Rock City, Kansas

File this one under awesome roadside attractions! 

After spending the previous day exploring the prairie by foot, we were ready to cover some miles in our car, but first we just had to check out nearby Rock City Park in Minneapolis, Kansas. Touted more as a roadside attraction than a geologic park, we were delightfully surprised to find that it was actually more like a roadside playground! This was particularly exciting because it being the middle of winter on a Wednesday, we were the only ones there.

So on the two acre spread overlooking patchwork fields of ranch land and winter wheat, we began climbing all over the 200 round sandstone concretions, formed by calcite from Kansas' prehistoric inland sea and differential erosion, that littered the park. And yes, it was just as cool as the pictures make it look! All around us were rock formations, varying from 3 feet high to 12 feet high and easily climable. In fact, the park encourages climbing!

We spent about an hour exploring and climbing until it was time to hit the road with our sights sent on Colorado. It may seem crazy to say, but if you are ever in the area, I highly suggest stopping by the park for some geology-themed excitement.

(Ps, I may be writing this to you in Tucson, Arizona after a million adventures, but my heart is still in Kansas!)

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

"You must not be in the prairie; but the prairie must be in you... He who tells the prairie mystery must wear the prairie in his heart." William A. Quayle, The Prairie and the Sea (1905)

Some of my most favorite times have been in Kansas, and that is not because my excitement about arriving colored it in anyway - but because it was totally awesome! Kansas gets a bad reputation from pretty much everyone. The only things I hear about the sunflower state is that it is flat, monotonous, boring, or something about the Wizard of Oz. I rarely hear anybody praising grasses singing in the wind or the overwhelming feelings of isolation you can get standing under a sky with no end and how those feelings are like nothing else in the world.

Good thing I am here to tell you about those things!
   

Driving through Kansas caused quite a spiritual stir in us - every mile we exalted the Lord above: Oh, my God. The plains they never ended. From careful rows of corn and sunflower stubble, to gently undulating ranch land, to the vast scorched earth of the Tallgrass Prairie National Park and Preserve, as far as the eye could see was as far as the eye could see.

We made a beeline to the Tallgrass Prairie in the Flint Hills, first and foremost, on a very chilly yet calm day. Bundled in our hiking layers and eager to stretch our legs after three days on the road, we set off on a seven mile hike through the winter worlds of some of the last tallgrass prairie in America. The natural prairie remaining here is only 4% of the original 170 million acres that didn't fall under cultivation or development just within the last generation. Wow.
   

And what should appear on the horizon less than a mile in? A herd of bison, plodding staidly along like a glimpse back in time. The majority of the prairie we walked through had recently undergone a controlled burn, so we didn't really get a good idea of what it would have been like to be standing under prairie grasses upwards of eight feet high, but we did get an amazing sense of isolation - with the winds at an atypical hush, the silence of the winter prairie was nearly deafening with not a tree, house, or power line to break the line of sight.

Watch out for the occasional bison poop!

"Native tallgrass prairie is the rarest of all North American biomes... [It] is a singular system defined by climate, weather, size, and the interactions of fire and grazing bison. Because those factors are no longer functioning in a balanced whole anywhere in North America, true tallgrass prairie can be considered to be extinct as a natural functioning ecosystem." John Madson, On the Osage (1990)

With our legs aching and the sun setting in the overcast sky, we headed into nearby Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, to soak up a little history. I am in the middle of reading William Least Heat Moon's PrairyErth, which covered Cottonwood Falls and Chase County in the first chapters, so I was thrilled to see the quiet little town through the eyes of the author, including the Emma Chase Cafe and the Cottonwood Falls infamous red roofed courthouse.

But like most prairie towns on a Tuesday in the middle of winter not much was open and as I sometimes do when I stand next to my Subaru with Vermont plates pointing my camera about, I began to feel more like a voyeur than a well meaning tourist. We hit the road towards our accommodations for the night in Salina, watching the sunset on oil derricks down on the prairie.

Celebrating Kansas & All 50 States!

Hello from Colorado! AGP and I have had an amazing time making tracks across this beautiful country of ours, although working from a tablet with only WiFi connections has made it admittedly harder to post from the road. But don't worry, I have been taking a TON of pictures. And you can always follow my Instagram or Twitter for daily updates on my location and adventures.

Its been only a week since we left Vermont and we have covered a lot of miles! From Albany to Buffalo through snow, wind, and dirty windshields, and then on through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri until, finally, Kansas! 

We took a day hike through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio (which you may remember reading about here) to the frozen Brandywine Falls - and even though the bridge was out, we were able to complete a short loop through the snow.

