Slogging Across the Heartland - We ARE in Kansas Dorothy!

 

Abilene, KS

When you're in America's heartland, many think of tornadoes.  As a novice storm chaser myself, I'm always keeping my eyes ahead and on the skies.  Coming out of the Front Range of Colorado, I knew the potential for severe weather was ahead of me on I70.  It had been sweltering and humid, so an afternoon thunderstorm was fully expected. 

Looking north near Colby, KS

As thunderstorms fired up, I did pull off into a rest area to let the blinding rains pass.  There were a couple of different lines of storms passing through, both to the north and south, accompanied by high winds.  The safest place for me was sitting still for about 30-45 minutes.

Once past, there was clear sailing ahead . . . even caught a quick glimpse of a rainbow.  I had booked a hotel room in Abilene, KS as my next day (Saturday) would start with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum.

My hotel was miserable . . . so much so the desk manager comped my night's stay.  It is fortunate that by the time I was to my room for the night, I was mostly ready for sleep since the TV remote didn't work making it pretty challenging to find and watch a show before bedtime.

The next morning I was up early.  I was hungry for a nice hot breakfast, so I checked out early and headed on into town.   It didn't take me long to realize that I could probably spend a full day tinkering around Abilene.  I loved the small town feel and met several nice people including a lady walking her dog while I was walking around taking photos.  Wearing my Roo Yori "Adopt a Dog" t-shirt was an instantaneous conversation starter.  Her pooch was super friendly, so I got my photo taken with it!

I had an excellent breakfast at the Hitching Post which was not in the downtown area pictured above, but rather out by the old train depot where there was a small railroad museum and frontier town.  With the Eisenhower Presidential Museum opening at 10:00am, I had some free time to kick around after breakfast.  (NOTE:  I see they are now open at 9:00am!)

This area alone is probably worth a few hours to tour.  Train rides are also available from the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad.  I did spend some time visiting their free museum inside the depot. 

Only open in the summer over the weekends (Saturday 11a-4p & Sunday 12pm to 4pm), Old Abilene Town is also worth checking out.  For me, with a tight schedule for the afternoon, I didn't have time to come back after my visit at the Eisenhower Presidential Museum.  I did walk around a little and take a few photos however.

After spending a couple of hours at the Eisenhower Presidential Museum (see next blog about that, along with the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum visited later in the afternoon), I hit the road east for Independence, Missouri.  With Truman's museum closing at 5pm, I knew I would need to hustle.  That said, it didn't keep me from taking an hour~ish detour to check out the Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego.  Yes, highway billboards are effective!

There is a nominal admission fee here . . . $10 adults, $8 kids and $9 college students.  They have mostly collections of reproductions from the movie like Dorothy's gingham dress and ruby slippers, plus a very large collection of Wizard of Oz themed games, toys and books.  There were also photos from the movie stage set as well as other interesting items.  And if you are a weary traveler and just need a place to sit and relax for a few minutes (or a couple of hours) you can enjoy the full length feature movie in their Wizard of Oz Theater.

I must say . . . I loved Kansas and look forward to visiting again when I can spend a full weekend exploring!