A long day but finally out of Sandy

Tuesday 10/30/12

It was a bright but very windy and chilly morning. I had scouted out a few Roadside America sights to add to our Madonna goals and one of them was here in Vandalia – the Kaskaskia Dragon. It’s rigged up with a propane tank and upon insertion of a token will breathe fire. Tokens are available at the liquor store across the street. It was too windy for us so we didn’t even check if the store was open yet. Oh, the dragon was built in 1995 and named after the hardware store the builder owned.

Kaskaskia Dragon

Then it was on to our third Madonna. She marks the western terminus of the National Road.

Vandalia IL Madonna of the Trail

The next Madonna was in Lexington KS, a bit east of Kansas City. On our way there, we stopped at a rest area just west of the Mississippi and realized that we had at last escaped Sandy. The wind was just a breeze and it was warm enough to take the jackets off. Ahhhh.

Lexington is now a small town off the expressway but it wasn’t always that way. Prior to the Civil War it was the largest city in western Missouri and you can see the prosperity in some of the buildings. It would have been nice to have spent a little more time there looking around, but we had a long day planned and had to get moving.

Lexington MO Madonna of the Trail

 

Also at the Lexington site:

Another reminder that we live in a glass house

Ken wanted to stop and see the I-70 Speedway. He had remembered it as somewhere near Odessa, which was just south of Lexington. Smartphone to the rescue, I found that it was close to where we would be getting back onto I-70. So off we went. The track appeared to be defunct, but we got a “we were there” picture.

I-70 Speedway sign in Odessa MO

We negotiated Kansas City and turned southwest at Topeka. Our next destination was Council Grove KS. I had been to Council Grove in April 2004 while waiting for my trailer to be repaired in Junction City. I had taken a day trip to the Tall Grass Prairie Reserve and had visited the Kaw Mission in Council Grove on my way back. I remember driving over to the reservoir NE of town so I must have passed the Madonna then, but I don’t remember noticing her.

Council Grove KS Madonna of the Trail

Nearby the Madonna was a strange looking object so we walked over to see what it was. It’s the remnants of the “Post Office Oak” and its protective canopy.

“From 1825 to 1847 a cache at the foot of this tree served as a post office
for incoming and outgoing wagon trains”

Supper was in McPherson at Bruno’s Wood Fired Pizza, an accidental but excellent choice. We pushed on to Garden City where we stopped for the night at ~10pm local time. I don’t know what body time we were on at that point. We would have stopped earlier, but, off the expressway, this part of Kansas didn’t offer much.

739 mi, 13:22 hrs total, 11:27 hrs moving

[written 12/16/13]