Done with Nebraska. We made the county map go from this:
To this:
We didn’t exactly conquer the state, but we saw a lot of it.
Now we’re working our way across the northern edge of Kansas. It’s fun to pick a highway and follow it as far as we can. Most of the big cities are connected by Interstate Highways, so by staying off the Interstates, we pretty much stay out of big cities. We’re following US Highway 36. Route 36 starts in Ohio to the east, runs through Hannibal Mo, and ends in Estes Park in the west. We like Highway 36. In the Denver area it’s the Denver Boulder Turnpike. Don’t let the name “Turnpike” fool you. It’s not a toll road. It was a toll road when they first built it, but they promised that when it was paid off, they would take down the toll booths. And they did! Right as Judy and I arrived there in 1968.
Following Highway 36 through Kansas is driving at exactly the speed limit, 65mph, and not having to pass or get passed for hours at a time. Towns are small. Some don’t even have a stoplight. Some don’t have a grocery or gas station. Most have grain silos. A back road like this feels closer to what we’re passing through than an Interstate does. There is less of a setback, less distance.
Along the way.
