Sunday, June 30, 2019, Move to Lee's Summit, MO


I thought we took our time this morning. Had a nice bacon and eggs breakfast before getting everything ready to travel. We left around 10:30 and reached our next campground, a county park in Lee's Summit, MO, just after noon. It was only 107.0 miles (94,245.5 total) but it was a strange route working our way around the south side of Kansas City. When we arrived we learned checkout was 3:00 and our site was still occupied. We parked in an empty site and ran the generator for a couple of hours until our site was clear. 

While you sit there waiting you start thinking of random things like - What's the deal? Joani's research told us that there were only 5 exceptions to the "no possessive apostrophes" rule for geographical features. Lee's Summit (that's right, I put an apostrophe in there) seemed to be thumbing its nose at that notion since it appears with the apostrophe on Google maps! But then Joani checked further and found that paper maps did not have the apostrophe, so it is Google that's defying the USGS rules. 

We also both starting to wonder why Phoenix has such a bad reputation for heat when everywhere we've stopped since the mountains of Colorado has been extremely hot and humid. I think it has been 100+ or very nearly 100 every day for the past week. We were beginning to long for that dry desert heat again.

Finally, our site was empty. It was not very level but the 50 amp power and the shade trees on each side would let us stay cool! This will be a good base for visiting some interesting things in Kansas City in the next few days.


Lots of breathing room in this park!

Saturday, June 29, 2019, Flint Hills Discovery Center, Manhattan, KS



In the small burg of Manhattan, KS, about 10 miles north of I-70, Joani found the very nice Flint Hill Discovery Center (ASTC members, so again, free). It certainly appeared to be no more than a few years old.



The exhibits explained the influence man had on the tall grass prairies that once spanned many of today's mid-western states. Tall prairie grasses are different from other grasses. They are hardier and benefit from grazing and even fires. Fires inhibit the growth of trees that would take over the landscape in a few hundred years. Native Americans would burn the grass to herd bison and ranchers found that after burning the grasses grew back faster and stronger than before.



The floor below showed the extent of the tall grass prairies today - a swath through Kansas and a little in Oklahoma and Texas. A few hundred years ago the tall grasses covered much of the central part of the country from Chicago to the Rockies and from Texas to Canada.


A display showing the depth of roots that different grasses have.

When you reached the third floor there was a nice outdoor terrace with a view of much of Manhattan. It would have been a bit nicer without the 100-degree temperature or maybe with a little bit of shade. 



The terrace was planted with an array of plants native to the area, many of which were in bloom. A walkway and stairs led us through the flowers and shrubs back to the ground level. We had learned enough about the prairie for the day so we found a Chili's for lunch and then headed back to Sam. 

Echinacea angustifolia, Purple coneflower

Eryngium yuccifolium, Button snakeroot

Asclepias tuberosa, Butterfly milkweed


Monarda fistulose, Wild bergamot

Friday, June 28, 2019, Kansas Capitol Tour, Topeka, KS


I liked the size of Topeka, KS. It was large enough to have most anything you might need but small enough to easily navigate.

If I have counted correctly, this was the 21st capital city we had visited and it made quite an impression on us. We began our day parking in the free underground lot. There was ample space and the respite from the sun was certainly appreciated.

We arrived about 30 minutes early for the "Dome Tour" and had a chance to look around the new visitor's center. The building had recently undergone a thorough restoration that returned the capital to its original beauty. It also updated the heating and air conditioning and electrical and security systems. Of course, things are a bit pricier today - the capitol was originally built at a cost of $3 million; the restoration cost more than $330 million. 

I had no idea we would soon be standing outside on the narrow walkway surrounding the cupola near the top of the dome.

When the Capitol was finished in 1903, after 37 years of construction, there was no debt on the building.

The outer copper dome extends approximately 75 feet above the inner dome that you see from the rotunda.

Those stairs you see curving around towards the upper reaches were the start of the 296 we climbed on our way to the top of the dome. It was very interesting to see the view from below before actually starting our climb.



This is the view from the fifth floor of the building where we started the Dome Tour.




Before the restoration, everything you see; copper, bronze and brass was just black.

Here you could see that only the side visible from below was painted with the copper paint. (Only columns were faux painted, the rest is real copper, brass or bronze.) The graffiti was thanks to kids who were free to roam the entire building, unsupervised, in the early years (1903 through 1970). Now on the National Historic Registry, it is forbidden to "deface" the structure with any new markings or remove the old. Our guide, Patti, told us it was amazing that in all of the 60+ years kids played in the upper reaches of the building there was never anyone hurt.

In the buildings early years, there were absolutely no restrictions as to where you could go, young or old. Doors with locks were added in the '70s.


Once we were above the inner dome a glance up had me thinking twice about whether or not I really wanted to climb all of those steps.


How awesome is that! We're told this is the only capitol that has a tour like this.

The restoration intentionally left uncovered the backside of pillars containing graffiti of years ago.

David does not have a fear of heights, but he has a strong dislike of them. (He always goes for it anyway.)

