26.04 & 27.04 - Days 102 & 103 - Denver to Hays to Kansas City
Friday 26th and Saturday 27th April Denver - Hays - Kansas City (Days 102 & 103)
After Denver our next target is Kansas City, but at a little over 600 miles and 9 hrs away (without charging) we break the journey in two and plan an overnight pit stop in Hays. Back to back driving days it is then, so fuelled up on the buffet breakfast we clamber back on the I70 and head East.
A 15 minute detour on the eastern outskirts of Denver to see an art installation called Uni by Daniel Popper - a large face and hands held in twisted pieces of wood. At 20 feet high it is rather striking though its location in a still-being-built suburban housing estate is unexpected.
75 minutes + miles later, a quick charging stop in Limon only memorable for the life size model bears in the service station / gift shop. A longer 2.5 hour (170 miles) stint through to Oakley, including crossing from Colorado to Kansas and jumping forward an hour in time.
Before we’d started the drive across America people had warned of the long repetitive drives devoid of scenery - everything west of Denver though had been a spectacle or full of grandeur. Noticeably, the moment we left Denver, it became very very flat with nothing off in the distance.
It becomes possibly greener though with fields of wheat And in those fields are pumping oil extractors looking like a seesaw with no one on them tipping from side-to-side. There might only be one or two of those pump jacks in each field, but we pass a lot of fields.
At Oatley, Kate drops the kids and I at the Fick Museum before popping off to charge. The Ficks discovered lots of fossils on their sprawling ranch and built this small museum showcasing the founding of Oatley along with numerous impressively large fossils and so many fossilised teeth that the kids are each given one for free. In the same building is the local library so Sienna and Seb read a little and we buy three more books.
75 minutes and 90 miles later down the road we pull into Hays - like many of these roadside towns there is a small gaggle of standalone anonymous accommodations. Ours tonight is an uninspiring name of Econo Lodge. It’s perfectly fine if a bit brown.
Dinner close by at the American staple of Taco Bell before driving into the town for a short jazz recital hosted by the University Jazz Club - I think we are the only ones in the audience who are not parents of this informal session, but easy on the ears for 30 minutes.
On the way back Sienna ums and ahs in DollarTree on how best to invest her $2 from the tooth fairy which fell out in Arches National Park - the answer being a pack of sour watermelon sweets and a bubble blowing gun.
The small buffet breakfast on Saturday morning noticeable for two aspects; the modern marvel that is a touchless pancake machine, churning out pairs of pancakes down a slow travelator, and the fact that the only story on the news on the TV is about the wave of tornados working their way north towards us-ish. Mostly confident we’re heading away from them, we instead chase a few photos of large murals in the town on our way back to the I70.
The dual carriageway heads past more of not much, however excitingly Kate manages to work out how to turn on lane control in the car and now we don’t have to accelerate, brake or steer.
2 hours later we stop at Abilene where whilst the car charges we walk to the Former World’s Largest Spur. It’s a big spur alright and we wonder who could be bothered to take it’s crown. But 2nd is nowhere and because we’re a team of winners we also find the World’s Largest Belt Buckle in a nearby park. It was probably Eisenhower’s Park because everything is Eisenhower here in this former hometown of his, complete with Presidential Library.
The promised rain arrives so we head on our way rather than exploring more. A longer I70 stint; 150 miles, 2.5 hours with actual tumbleweed crossing the Interstate and plenty more pumpjacks littering the landscape.
Brief 15 minute charge in Olattie on the outskirts of Kansas City, then a final 15 minute drive to Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead. We arrive at 3.30pm allowing an hour and a half before closing to explore this well organised farmstead seeing prairie dogs (think overweight meerkats) and other classic farmyard animals.
Sienna can barely be dragged away from the pygmy goat petting area whilst Seb races go-kart tractors round an oval track. We at least get them to see the milking of Tia the cow before the final act of the day - the running of the goats where they tear around a loop to where their dinner awaits.
Dropping our gear at Hotel Lotus Rose Merriam we venture out to find smoked barbeque goodness that Kansas City (KC) is known for. Woodyard Bar-B-Que serves up smoked pork and ham with potato salad and Mac’n’cheese - delightful wholesome goodness (even the kids agree). Under the giant TV screen showing round 7 of the NFL draft we play a few games of table football before heading home in the continuing pouring rain for bed.
