Why Kansas?

 

We came, we saw, we got the hell out of Dodge.  As best we could anyway, when you’re towing a 31’ Fifth Wheel behind you.  We are on the cusp of Memorial Weekend – school is almost out for summer and tourist attractions will never be closed to our tourist dollars.  But before we could get the hell out of Dodge, we first had to get the Heck into Dodge.  Dodge City that is.  One of the many towns that Wyatt Earp helped clean up of desperados, outlaws and all round bad guys.

Did a walking tour of Dodge taking in the sights then headed to Ellinwood where we toured part of an Underground town.  Most of the buildings in the main street of Ellinwood had basements that had businesses operating out of them.  Connecting all these basements was a tunnel – one on each side of the main street with a couple of connecting tunnels.  Many theories abound as to why the tunnels were built – my favourite is the link to the 
brewery and Prohibition but no-one really knows.  Most of the tunnels were 

Steps that lead down to basement
 businesses and tunnel

filled in in the 1970’s however one woman took on the county and won the right to keep hers open.  This was ultimately turned into the tourist attraction we have today.  Three of the basements connected by the tunnel show the businesses that went on in the day – a harness shop, barber and bathhouse.


Smart barber used to provide beer
 for those waiting - also had
 a poker table

When finished, the tin tubs were just tipped
up for the water to drain through the
floorboards back into the town's
water supply.



 

 

 

I know we used to reuse the bathwater
when we were kids but, ewwww

 

 

 Headed north from Ellinwood to a small town named Lucas.  What an amazing place.  It’s definitely centred around grassroots art (Garden of Eden, Grassroots Art Centre, Bowl Plaza, Deeble House to name the ones we visited) and the whole town has a good vibe to it.  We joined the locals in a fundraiser lunch for the local community theatre.  We even had a woman come up for a chat telling us she saw us in Dodge the previous day.  Yes, it was in a bar but yes, we were behaving (it was only lunch time).  I think it was more overhearing us speak in both towns and recognising the accent – she even picked us for New Zealanders.  Not as much fun as sisters behaving badly but there you go.

 

 

Garden of Eden.  Log Cabin built in 1907 with blocks of
limestone shaped and dovetailed like a proper log cabin.

 

 

The last sculpture SP Dinsmoor was working on when he died in 1932 (aged 80+) hence the unfinished lawyer and banker at the bottom.  Most of his installations were along religious or political lines – he was involved in the Populist movement.

Car and motorbike made from tear tabs,
exhibited at the Grassroots Art Centre

 

Bowl Plaza - public restrooms.
Note the toilet bowl shape entrance.
The inside is lined with mosaic art.

Deeble House - a small taste of the
multitude of art work that lies within.

 

 Leaving Lucas we headed east to Rock City at Minneapolis.  An area approximately the size of a couple of football fields is home to a couple of hundred of spherical boulders like these:

 

Rock City, Minneapolis, Kansas

 

Sue & Jean making themselves comfortable in the Giant's Easy Chair



A dozen of them have been named by some children so we had a bit of fun trying to work out which rocks matched the names.  I think we got them all.  Heading southwards again we stayed in a town called Lindsborg who celebrate their Swedish heritage, including a herd of wild dala horses throughout the town.  Spied several of the wee critters before stopping for a well earned coffee.

 

Jean finds one her size

Every good firefighter
needs a spotted horse
 

 Continuing south we find ourselves in Hutchinson that is home to the Underground Salt Museum.  The museum itself is 650’ underground like the mine itself and everything is taken up and down by elevator, including all equipment which is broken down into manageable pieces and welded back together underground.  Basically, what goes underground, stays underground.  This was a good thing when the museum was being set up as they just had to trawl the played out parts of the mine and, voila, here are all the exhibits.  They just had to collect them all.  Given that this particular mine covered 67 miles this was no easy feat but they’ve done a fantastic job.  Can see the similarities between copper mining and salt mining.

What goes underground stays
underground - they keep patching them
until they stop then leave them where
they die.

No big boggers in this mine - note how low
 the backs (ceilings) are.

 

 
  
 

 

 


From Hutchinson it was a short hop down to Wichita.  Haven’t seen any linemen and we were driving the main roads … we did see these chaps but not a lineman among them.

This troll lurks below a grate by the Little Arkansas River in Wichita
- it's okay kids, he's chained up and can't get out.

Keeper of the Plains statue in Wichita.  During the summer
months, fire pots are lit at the base - we were too busy
toasting Wally for his birthday with moonshine
to go back and see them lit.

One of the many weird and wonderful art works that
make up Hubbell's Rubble at Howard, KS

And finally, the oldest swinging bridge in Moline, KS, from 1904.

So that is why Kansas.  It may not have the scenery or mountains like some of the other states but it’s got a whole bunch of interesting and quirky stuff to go see.  You just have to look hard and you’ll find it.