OK, well today I was going to write quite a bit, but that’s not going to happen. Although the day was a short ride – about 49 miles – I spent a lot of time lollygagging around with my new friends, Kimberly Hawks, Bill Collins and Rita Griggs. That means that even though we left around 7 a.m., and should’ve rolled in Larned by 10 or 11 a.m., we didn’t get to town until a little after 1 p.m.
But it was totally worth it.
Once again, the scenery was incredible. And I can’t stress how breathtaking the countryside is right now. So of course I had to stop and take a bunch of photos.
Maybe one of the best parts was a SAG stop in Burdett. If you don’t know, that’s the home of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered the planet Pluto. It’s also home to an awesome city park that has all of the old playground equipment you remember as a kid – and a free mini golf course. If you have a kid, take him or her to Burdett to play here before some uptight parent ends up getting all this cool equipment covered in bubble wrap.
Kimberly slid down the slide – the ones are stainless steel and get so hot they’ll burn your ass on the way down. We also found the greatest child’s toy ever – the high speed, slightly tilted merry-go-round. Remember? The one you got going so fast that someone always flew off and landed in the sand – or threw up trying to hold on. We did that too, and it was so much fun.
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On the way into town we stopped at Fort Larned and toured the place. For those of us in central Kansas, we’ve sort of lost our appreciation for the old place. But, with a group of people from other parts of the state, they were amazed at the place. They found it fascinating and hugely interesting.
Then when we got to Larned, we decided to eat at the Broadway Grub N Pub downtown. The food was great, and so was the beer.
But the best part was Gavin. He came in a couple times, and he looked like an, um, let’s say eccentric person. After watching him for a little and wondering what his story was, he came over to our table and asked if we wanted to see his car.
Yeah. That’s right. It’s a 1937 Cadilac Seville. It cost $50,000. Gavin talked to us quite a bit after that, and he was funny too. But his brother, who owns the Broadway, said Gavin has more money than sense. Either way, we liked him.
Those are the highlights from today. I still have so much to write, but my days are so full of activity it’s been hard to get any writing done. But keep checking here and I promise you’ll see something from most every day of this trip – which has been a very soul cleansing adventure, because of the beauty of this state and its people.
Oh, and there was a dust devil on the way, too.
