Days 3 and 4 of the 2026 Kansas Trip

Day 3 - Saturday, September 5, was a much slower day than Friday had been. We were able to sleep in and enjoy vacation time. Saturday was a solitary destination. Larned, Kansas. We would meet up with my sisters to enjoy lunch and talking.

After visiting the buffalo herd, we headed south of Hays on 183 and made a stop at Pat's Jerky. We bought some jerky for our son and then continued south and then east to Larned on 156. The street where my sister lives is a brick-lined street - very nice. Our brother-in-law gave us a tour of the new house before lunch was served.

The five of us enjoyed some delicious home-cooked food, a lot of good conversations, and celebrated birthdays.  Thanks to my sisters for the great food and for letting us visit with y'all.  Unfortunately, we did not get an group pictures of the day, so we'll have to rely on memories.

On the way back near Liebenthal, we noticed the temperature had dropped 15 degrees! There were some really stormy clouds off in the distance but somehow we skirted around the edge of the storms.

Back at the hotel for the last night, we packed our suitcases, got our travel clothes for the next day. We bought an extra suitcase at Walmart as a check-in bag and was able to get it mostly packed. This gave us more room for souvenirs to pack in the carry on bag as we would be stopping at the gift stores in Abilene and in Lawrence on Sunday. The only thing we didn't get to do was to go to Thirstys for the green bean appetizer - maybe next time.

Day 4 - Sunday, September 5. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 4:30 from KC, so we had the time to stop in Abilene and in Lawrence. Luckily we decided to leave early, 7 AM, because another storm was moving in from the west. We were heading east away from it.

But we saw a glorious sunrise as we headed east - just east of Hays.

We arrived at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, located in Abilene, right at 9 AM. They open at 9 so just excellent timing. We walked around the Eisenhower Center campus, took some pictures, and of course, before leaving, loaded up on mementos and postcards.

Our next stop would be Lawrence - the home of the Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, Kansas University! Some beautiful scenery between Abilene and Topeka.

We stopped at a KU gift shop near Iowa Street and 23rd Street -- the main drag back in my day. We bought a bunch of stuff and put in our bags. And then we drove around campus - twice! The stunning view of the KU campus as you top the hill.

My first home while a student a KU - Jayhawker Towers. It has seen better days after 50 years.

Stauffer-Flint Hall - my main academic center while at KU.

After leaving Lawrence, we picked up a quick bite to eat, got the rental car returned, took the bus from the rental car location to the airport and had some time to relax. G got her picture with number TK 87.

We got home after a hotel stay in Murfreesboro on Monday, Labor Day. It was a great trip, reconnected with old place, made new memories, and reconnected with family.

Day 2 of the September 2026 Kansas Trip

The two stops on Day 1 helped set up for a more successful day on Day 2. Instead of driving all the way back to Wilson, we were able to travel north from Hays and had a much more compact traveling day. We headed north on 183 to Stockton, turning east on 24 heading towards Cawker City. But first, we stopped a couple of mile west of Alton to visit a cemetery I never visited.

Pleasant Valley Cemetery is practically surrounded by irrigation ditches. It is the resting place of the Luckey family - both my great-grandparents and great-great grandparents. I had read somewhere that the cemetery was infested with rattlers so I did not wander around looking for markers. That seems to be more of a cold, frosty winter-time activity.

After leaving Pleasant Valley - which by the way is close to the South Solomon and its confluence with Lucky Creek - we headed towards Cawker City. Cawker City was where my only grandparent I remembered live - Grandma. We used to go to her house for holiday and family gatherings. The first time I had been back to Cawker City in many decades. 

I wanted to show G the world's largest ball of twine - the tourist appeal of Cawker City.

Then we headed to the Cawker City cemetery - I had never visited my grandmother's grave site. But first we found this cute building with a Public Library sign on the outside.

When we got to the cemetery, I discovered two of my aunts and an uncle were also buried there. The last time I was at this cemetery was January 1980 for a funeral. Prairie Grove Cemetery.

We left flowers at all of the grave sites. I finally got to say goodbye to grandma. On the way out, I took this picture from the cemetery. You can see Cawker City in the distance.

We backtracked on 24 to 281 and then headed north to Smith Center. Unlike my dad and my sisters, I didn't graduate from Stockton High School. We lived north of Smith Center in a location called Thornburg for the entirety of my four years of high school and even the four years in which I was away for college. I got to see familiar sights including the SC golf course where I ran so many cross country practices and matches. One sight I did not pay much attention to in high school was the statue of liberty sitting on the bluff overlooking the North Solomon.

