Crossing Kansas

On the morning of June 7, we pointed our wagon train in a northeasterly direction on the Santa Fe Trail and got the heck out of Dodge. We planned to stop by Russell, home of Bob Dole, but the weather was working against us. Dark storm clouds followed us with thunder and lightning, it rained off and on, and strong sidewinds made it a challenge to keep the RV in its lane, in spite of its sleek breadbox aerodynamics (LOL).  If that wasn’t bad enough, we had to deal with the wind effects and water spray of semi trucks passing us at 70 mph on the two-lane highway.  So, we passed on Russell and took a direct route to Abilene.

After checking into our campground, Ron replaced a burned out headlight, we watched the rain for a while and did some reading.

Bonnie kept a close watch on the weather reports and scanned the sky for possible tornados. There was a tornado watch for our area for a while, but none materialized. Ron was very disappointed that the rain turned the campground’s mini-golf course into reflecting pools.

Do you remember the song . . . “Abilene, Abilene. Prettiest town that I’ve ever seen. People there don’t treat you mean, in Abilene . . .” We found the people of Abilene to be very nice indeed. When we stopped at the local market and didn’t have their membership discount card, the cashier gave us the discount anyway.

Abilene is the home of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

We spent a couple hours at the Eisenhower Center. It consists of the family home where Ike grew up, an excellent museum, the presidential library, and a Place of Meditation where Ike and Mamie are buried. And, of course, a gift shop. The center was very interesting and informative, especially museum's acounts of World War II and D-Day 1944 when General Eisenhower was commander of the allied troops.

This is the front of the museum.

Abilene is also home to the Greyhound Racing Hall of Fame. Two beautiful greyhounds greeted us as we entered the facility. We learned a lot about the breed and about dog racing but, since we’re not fans of that particular sport, we didn’t spend a lot of time there.

On June 9, we moved to a little RV park at the edge of a corn field near Lyndon, Kansas.

This is a very pretty part of Kansas with lush green rolling hills, scattered deciduous woodlots, neatly cultivated fields, small lakes and quiet country roads.  We took a look at nearby Melvern Lake, which is surrounded by nice parks and campgrounds.  Note the cloudy sky, typical of our week in Kansas.

Bonnie was relieved to find a roomy and sturdy tornado shelter about 100 ft. from our camp space. Fortunately, we didn’t need it.

On a hot muggy Thursday, June 10, we took a day trip to Lawrence, home of Kansas University.  It's a beautiful campus and KU usually has one of the best basketball teams in the country. The city of Lawrence (pop. About 80,000) is a beautiful city. It’s city center has many restored old buildings, nice trees and landscaping, some sidewalk restaurants and other features.  In the surrounding older neighborhoods, we found block after block of beautiful classic old homes on streets shaded by huge trees. The Old West Lawrence Historic District has more than 40 Victorian and Italianate-style residences.  We were impressed with Lawrence and some of the prettiest neighborhoods we’ve seen anywhere.

Due to road construction, it took us a while to find the freeway to Topeka. As soon as we found the on-ramp we were confronted with our first toll booth of this trip. It cost us a dollar to drive from Lawrence to Topeka, a distance of about 20 miles.


We arrived in downtown Topeka and parked by the state capitol.  State capitols are always worth a visit.  They're always impressive buildings and reflect the pride and history of the state.  Kansas' capitol was no exception.  It was partly wrapped in scaffolding as workers were undertaking a major facelift of the building. Industrial fencing surrounded the building and we walked entirely around it before finding the visitor entrance.

We toured the building and learned all about its history, murals, ceiling paintings, massive limestone foundation, antique “cage” elevator and other features. The structure was built between 1866 and 1903 and is 16 ft. higher than the Capitol in Washington D.C.  Ron was anxious to climb the 296 steps to the outer balcony near the top of the dome, but it was closed for renovation.  Bonnie found the tornado shelter in the basement.

The Senate and House chambers were especially ornate, with their beautiful stonework, light fixtures and old wooden desks.  The Senate chamber (31 Republicans and 9 Democrats)is surrounded by columns of copper and brass. Beautiful building.

In the absence of Governor Parkinson, Ron assumed the roll at the "ceremonial desk".

We stopped at Old Prairie Town before leaving Topeka. It’s an assortment of old buildings and botanical gardens surrounding the Prairie Mansion, which was built about 1870.

The 1800s buildings include a log cabin, schoolhouse, church, general store, railroad depot and others.  Abilene also had a small collection of historic buildings in its Old Abilene district.  It's nice to see so many communities preserving pieces of their history for visitors and future generations.  Every town we pass through has something of value or significance that they would like the world to see.  We don't have the time to see it all, but we try.

We have reservations in Branson and will be there on June 14.  So, after a full and exciting week in Kansas, we're ready to leave our little campground in Lyndon and see what Missouri looks like.