Big Kansas Road Trip Day 1

A mom friend and I were recently chatting about vacations. Traveling to exotic places - white sand beaches on the coast, anyone? - are great, but require substantial planning and financial commitment. Traveling with little bitties adds another amazing, but challenging component to all the moving parts. In the end, they’re often happiest with the simplest of experiences. Is there another way to travel locally that’s easier on the pocketbook but still offers some awesome experiences for families and individuals alike? The Big Kansas Road Trip may be one answer!

I love small towns. I love to explore small towns. I’m even a product of a small town. However, like many, I’m guilty of buzzing through them on my way to another somewhere. Often its a timing problem and not a lack of interest issue. One area of Kansas I’ve been wanting to see up close for a long time is the extreme northwest corner of Kansas. I pass through the area for harvest, but its usually early in the morning or after hours in the evening. When I saw it was on the Big Kansas Road Trip Route this spring, I knew I had no excuses. It was time to hit the trail.

So what sets the Big Kansas Road Trip (BKRT) apart from just your normal weekend away? Well, the coordinators take most of the planning work out of the equation. That’s a win for me! Agendas and lists of participating locations are prepared well in advance for tourists to review. They spent many months helping local businesses and attractions prepare to roll out the red carpet to their visitors, and sometimes, there are even places available that aren’t normally open to the public! Many of the locations are free or open for a nominal fee or donation. That’s a small price to pay for a fun weekend away, if you ask me! It was SO easy for our family to attend and our we had a great time, on a low key trip, seeing the sights of our great state!

Considering the BKRT to northeast Kansas in 2020? Here are my tips to to a successful Big Kansas Road Trip!

1. Allow more time than you think you’ll need. Chances are you’ll become immersed in something you weren’t expecting!

2. Get to know the people. Really. Have a conversation. Keep an open mind because its ok to visit with others different than you. There’s so much to learn from locals and fellow tourists alike! It creates understanding and we could all use a little more grace, am I right?

3. Don’t be afraid to try something new. Even if its not the thing that interests you the most, live a little and embrace a new opportunity for what it is - a chance for a life experience!

4. Have a schedule, but don’t be so rigid that you can’t bend when new and exciting opportunities pop up on the trail.

5. Create excitement ahead of time. Involve your children or other participants in the planning. That way, when the big day comes there is plenty of anticipation, excitement and everyone will recognize the places you had fun researching!

Below are some highlights from day one of BKRT from Spring 2019!

We got our trip kicked off with photo ops in front of the giant Vincent van Gogh painting in Goodland, Kansas! What’s not to like about art under the sky?

The National Weather Service in Goodland had a great tour and we spent a little more time than we expected learning about all things weather. This is why tip number one, above, came about!

Arikaree Breaks, badlands in northwest Kansas. Pictures don’t do the beauty justice!

Did you know the voice of the Jolly Green Giant, Len Dresslar, was from St. Francis? I didn’t either, but now I do! They can also claim an astronaut!

St. Francis Motorcycle Museum was an unexpected gem! I’m not a motorcycle history buff, but I could appreciate the amazing collection of historic motorcycles and the beautiful and informative exhibits. You could tell the friendly staff really take pride in their museum, and they should!

Even local businesses got in the spirit. The local car dealership in St. Francis offered popcorn to the tourists!

No trip is complete along Highway 27 without a stop at the giant grasshopper and palm tree!

While our first day was finished, our experience was FAR from complete as we didn’t have enough time to see all the area attractions. That is my only regret from the day. But, when a trip leaves you wanting more, I say that’s a success!

Intro: Under the Flyover Sky

It is ironic, that as I type this first post for “Under the Flyover Sky”, I’m leaving my beloved High Plains, the place this has inspired these musings.  I woke long before the sun to catch the first flight out a small regional airport in southwest Kansas.  Several contemporaries and I are heading to an agriculture conference in Milwaukee. It should be a great time of learning and fellowship but also of inspiration, to be reinvigorated to continue to serve the rural communities we dearly love. 

It was a peaceful 25 minute drive this morning on this 15th day of March.  The land is just starting to thaw from an exceptionally long winter and the smell of earth awaking was a welcome scent as I passed miles of twinkling lights on the prairie.  Those lights might not seem like much to someone from outside the area, but each of those lights represents a person, a family, who like me, choose to be rural.  The prairie people are a hardy bunch.  A culture who knows the value hard work, ingenuity, family, community, and faith.  We are not all the backward bunch that the media so often portrays, and our land of open spaces and sky is beautiful in its own right, also different from the stereotypes.  We have problems, no place is immune.  No place.  However, so much good happens out here in the middle if one just wants to see it.  I learned long ago in my travels that a person can find good and beauty anywhere, it is all about perspective. 

Except for four short years in the piney woods of the south, I have spent my entire life some place on the prairie.  I attempted to leave once after college, but the company I then worked for saw the value in placing me back with the grass and wind and I obliged.  With the exception of travel, a passion of mine, I have never permanently left again. Kansas continues to be my home. 

 The sunrise is beautiful this morning.  The deep orange gives way to yellow then deep blue sky as night tries to hang on just a little longer.  It is beautiful moments like this I write.  It is for the people that I write.  To share what so few get to see.  I have plans for this site, not unlike any eager, new blogger.  Some posts may be serious, others funny, informative, and everything in between.  I may hammer out back-to-back posts or time may pass between inspiration.  Thanks for following along. I know you will find something that resonates with you “Under the Flyover Sky.”

View pulling into the airport.

Flying out of regional airports are the best with their friendly service, short lines, and free parking!

The wind tetrahedron. Apparently they’re rare these days.

The view of flyover country. Simply beautiful.

Less the window crack, the view of the sunrise was fantastic!

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