogger, Kim, from Kim's County Line.  She's a fellow farm wife, and I've enjoyed reading about her life in Kansas for the past few years.  I knew she wasn't too far from where we would be (and in Kansas, an hour of travel feels so different than it does around here!!) and so I asked her if there was any way we could meet up.  She was also very gracious, and we met at a coffee shop in Buehler and had  nice visit!  We both regretted later that we hadn't take a picture, but we had a very nice time meeting in person and getting to know each other a little bit.  Thanks, Kim for taking time to meet with a near stranger on a whim!!

We took Jenna for supper in the evening, and turned in feeling like we had had a successful day!

On Thursday, our second full day in Hesston, all that Jenna had on her schedule was a violin lesson in the morning.  We've really missed hearing her play, so it was a treat to have her play several pieces for us that she's been working on...

We then headed out with Jenna for an adventure to a Salt Mine in Hutchinson.  It is an active salt mine, which Kim recommended would be a fun place to tour.  We were not disappointed!

We went from 630' high at the St Louis Arch, to 650' below ground for the tour of the mine. I thought it might feel a little claustrophobic, being underground, but it didn't feel that way at all.  The part of the mine that we were in was well lit, with high ceilings, so we didn't even feel like we were underground!  The underground temperature was a constant 55 degrees, so it was also quite comfortable temperature wise...

That chunk of salt beside Jim and Jenna weighs over a ton...

 The salt from this mine is used for road salt...

The large equipment inside the mine was taken down in pieces and reassembled once it was down in the mine.  It will stay there permanently, even after it's no longer in use.  This was an undercutter, which was used to cut a way a few inches at the bottom of each wall, which then allowed somewhere for the salt to fall once blasting took place...

...and this conveyor belt transported the salt out of the mine...

If you're ever near Hutchinson Kansas, I'd recommend it as place to visit!

We headed back to Hesston, and enjoyed our last evening on campus.  We strolled around the Arboretum...

...and enjoyed some welcome signs of spring...

As we prepared to leave Kansas, there was one other thing that I wanted to document, and that is the almost constant Kansas wind...

We had a wonderful time, and headed out early Friday morning for our next stop...Fort Collins Colorado to visit my Aunt.  More in a bit...

Life After Cows...Trip Part Two...

Last time I think I left you in West Virginia, where Jim and I enjoyed our first weekend away with my sister and brother in law. 

On Monday morning we packed up our car and headed into the "unknown".  We knew that our next destination would be Hesston Kansas, where our daughter is in college, but we didnt' know exactly which route we would take or where all we might stop.

We wound our way through the mountains of West Virginia, and ended up on Route 64 in Charleston, where we began our trek west towards Jenna.  There were lots of hills and lots of hairpin turns on those roads for the first hour or so!

Kentucky was the first state that we entered that we had never been in before...

What I remember the most, was the amount of steel bridges that we saw and crossed!  It made me think of Eric, who will soon graduate with a degree in Civil Engineering.  Steel structures are in his area of interest...

We found a motel just east of St Louis, where we spent the night.  We hoped to go up into the arch the next morning, but were unable to purchase any tickets online.  Bummer!  Or so we thought.  We decided to stop anyway, and were pleasantly surprised that we could still buy tickets on sight.

It was a gorgeous day!

I must say that if you are at all claustrophobic (which I am) the ride to the top of the tower is a bit of a stretch.  You sit in a small pod with up to four other people, your knees all touching and your shoulders a bit hunched so that you don't bang your head for the 4 minute ride to the top.  The view however, was worth it...

Looking east.  That's the Cargill grain elevator in the front center of the picture, with a barge apparently loading some grain.

Looking to the west.  The St Louis Cardinals baseball stadium is on the far left side of the picture...

The Mississippi River was quite muddy and very high.  I have never really seen it up close before to be able to compare it to "normal", but there were several docks just below us that were partially under water.  There was also a lot of debris in the water that had been caught up in piles near the shore.  A lot of the water from the flooding upstream was clearly making it's way south...

After we came down from the arch, we found a place to grab some lunch, and hopped back in the car for the rest of our trip towards Hesston.

We stopped at a car museum that we saw along Route 70 in western Missouri...

...and made our way southwest from Kansas City just before dark.  If you enlarge the picture, you can see a line of fire on the hillside in the distance.  It's the time of year that farmers burn their fields...

...a beautiful Kansas sunset...as beautiful as it could be from a moving car window anyway...

Finally, look who we found!  We haven't seen her since Christmas!

More next time on our adventures in Kansas and beyond!