On America's Original Interstate Highway

Day 8 - October 6

We got up and went into the town of Limon so we could mail postcards to our little ones. What was funny about this was we mailed them all at the same time and place, but Connor did not get his until well over a week after Lucas and Amelia got theirs. The town had some very interesting buildings and history. We drove by the Limon Heritage Railroad Park & Museum, but knew we didn't have time to wait for it to open. The outside grounds had lots to see. 

We got on I-70 and headed to Kansas. Our destination was Abilene so it was going to be a good 5 hour drive. There were lots of wind turbines and fields - hay, barley, and corn. 

It was not a very exciting drive because everything looked the same for miles and miles. Finally, we made it into Kansas. 

We stopped at the Kansas Visitor Center to pick up tourist information. Dean enjoyed the stop a little too much!

One thing we learned from the brochures we picked up was that the stretch of I-70 from one side of Kansas to the other was the initial section of Eisenhower's Interstate System. That was pretty cool! 

We pulled off at Goodland to get gas and eat lunch. As we drove into town, we saw the World's Largest Easel (or at least the largest along an American Interstate) with a giant painting on top. The steel easel is 80 feet tall and holds a 32 by 24 foot representation of one of Van Gogh's "Sunflower" paintings. It is called "Three Sunflowers in a Vase".Together, the easel and painting weigh about 45,000 pounds.

We drove to the High Plains Museum. Unfortunately, it was closed, but they did advertise that they had a replica of the World's First Patented Helicopter (original had been destroyed in the first flight). There was also a one room school house that could be seen from the road. 

We were still looking for a place to eat and found a Starbucks which was a picturesque scene with its beautiful palm trees. We thought this was a little out of place for the "nothingness" we had seen so far. We finally found an Arby's and decided it was the best we were going to do so we stopped and ate. 

Continuing on I-70, we drove until we got to the exit for Oakley, KS. We took a short detour to go see the sculpture of Buffalo Bill Cody hunting a buffalo. It was out in front of the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center. They also had a large corn maze which was a welcomed sight for traveling kids. We went inside to check out the center and found a very large buffalo photo opportunity. It was hard for us to see these animals referred to as buffalo after being educated in Wyoming about the difference between buffalo and bison. Obviously, in the Midwest, they don't worry about technicalities.

We drove some more until we got to the exit for Hays, KS. Again, a short drive led us to Fort Hays and a very small herd of bison. We stopped long enough to take pictures and learn a little about Fort Hays before we continued our journey.

 More wind turbines and fields of hay bales lined the rest of our almost 2 hour drive to Abilene.

Finally, we made it to the hotel and checked in. After a short drive around town before it got dark, we ate at M & R Grill. It was definitely a popular eating spot in town if the number of people there was any indication.

After dinner, we settled in for the night. We had found the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum so we were ready for the next day.