Kansas--the old west revisited

Oops, almost missed the sign!

Day 28:  We rose early and took to the road, figuring we'd shoot straight across Kansas with few reasons to stop. What is there is to see in Kansas, right? Actually, it was fun just driving through towns whose names we recognized from the old cowboy movies--Topeka, Salina, Witchita, Dodge City--and we found a surprise stop along the way.

About 25 miles west of Topeka, I was snapping pictures of the countryside when Greg said, "Do you want to stop at Grandma Hoerner's?"

"I dunno, what's that?"

On a little rise in the middle of nowhere sat this small gourmet factory/store where they produced organic food products. Such a fun surprise--sort of like the Air Force Museum but on a much smaller scale. Of course, we stopped.



 I wish I'd gotten a picture from the road, to show how isolated the place was.

 

They had yummy samples out for tasting, and I tasted everything from pumpkin butter to spicy salsa to pineapple-ginger chutney




A window separated the shop from a section of the processing plant where a belt carried jars of goodies past in a wonderful array of yellows, cranberries oranges and reds.

After we got home, I ordered several items for gift baskets that I made for co-workers and for friends who had watered plants and checked on our place while we were gone.

I was really glad Greg had mentioned Grandma Hoener's, and that we took the time out for a stop. It made for a fun break in our travel.

Our next stop was in Abilene, KS.

Although it looks pretty quiet now, Abilene, at the end of the Chisolm Trail, had a huge stockyard for cattle being readied for shipment by the new railroad being built through Kansas. It was a pretty rowdy place back then. A more recent claim to fame is that Abilene was the hometown of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It is now home to the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.

While looking around this cute little western town, we found a cute little western town within it! If I remember correctly, some of these were original old buildings that were moved here and turned into the shops and saloons lining the streets of Old Abilene.

Greg, getting a closer look at the old west

Old Schoolhouse

 Other sites in town included this lovely church,

 

...and this brightly painted beauty

After Abilene, we returned to the open road and enjoyed stunning views of farmland--including this field that looked like melted gold under the blue, blue sky--as we made our way to Colorado.  Join us next week for Denver and the Rocky Mountains.