The flourish below was actually the highest point you could see from the rotunda floor if you looked past the chandelier. The original chandelier was removed and donated to the war effort in the '40s so it was recreated as part of the renovation. The new lighting was installed on a winch so that it could be lowered for cleaning and maintenance twice a year. 

There was a fairly new aluminum platform above this flourish that housed the winch. The chandelier can be lowered to the first floor, barely fitting through the rotunda openings on the second floor.

The other side of the glass panes below was the top of the dome as seen from the inside of the working floors of the building. We were between the dome you see from the inside and the dome you see from the outside.


The inner dome is composed of 256 glass panels. Each is a half inch thick. Only two have needed to be replaced over the years.


Those crazy kids climbed the steelwork to see who could sign their name the highest.

Patti told us the kids would zip up these steel structures like ladders. What an amazing playground this would have been!!!!


Some of the more insane kids actually crawled out onto the cross members to sign their names. Patti was right - it was a miracle no one was hurt playing around up here.


Finally near the top, on the last few steps of the spiral stairs, this was the view looking down if you were brave enough to actually look down.

Only one young woman was too bothered by the heights (seen far below). I was amazed she made it as high as she did.

There was very little air circulation between the inner and outer domes so it was pretty warm (a thermometer at the top of the inner dome registered 86 degrees.) Dome tours were canceled in the event it was too hot so it was a good thing to try for the early tour. When we stepped out onto the cupola balcony the fresh air was a welcome relief. The balcony was so narrow it was disconcerting to squeeze between another person and the railing and the wind was blowing more than I would have liked so I took some pictures, tried not to look down too much and then retreated back inside.


This is all you can see of Ad Astra, from the catwalk (if you lean out a little).
The statue is named for the state motto: Ad astra per aspera, “To the stars through difficulties.”


We returned from the dome tour with just a few minutes to spare before the capital history tour. We learned the capitol was built a little at a time. Construction was begun on the east wing in 1866. The west wing was begun in 1879. The central building joining the two was started in 1886. The building was declared officially complete in 1903 after 37 years of construction. Ad Astra, the 4,420 pound, 22' 2" tall statue on top of the dome, was not set in place for another 99 years in 2002.

Below was the Senate chamber. Like all of the other rooms, every bit of the woodwork and ceiling detail had been painted beige many years ago. The explanation was that soot from the gas lamps had darkened everything and someone decided to brighten it up with a fresh coat of paint. Through the years everything was repainted many times and it was all painstakingly removed during the restoration.



Looking at the ceiling it was easy to see why the restoration took 13 years. I'm just happy they were finished before we were ready to visit.





Even the murals were covered with the beige paint. They had to be replicated from detailed drawings in the original plans.


At some point, a third floor had been added to the library. They determined they did not need the extra shelf space so it was removed to return to the original design providing a better balance to this nice room. The second floor is glass to allow better distribution of light.

The library is the only room that was lit with electricity from the very beginning. The state librarian, Annie Diggs, insisted on it. (Annie was small, 4 foot 11 inches, but wielded power.)
The oldest book in the State Library, inside the Capitol, is from 1741 and written by Sir Francis Bacon.

I noticed David preferred to not walk on the glass keeping to the cross beams.

The first floor had eight murals painted by David H. Overmyer dated 1952 and 1953. I love this style and the colors were amazing.

The beautifully finished lowest level (previously the basement) was full of pictures depicting famous Kansans.


The Kansa warrior, Ad Astra, Sculpted by Kansas artist Richard Bergen
I still can't believe they let us walk around on this little balcony! What a blast!

The Kansas Capital tours were very nice and I suspect this will remain one of our favorites even if we someday see all fifty.

Thursday, June 27, 2019, Move to Paxico, KS


Slipping into the Central Time Zone and overnighting at a Walmart meant we made an early start this morning heading to Paxico, KS (20 miles west of the capitol of Kansas, Topeka). The 175.2 miles (94,138.5 total) seemed to go quickly. All set-up with the coach clean and bug-free by 11:30 left us most of the day to breathe deeply and relax.

Paxico seemed to be all about antiques. Other than antique stores there was a bank and a bar. You couldn't even buy groceries or gas in this town.




The nice little campground, situated along the tracks, was in a good location to support our visiting a couple of interesting things in the next few days including the Kansas Capital and a museum.

The owners had planted a very nice bed of beautiful Lilies in many colors. This was my favorite.

Lilium orientalis, Stargazer Lily

It looks like the pink is dripping off the white lily.

The old station was probably moved to its current site in the RV park but the garage below I'm sure has been in the same place for a long, long time.



If there was a downside to this park it would be the close proximity to a pretty active rail line. We could feel the ground vibrate when trains passed but the noise really was not much of an issue. 

Wow! Now that is close. (A built-in alarm clock.)

The 100 degree temperatures and 60 percent relative humidity were much more of an issue for us. Only a few days ago I was wearing a coat to walk Sam in Colorado at 8,000 feet. That's OK, we need to toughen up for August in Georgia!