Along the Way

Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette:

ALONG THE WAY

One of the reasons people take road trips is to see what’s going on in the rest of the world. Most of us desire, crave, new scenery.

For those of us who live, work and spend most of our time in one community, sometimes we go for days or weeks without leaving the city limits. When we do finally bust out of town, our eyes greedily scan the horizon to see what all we can find.

On April 16, Dave and I attended an event in Abilene to launch Marci Penner’s “8 Wonders of Kansas Guidebook.”

Instead of zigzagging west and north like we usually do when we head for the Salina/Abilene area, we headed straight north and then west. We went through Allen, followed K-99 through Eskridge and Alma, and then jumped aboard I-70 westbound.

In Eskridge, the Hippie Goddess Shop on Main Street caught my eye, because you have to admit, Kansas doesn’t have many Hippie Goddess Shops. Unfortunately, we were there too early in the day; it wasn’t open yet. Maybe we’ll catch it next time.

Between Eskridge and Alma we passed the occasional stone fence along K-99. Dave and I were pleased to see that spring was taking over the countryside. When we got to I-70, we decided that we’d swing into Manhattan to grab lunch at the Hibachi Hut in Aggieville.

In Abilene at the “8 Wonders” book event, the place was full of card-carrying Kansas Explorers, and so I asked several of them to share with me what they had noticed on their drives that morning.

Shelia Lampe and her husband, Don, traveled from Piqua in Woodson County. “I saw lots of wind,” Shelia said, mentioning that semis on the highway had been leaning. “That makes me nervous,” she added.

She and Don had stopped in Lyndon for the Rolling Pin Bakery’s cinnamon rolls. She held her hands out to show me that the roll was about the size of a salad plate. “Only $1.00,” she said. “And it was good.”

Shelia noted the appearance of the Flint Hills after all the burning. With the grass burned down, the stones are visible. “When the grass is tall, I don’t think of all the rocks that are always there,” she said.

Frank Thompson and his wife, Nancy, traveled to Abilene from Overland Park. Frank mentioned that he had also paid attention to the areas that had been burned in the Flint Hills. “I don’t think I’ve ever noticed how much more you can actually see the topography just after it’s been burned like that.”

I spoke with Jerry Kissel of Wetmore in Nemaha County, who introduced himself as “the shoe tree man.” He said his father started the shoe tree, a Cottonwood tree onto which shoes, presumably old ones, are nailed – just for the oddness of it all.

Kissel said that what he noticed on his trip to Abilene was a huge crowd of people in Wamego who were there to attend the town’s annual tulip festival.

Next I talked with Sally Fuller and Jo Ann Combs, who run the Liberal Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. The day prior had been a record-breaking high-wind day in western Kansas and on their trip from Liberal to Abilene, they had noticed three semis blown over in the ditches between Minneola and Kinsley.

They enjoyed passing through Cheyenne Bottoms on K-156, and they had also observed a group of wild turkeys just before they got on I-70.

Tom Parker, an avid birdwatcher who drove in from Blue Rapids said, “I saw a Swainson’s Hawk.” He told me that it was a bird with one of the longest migration routes, flying all the way from Argentina.

When you hit the road in Kansas, there’s something for everyone. Maybe you’ll tune in to the wildlife, or perhaps the topography, or maybe you’ll be one of those folks who love to tour small towns.

And, should you want to learn more about what there is to see and do in Kansas (and who doesn’t), the event of the year happens this weekend, the Kansas Sampler Festival. Head to Ray Miller Park, 4201 S. 4th, in Leavenworth on May 7, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., and May 8, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Adults $5; Children 7-14, $3; under six, admitted free.) For more information, visit http://www.kansassampler.org/festival/.

Copyright 2011 ~ Cheryl Unruh

Downtown Eskridge