Day 14: Kansas

We are not in Kansas anymore, oh wait we are.

From St Louis I headed west on I-70 bound for Kansas.  This road reminds me of the trip from Vermont to Colorado with my sister Astrid. It was between my Sophomore and Junior year, after coming home for 6 weeks or so, I decided to spend the summer in Durango.  Astrid agreed to take a couple of weeks and do the drive with me, hang out in Colorado, and be dropped off in Phoenix for a flight home.  We were on this stretch of 1-70 late in the day and all of a sudden, the dash lights and a few other electrical items go out.  We pulled over and I replaced the fuse which seemed to get everything working again.  Further on the down the road, it was getting dark and we were going through Kansas City.  All of a sudden Truckers would come up behind us and start flashing their lights. We figured out that our taillights were out, but at this point there was nothing more we could do.  We made it to a hotel for the night and were able to drive in daylight to Colorado the next day. I couldn’t get the car fixed until my friend Mike figured it out.  The other thing about that trip, Astrid kept asking if we could stop for snacks, I kept telling her we had to wait until we needed gas, no reason to stop twice. I think she is still mad about that.  More on the way I tortured poor Astrid on this trip, when I get to Colorado.

I stopped in Kansas City Missouri to view the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. My guidebook calls it “Cow Town’s World Class Collections”. Like the museum in Milwaukee, it’s in a beautiful new building but it has even more varied of a collection from Contemporary Art to Dutch, French and American Art.  They also have a sculpture garden, below is a picture of one of their iconic badminton shuttlecocks.

Ended the day in Lawrence.  In 1854 a group of people from Massachusetts founded this town, with the idea of making it a free slave state. Pro Slavery guerrillas massacred 180 unarmed men and boys and burned down the town in 1863, one of the great atrocities of the civil war.  Today Lawrence stands out for its rolling hills, unlike most of the rest of Kansas and its generally progressive views.  One tip-off is the use of masks are required in this county, so much different from Missouri.

Last Picture today is words I live by.

Song of the Day: For my class of 1978 friends – Dust in the Wind, Kansas

Podcast: On Something: Today, can weed replace opioids (spoiler alert, need more research)

Book on Tape:  Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Beer of the Day:  Yakimaniac Free State Beer

Total Miles 300