Chapman, Kansas
Chris and I had not traveled for some time. We grounded ourselves because of the pending birth of our grandson, Bud. He could appear at any time and we don’t want to miss his arrival. We both felt the wanderlust, however, so we decided to take a day trip to Chapman, Kansas to see the damage caused by a tornado on June 11, 2008.
We departed at 9:45 AM on Tuesday, August 12, 2008. Three miles from home I realized I forgot the camera. It would be difficult to blog the trip without photos. We returned home, retrieved the camera, and also picked up the sheep skin seat cover that I forgot to put on the Goldwing. Memory is the second thing to go! We departed the second time at 10:00 AM.
We left Shawnee northbound on Interstate 435 to Kansas Highway 32 west. Highway 32 took us through Edwardsville, Bonner Springs and Linwood to the north end of Lawrence, Kansas. There we picked up Highway 24 west, which took us through Perry, the north side of Topeka, Silver Lake, and Rossville to St. Mary’s, Kansas.
While driving into St. Mary’s our attention was drawn to a cool looking stone church at St. Mary’s Academy and College. Closer inspection revealed that the church was severely damaged. By checking their web site I learned the “Immaculata” was destroyed by fire in 1978 (http://www.smac.edu/). We got some pictures and continued west on Highway 24 to Wamego, Kansas. We gassed up the Goldwing and took on liquid refreshment at a gas station located at the junction of highways 24 and 99.
With full tanks we rode south on Highway 99 to downtown Wamego, where we stopped at the OZ Museum, 511 Lincoln Ave (http://www.ozmuseum.com/). After paying $7 each we went through the museum. It was sort of interesting but unless you’re a real Wizard of Oz junkie – not worth the price of admission.
We said goodbye to the tin man and rode south on Highway 99 to Highway 18 west. This was a pretty road that took us into Manhattan. After eating lunch at the Whiskey Creek Grill we rode through the campus of Kansas State University (http://www.k-state.edu/) looking for the tornado damage from June 11, 2008. We didn’t do a thorough search but it appeared the damage was mostly at Ward Hall, Rathbone Hall, Fiedler Hall, and the engineering building. We took some pictures but they are not that dramatic. In some you can only see men working on the roof, which we assumed was to repair tornado damage.
As we rode out of Manhattan on Anderson Ave I intended to take Scenic Dr (Kimball Ave) south to highway 18, which would have taken us directly to Junction City, Kansas. When we passed Kimball Ave, however, I did not know it was the same thing as Scenic Dr so I continued west and north on Anderson Ave. It was a pretty ride and we saw some neat looking stone barns and farm houses . . . . . . but we went way out of our way north. We turned left (south and west) on Madison Rd and soon realized that Madison Rd was the same thing as Highway 77, which took us past Milford Reservoir to near Junction City.
On the northwest end of Junction City we picked up Highway 18 west. We rode approximately 8 to 9 miles to an unnamed road (there are signs that make it clear that this road goes to Chapman) that took us south under Interstate 70 and into Chapman, Kansas.
All photos in Chapman were taken by Chris from the rear seat of the Goldwing. We slowly toured some of the damaged area stopping briefly for photos. The power and destruction of tornados are impressive.
We left Chapman riding south on Rain Rd. We turned east at 1400 Ave, which turns into Highway 209 just before reaching Highway 77. We rode south on Highway 77 to Herington where we took the obligatory Dairy Queen break.
From Herrington we took off east on Highway 56 riding through Council Grove and Allen to Burlingame, Kansas. We stopped at the Casey’s for some Gatorade and chips. We completed our trip by riding east on Highway 56 through Scranton, Overbrook, Baldwin City, Edgerton, and Gardner into Olathe. There we picked up Highway 7 north into Shawnee.
The total mileage on my odometer was 372 miles. Subtract our 6 mile turnaround at the beginning of the trip and we have a 366 mile trip.
We departed at 9:45 AM on Tuesday, August 12, 2008. Three miles from home I realized I forgot the camera. It would be difficult to blog the trip without photos. We returned home, retrieved the camera, and also picked up the sheep skin seat cover that I forgot to put on the Goldwing. Memory is the second thing to go! We departed the second time at 10:00 AM.
We left Shawnee northbound on Interstate 435 to Kansas Highway 32 west. Highway 32 took us through Edwardsville, Bonner Springs and Linwood to the north end of Lawrence, Kansas. There we picked up Highway 24 west, which took us through Perry, the north side of Topeka, Silver Lake, and Rossville to St. Mary’s, Kansas.
While driving into St. Mary’s our attention was drawn to a cool looking stone church at St. Mary’s Academy and College. Closer inspection revealed that the church was severely damaged. By checking their web site I learned the “Immaculata” was destroyed by fire in 1978 (http://www.smac.edu/). We got some pictures and continued west on Highway 24 to Wamego, Kansas. We gassed up the Goldwing and took on liquid refreshment at a gas station located at the junction of highways 24 and 99.
With full tanks we rode south on Highway 99 to downtown Wamego, where we stopped at the OZ Museum, 511 Lincoln Ave (http://www.ozmuseum.com/). After paying $7 each we went through the museum. It was sort of interesting but unless you’re a real Wizard of Oz junkie – not worth the price of admission.
We said goodbye to the tin man and rode south on Highway 99 to Highway 18 west. This was a pretty road that took us into Manhattan. After eating lunch at the Whiskey Creek Grill we rode through the campus of Kansas State University (http://www.k-state.edu/) looking for the tornado damage from June 11, 2008. We didn’t do a thorough search but it appeared the damage was mostly at Ward Hall, Rathbone Hall, Fiedler Hall, and the engineering building. We took some pictures but they are not that dramatic. In some you can only see men working on the roof, which we assumed was to repair tornado damage.
As we rode out of Manhattan on Anderson Ave I intended to take Scenic Dr (Kimball Ave) south to highway 18, which would have taken us directly to Junction City, Kansas. When we passed Kimball Ave, however, I did not know it was the same thing as Scenic Dr so I continued west and north on Anderson Ave. It was a pretty ride and we saw some neat looking stone barns and farm houses . . . . . . but we went way out of our way north. We turned left (south and west) on Madison Rd and soon realized that Madison Rd was the same thing as Highway 77, which took us past Milford Reservoir to near Junction City.
On the northwest end of Junction City we picked up Highway 18 west. We rode approximately 8 to 9 miles to an unnamed road (there are signs that make it clear that this road goes to Chapman) that took us south under Interstate 70 and into Chapman, Kansas.
All photos in Chapman were taken by Chris from the rear seat of the Goldwing. We slowly toured some of the damaged area stopping briefly for photos. The power and destruction of tornados are impressive.
We left Chapman riding south on Rain Rd. We turned east at 1400 Ave, which turns into Highway 209 just before reaching Highway 77. We rode south on Highway 77 to Herington where we took the obligatory Dairy Queen break.
From Herrington we took off east on Highway 56 riding through Council Grove and Allen to Burlingame, Kansas. We stopped at the Casey’s for some Gatorade and chips. We completed our trip by riding east on Highway 56 through Scranton, Overbrook, Baldwin City, Edgerton, and Gardner into Olathe. There we picked up Highway 7 north into Shawnee.
The total mileage on my odometer was 372 miles. Subtract our 6 mile turnaround at the beginning of the trip and we have a 366 mile trip.
The following link will take you to all the trip photos:
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