For our Great Train Adventure we transferred from the Missouri River Runner we rode across Missouri to the Southwest Chief coming from Chicago heading to Los Angelus. The station is actually in the Missouri Kansas City so we managed to cross the entire state without once touching the ground.
We also crossed the state mostly in the dark trying to rest in a tilt back seat which convinced us our plan to ride one night on the train and at least one night off was a brilliant idea. I have sleep apnea so I cannot just lay on my back without special equipment too bulky to hand carry. Then you roll along in the dark passing through occasional blasts of light from a small town until they stop at a well lighted station and add plenty of noise. A little past Garden City, Kansas we finally got enough light for this slightly blurry picture of the dawn before sunrise.
As we got a little more light I managed to capture a flock of wild turkeys and I'll refer you to Nebraska for the turkey story. Then it was cows and corn or in this case I think it was soybeans whenever water is available.
If there is not enough water it is back to sagebrush and jack rabbits. When the pioneers first confronted the huge grasslands in the middle of North America they called it the Great American Desert not knowing how right they were. Basically from Southern Mexico up into Canada east of the Rocky Mountains is dry. Ranging from the true desert of Death Valley to parts of New Mexico and Utah that may only get less than two inches of rain a year, frequently all at once, it gets wetter as you get further east. We are going the other way so as we head into southeastern Colorado and then south into New Mexico it will be getting drier and drier.
This year Kansas was almost one of the pass through states. On the way from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Independence, Missouri we got to Wichita early enough for a visit to the Wichita Botanica and a desire to come back later. From our base in Independence we spent the next month exploring the Kansas City Fountains which range across both the Kansas and Missouri parts of Kansas City. Actually rather confusing nomenclature but the city proper is located in Missouri.
From my experience, Kansas has always been one of the most friendly states. Many years ago after my initial Army training in the This is a self-service store, find it yourself.
east, we stopped at some little Kansas town. Leaving the local fast food joint with our three year old, the owner rushed out to give him an ice cream cone. Just being a Kansas type of guy.
Again heading west on US-36 in 2006 we happened to get tired in Norton, Kansas and stopped at a little independent motel. Not much to look at on the outside but the rooms were fine. The owner sent us down to an excellent meal on the south side of town which happened to be across the street from where the county fair had just started. Lori loves pigs and as we walked in the 4H swine show was just starting. Here is a bunch of just wonderful kids showing off the hogs they have personally raised. We sat through the whole show and had a wonderful time.
Norton was also the last stop before getting to Prairie Dog SP. The prairie dogs were very skittish and it was very hard to get close enough to get a decent photograph. Much more photogenic were the little borrowing owls. While the prairie dogs create an extensive warren it becomes home for a lot of other critters as well as a food pantry for snakes, ferrets, coyotes, and other predators. The owls share the prairie dogs home in return for assisting in guard duties.