We spent last night in Salina, Kansas - a quaint town with an enormous grain and corn mill. Yesterday was Maria's birthday (Happy Birthday Maria!) We told her to pick a place to chow, so she found Tuscons, a fantastic steak place. Tara ordered very tasty and moist baby back ribs, and I got a Kansas City Strip - mmmmmmmmmmmmh good; I'd been looking forward to sampling some Kansas beef. I was not disappointed.
The travelling cross-country was mostly uneventful. We got a late start from St. Charles - mostly we had a late night and we didn't want to get up early. Once on our way, we had a late lunch at a spacious rest stop; we ate PBJ's, yogurts and fruit, then let the kids (and some parents) run around. Tara did a fine job driving, I was tickled to finally get reading my novel, Michner's Centennial; after three chapters I'm definitely hooked - only a thousand more page to go!
We stopped for gas the west side of Topeka, and I took over driving. What a drive; sure Kansas has it's flat spots, but this stretch of I70 was breathtaking. Overhead us was a billowing Kansas sky, crackling with forked lightening, occasional downpours, and stunning green grass carpeting the rolling, jagged chunks of hills that guarded the highway. The landscape has flattened out into wheatfields and prarie grass, alot more flat, dry and stark. Really, once we got south of Indy, the scenery has been beautiful; southern Indiana, Illinois and Missouri have curvacious slopes, hundreds of acres of trees, and thick rivers. The vacation scenery has been a refreshing part of the vacation.
After the tasty steak dinner last night, the kids rode a mechanical pony while Jerm and I checked out the blown fuse in the van. We had blown the fuse earlier while watching a movie as Tara worked on her laptop; apparently both appliances plugged into the van were too much. So instead of watching a movie (which we used at strategic times to pass the time away) Emma had me retell my version of the Wizard of Oz as we trekked across Kansas! Once we replaced the fuse, we headed back to the hotel for a quick dip in the pool - then late to bed.
Now it's off to breakfast, to pack, and hit the highlands.
1 comment:
Tim, if you have time on your way back, you should stop in Abilene Ks. It's just East of Salina on I-70. You have to drive right thru it if you take I-70 home. Anyway, that is where Dad was born and raised. I have relatives that own three restaurants there. If you go south into town on Buckeye (the main street off I-70) you will see Kuntz's Drive-Inn on the right. That is Uncle Marvin's restaurant. If you stop in he sells A&W root beer right out of the tap and it is great for traveling if you get a gallon to go. The others are harder to find but just as good.
Also if you are looking for some entertainment to break up the trip, the Dwight D. Eisenhower museum, birth home and burial spot are there on Buckeye further south of town on Buckeye. It's a neat place to visit and lot's to look at. If you go just past that there is a small replica of "Old Town" complete with jailhouse, one room schoolhouse, saloon (to get a sarsaparilla) and a few Shoppes’.
Anyway it's a neat place to check out if you have time.
Take care
Chris
Post a Comment