We also enjoyed the more touristy side of things like checking out the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, which is pretty damn impressive in person!

But why is Kansas so special? Because it means that I have officially been to every state in the Union! That is a pretty big deal for a girl who has pretty much devoted her young adult like to driving around the country to see all there is to see.

Congratulations to me!

And as for Kansas, it was everything I could have hoped for and more. Awesome, expansive, vacant, and with a sky so big it only really hits you until the eighth straight hour you've been driving through it. We hiked in the last remaining Tallgrass Prairie in the United States, drove through a million miles of rural ranch and farm roads, and made eyes at pretty spectacular geologic formations - yes, they have those in Kansas too!

Yesterday we finally landed in Golden, Colorado to spend some quality time with Kyla and Ben, our friends who have recently moved here. Aside from the Rocky Mountains rearing up and smacking us in the face, the best thing about being here is that it is 50 degrees outside!!! A wonderful reprieve from the near-Arctic conditions we have so far endured. Our spirits climb higher and higher with each mile westward we eat up, and as nice as it is to take a few days off from traveling, I am excited to get back on the road!

Winter Road Trip Ideas: Vermont to Kansas

Since I finally completed me and Nessa's travelogue to California, it's the perfect time to start planning another trip! In just a short month, AGP and I will be embarking on an ultra cool winter road trip from Vermont to California! We are going to do like snow birds do and head off to watch the cactus bloom while the rest of Vermont waits under a blanket of snow for mud season.

To compile a list of winter road trip ideas, I started with a quick search of roadside attractions on the way to Denver if we drove that interminable Interstate 70 people always complain about. You know, in all my time zooming back and forth across the country, I actually have never been on I-70. Oh, happy day! Right? I'm pretty pumped to drive through Kansas.

I used Roadtrippers.com to search for interesting places to take breaks along the way, so if you want to read more, click on the picture and it will take you back to the site. Don't worry, I'm trying hard to keep in mind that we will be traveling through the dark of winter. *Shivers*

Here are my favorite winter road trip ideas so far, in geographical order:

Cuyahoga National Park - Brandywine Falls: Sagamore Hills Township, Ohio

Geology, National Parks, and waterfalls, all in one. The step-like formation of these falls are made of sandstone, which was used to make many of the canals that crisscross the park. I looked up some pictures of the waterfall in the winter and it seems like it will still be worth a visit even when frozen. Plus, it's only a short walk from the parking lot so it will probably be a good place to stretch our legs. Besides, I long to cross this National Park off my list!

Statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger: Columbus, Ohio

I put this on the list mainly for Nessa, who is an Arnold Schwarzenegger fan! I would definitely consider a pit stop just to snap a picture for her (maybe hang from his guns?), but it would also be a perfect time to take a break from motorway grub and Waffle Houses and grab a substantial bite to eat and of course some of Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream.

Kaskaskia Dragon: Vandalia, Illinois

If you get a token from the nearby hardware store, then this dragon will breath fire for you. How cool is that?

Giant Concrete Teepee: Lawrence, Kansas

I would consider this a worthy roadside attraction and a great place to (probably) grab some gas, snacks, and coffee, not to mention the photo op. If I am going to budget in time for silly roadside attractions, then this has to make the list, right??

Konza Prairie: Manhattan, Kansas

The Konza Prairie is the nation's largest unplowed tract of tall grass prairie. As an admirer of the prairie and overall eco-nerd, that alone is enough to make it high on my "Must See" list. The majority of the reserve isn't open to the public year round, but there a few loop trails that can hopefully afford a glimpse of the 300 strong bison herd that live there.

Mushroom Rock State Park: Carneiro, Kansas

Yep, another geo-nerd location here. Give me some interesting rock formations and I'm your girl. I envision this stop as a way to take a break from the highway a bit, snap a couple of awesome photos, and stretch our legs for a bit. These toadstools were formed by nonuniform weathering, as the "cap" of the formation is a more durable material than the "stem". This somewhat nearby park also has some interesting rock formations too.

High Plains Museum: Goodland, Kansas

What better way to get a better understanding of prairie life than to visit a museum! This one interests me because it's free and features exhibits on life in the high plains region of the country - which has the lowest population density in the continental United States! 

Does anyone have any other winter road trip ideas in the area? My goal is to do a little live blogging and updating while we are away. From instagram-ing cheesy roadside attractions to carefully documenting National Monuments and campgrounds along the way, I hope to take everyone on our adventure cross country!