GREENSBURG, KS

Hmmmmm........

East of Kansas Tuesday morning  - looking a little bit like the day before.

BUT green! LOVE green at this time of year - green = warm.

Derek stopped on the shoulder so that I could run out and take some pictures of this installation along the highway - it was pretty long. Neat! There were a few other cars parked with the people walking along to look.

As I mentioned last post - while we were on our way to Greensburg I was reading to Derek that they are know for the 'largest dug well'. Hmmmm - worth a stop? Cost much to see it? Not sure - but we were due for lunch so we decided to stop in and investigate and at least have something to eat if nothing else.

But as we were getting closer I said to Derek 'Why does Greensburg sound familiar'? Hey - isn't that the city that we watched on TV a year ago or so - the one with the tornado?

Yup - that's the place.

So funny to now be here.

We definitely knew we were right when we turned down main street to find that it was all brand new. Yup - this is the place.

We pulled in by the Big Well museum and toured around.

A great building with ornamental grasses  out front. We ended up passing on going down the well - at $6 just not worth it too us.

Interesting walking around town seeing the remains that have been left behind.

A very nice new arts center. We were in luck and it was open so we went inside for a look. A gallery/art school. The fellow there filled us in on the clean up of the tornado and showed us the pictures that are hung in the basement.

Amazing!

Earlier, while I was making lunch, Derek and Cassia had fun on the playground.

Nice that bits of the former buildings were left.

From a design perspective I was pretty excited by all the new buildings. I'm glad to see some really interesting architecture. In fact - Greensburg has gone green - you can read all about it here at Greensburg Green Town.

Two of our favourite things - well designed buildings and ornamental grasses.

There is a lot of info on the internet about the tornado in Greensburg - many of you probably remember hearing about it back in 2007. Here is a CNN article on the rebuilding of the city.

On the right is the only remaining downtown building to survive. Today, it houses Where'Dya Find That Antiques. 

A warm and cozy respite on a cool day. And it smelled so nice inside too!

Derek and I spent some time talking with the Owners - Erica and Gary, while Cassia found some blocks to entertain her.

From Greensburg we headed south on the 183 to take us to Coldwater - then it was a left  along the 160 to take us to Medicine Lodge. This route - Coldwater to ML - is the only scenic byway in the area. Oh - by the way - bad picture out my side window but does anyone know what this crop is in southern Kansas? It looks tall broad leaved grass like with dark brown seed heads. 

The gypsum hills - we can see why this area has been singled out as the scenic route.

We were really impressed with the array of colours and the red rock. It just wasn't a very nice day to take pictures. Plus, I had to take all the photos from the van as there are no pullouts.

When we saw a scenic loop side we quickly turned thinking that would be our chance to get up close. Bad, bad, bad decision - look what we ended up on! I instantly felt sick thinking about all the other times we have gotten stuck or near stuck on our trips. Thankfully, Derek was able to just turn around about 1 mile up.

He stopped when we got back to the highway for a cigarette destresser moment - and to take a picture of the gumbo now all over the van and trailer.

A great route - just don't go off the highway after it rains!

Just up ahead there was a pullout but sadly it didn't give much of a viewpoint.

Information though.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this type of setting - grasslands with undulations and trees.

With all the stops we didn't get too far that day - which was ok. Wellington, south of Wichita, was our stop for the night.

If you ever through - their Walmart is a really good overnight spot with a side parking lot out of the way. Derek walked over and took a picture of the ladybug on the wild sunflower.

Well, with this post we are on day two of our visit to Kansas. Next, post we are hanging out with the Dalton Gang in Coffeyville, KS and then on to the next state east, Missouri.

Today, we are headed to the Public House Brewery in Rolla, MO. Derek is taking a home brewing course. Since we really find the hobby of craft brew intriguing, we figured we would start dabbling in this fine art ourselves when we get back home.

Sad to see that the cloud and rain has returned with cooler temps, after some blue sky yesterday. Our remaining visit of Missouri might be shorter than planned if this weather keeps up. The next few days we'll be driving through the rural areas on our way to Cape Girardeau.

Teresa

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