We stopped by the high school - the building was the same but the layout and roads around it had changed some since my last visit.

We stopped at the Dutch Windmill in the city park. 

At the Casey's - which was not around when I lived in the area - I noticed the Pizza Hut was still operating -- many a time I got a personal pan there. We drove west on 36 to meet up with 183 at Phillipsburg. There we headed south on 183 to go back to Stockton. We stopped at the Webster's Supermarket to walk around and reminisce and to pick up cherry mash. I always loved the brick main street of Stockton.

Then we headed west from Stockton on 24 and stopped at the long limestone cut. Here we switched drivers before going on country roads. I always wanted a picture of this cut and I took advantage of the stop. 

I drove west and veered off onto what used to be Old 24. The blacktop has been long gone. Now just a rock road - dusty in the dry, muck in the wet. We would pass by the farm first. A lot of memories growing up here.

Then we arrived at the third cemetery for the day - Mt. Vernon. Here many Hunters and Burtons are laid to rest here. But most importantly, Mom and Dad. 

After visiting all of the sites and leaving flowers (and making sure the rock was still there), I discovered a whole bunch of Burton gravesites. It was the first time I remember walking among the Burton family sites. I found my great-grandparents Burton. Wished we had more flowers to leave.

On the way out, we placed a flower on John Earl's grave. John Earl was the reason we grew up in this part of Kansas -- he moved out here with his first wife's family (McCubbin-McComb). In fact, his brother-in-law, George McCubbin, was the one who donated the land to create this cemetery. 

After leaving Mt. Vernon, we drove by an obviously low, water level Webster Lake. Wow - was it low.

We took the paved road south of Webster Lake heading to Zurich. A lot of green milo in this field.

As we headed back to the hotel in Hays (driving through Plainville for the second time on 183), I reflected how good this trip was for me. 

So, so good. 

For me, going back to my roots enables me to restore my passion. The expenses, the wait, was so worth it.

Day 1 of the September 2026 Kansas Trip

I was wanting to return to Kansas for a visit - to see some things I've never seen and to visit places I had not visited in a long, long time. The original plan was an eight day odyssey in last June and early July. Because of my knee surgery, we opted instead for the shorter trip duration to Chicago.

And then an opportunity came up in mid-August for G and I to go -- much shorter in days and I had to compromise a lot of my original plans. But, I still wanted to go, and in hindsight, going to Kansas was very good for my soul, for my refreshed mind. A few extra days for the Labor Day Weekend holiday.

The Kansas trip will be separated into three posts - Day 1, Day 2, and Days 3 and 4.

G and I boarded an 8 am flight at the Nashville airport to fly to Kansas City. That cut out 8 hours of drive time not counting the necessary stops in between. And on the way back as well.

We arrived at KC early on Thursday morning, picked up a new CR-4 rental car, and headed west to Hays. We would be staying in Hays for three nights. We headed west on I-70. I had planned three stops along the way but opted to only do two of them. 

Flint Hills

The first stop was in the town of Wilson. Small town but there is an interesting thing to see in the Czech capitol of Kansas - a very large Czech egg.

The park where the egg is located has other nice features including a park bench with Wilson as the back. 

Outside of Wilson heading back to the Interstate, I captured this view of a row of posts made from stone. Very common in this part of Kansas to use limestone as posts instead of wood as trees were not as plentiful.

Our next stop further west down Interstate 70 was Victoria. Amaze is that there is a minor basilica located in the small town of Victoria -- the ever stunning St. Fidelis - Cathedral of the Plains. I had not seen the interior since I was a youth. G had never seen it -- and she was stunned at the beauty. Unfortunately my camera did not even come close to capturing the beauty. 

Across the street from the church was a sculpture titled - Volga German Family by Pete Felten. Felten was a well known limestone sculpture artist. He created several sculptures in Hays and around Hays. 

The short trip from Victoria to Hays was very short! We checked into the hotel early. One of the foods I wanted to eat was a chicken noodle dinner -- something I enjoyed growing up on the farm. JD Chicken had it on the menu -- we both got the same. It was delicious and brought back some good memories of a less stressful time.

This was the route I planned for Day 2 - Friday. Day 2 blog post is a separate blog post. Hays hotel to Stockton, east to Cawker City, back west and then north to Smith Center. West from Smith Center to Highway 183, and then south to Stockton. Then west to Mt. Vernon/Webster, and south to Zurich and Hays. Originally, Nicodemus was a stop but the visitor center was closed during that time for renovations.