Retired and Trippin

After another really good continental breakfast at the hotel we checked out and drove east to Ellsworth where we jumped on Hwy 140 west and then 141 south. We enjoyed a visit at Mushroom Rock State Park, despite the dirt roads we had to drive to get there. The poor Mustang was nasty dusty. Next we stopped at Kanopolis Lake and State Park, where we hiked a portion of the Buffalo Tracks Trail and the Horse Thief Canyon Trail. It was a pretty area and we saw a cave. From Kanopolis State Park we drove south to Hwy 4 and west to Lindsborg, where we had a very average meal at the Swedish Crown Restaurant. From there it was a top-down drive home using Hwy's 4, 77, 56, 59 and K-10. Our mileage today was approimately 250 miles with a high temperature of 80. We arrived home at 5:30. To see all the photos taken today click on the following link:  Day 3

We started the day snooping around Wilson. I took photos of the burned out opera house, the humongous Czech egg and a building that used to be the Wilson bank. The former bank now houses attorneys and was the setting for a scene or two in the old movie, Paper Moon. Also a scene in the movie, Paper Moon, was an old building and grain elevators along the railroad tracks located at 27th Street and Avenue E. ( Source of the photo. ) Today it looks like this: We also saw an interesting structure that at one time served as the city jail and water tower! From Wilson we drove south to Claflin, where we toured around briefly. Then we were off to Pawnee Rock State Hitoric Site ( Pawnee Rock ). It is a rock protuberance south of the city of Pawnee Rock. It is historic because it was about half way along the Santa Fe Trail (Independence, MO to Santa Fe, NM). It was used by settlers and native Americans alike. There was an observation deck on top of current Pawnee Rock. At one time

My little Passion Fruit and I took off on a three day trip to central Kansas in our Mustang convertible. Normally we prefer traveling on two lane highways but since we wanted to make time to start with we drove I-70 west to the Manhattan exit. We drove north on Hwy 177 to Manhattan, home of the Wildcats, where we caught Hwy 24 westbound. We did stop north of Manhattan for gas and a break. It was close to 90 degrees already so the top went up for the rest of the day. No need to be uncomfortable when you don't need to. In Leonardville we stopped for lunch at Nelson's Landing Restaurant. We ate here once before and the vitals were good so there we were again. The daily special was a chicken burrito that was tasty. Nelson's is owned by the Nelson family (big shock). Jordy Nelson is part of that family. Jordy was a walk-on football player at Kansas State University. He ended up being a starter and had a stellar collegiate career. He played professionally for awhile at Green Ba