Holiday Inn Salina, Ks

The Tallgrass Prairie once covered 140 million acres of North America. The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve was established in 1996 to preserve, protect, and interpret the less than four percent of remaining tallgrass prairie ecosystem. The 10,894 acre preserve ...

Although Mushroom Rock State Park is the smallest state park in Kansas, it's the most interesting. The Park has Dakota sandstone concretions. There are many concretions in this Park, but some of it still remains and has been supporting three of the rocks for many years.

The resulting combination of rocks have a mushroom shape. The unusual shapes caught the imaginations of the Native Americans and pioneers, some of whom have left graffiti in softer sandstone.

... the railroad was completed through Kansas, the fort was abandoned.

Santa Fe Trail Museum:

The Santa Fe Trail originated in Independence, MO through Kansas and ended in New Mexico. The Trail began in 1821 and carried a stream of merchant wagons and pioneers until replaced by the railroad system in 1880. The Santa Fe Trail Museum tells the story of the transportation route once known as the Santa Fe Trail which blended the Indian, Mexican, and American cultures.

... 8217;s other significant accomplishments during his Presidency included the Civil Rights Act of 1957; support of the Brown V. Board of Education’s desegregation of schools lawsuit; avoiding a nuclear war with the Soviet Union; and began NASA.

Dwight was nicknamed Ike. He was of German descent and in German, Eisenhower was pronounced "Ike- enhower". Dwight preferred to be remembered as General Eisenhower rather than President Eisenhower.

... the movie starring Judy Garland, but the history of the story has touched millions with its message “There's no place like home.”

The Oz Museum is home to one of the largest privately owned collections of Oz memorabilia. Over 100 years of Oz history from all over the world is on display.

The spectacular architecture and elaborate waterways of the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair (the ...

... as if they may have been from the original movie.

I had longed for a "Mom and Pop" restaurant and wasn't disappointed. Across the street from the Museum, was the "Friendly Cookery". Inside vinyl booths lined up down the wall and two old ladies and a young teen bustled about serving what appeared to be most of the elders in town. "Perfect" I thought to myself. "They have grilled cheese sandwiches." I ordered ...

... through the state who knew that this is the birthplace of Annie Oakly, Walter Chryslter, Eisenhower's Museum and Library, Dalton Gang Hideout and the original Boot Hill at Dodge City. We also passed a place that advertised the worlds larges prarie dog and a 5 legged steer.

When we got to the middle of the state we saw wind turbins for at least 10 miles and I stopped counting at 50 just at the beginning. I guess this must be the windy state

We ...

... world’s largest easel—a giant hand-painted copy of Van Gogh’s sunflowers on a giant easel. (Kansas is the Sunflower State). After a picnic lunch under the rotary club gazebo outside Bubba’s Meat House ("Home of Handmade Jerky!") we continued through the flatness of Kansas to our cabin in Salina, halfway through the state.

Our halfway stop today is Kansas City, Missouri (not to be confused with Kansas City ...

In the morning after eating cereal and packing the trailer up, we were just about to leave when dad noticed that the rear left tire on the van was loosing air pressure. So we went to an auto tire shop and got a new wheel .Fortunately, we were able to start heading west again only about an hour later than we planed. For lunch we ended up eating at McDonalds. Later in the after noon, we ...

... than I wanted it to be because I almost ran out. I pulled in to the station on fumes and my worry factor was about a 9 out of 10 that I wasnt gonna make it. Gas was 2.99 a gallon but I didnt care cause it was push water and that stuff can be hard to come by in the state of Kansas. I filled up and calculated my mileage again which was 16.5 mpg. Even though my mileage had gone down, I was still happy with it. I was on my way again after ...