I left home at 8 AM with a crisp, pleasant temperature of 50 degrees. This was just an absolutely perfect day with temperatures from 50 to 82 with very little wind and clear blue skies. It was a great day to tour southeast Kansas and visit 13 counties, which I did. I rode 480 miles and arrived home about 6:30 PM. As I travel I have a Garmin GPS and Sirius Satellite radio and mostly listen to 60's Rock & Roll. I have ear buds to listen to "Lola", as I call the Garmin lady.
I headed south of Topeka on hwy 75 with my first stop in Lyndon in Osage County.
I continued on south on 75 hwy and stopped just north of Burlington and took a picture of Wolf Creek nuclear power plant. Then it was on to Burlington in Coffee County and a stop at their courthouse. This one was hidden in the trees. I also took a picture of a mural painted on a building.
I continued on down 75 hwy to Yates Center in Woodson County. They have a pretty courthouse that covers a whole block.
From there I headed east a short distance on hwy 54 to Iola in Allen County. Their courthouse is a newer one and small compared to others.
I then headed south on 169 hwy to Chanute, then east on 39-57 to 59 hwy where I went south to Erie. Chanute is a much larger city, but Erie is the county seat of Neosho. I actually stopped in Chanute and took a picture of a building that I thought was the county courthouse. Two other people in Chanute thought so too because they said it was. Neosho County also is a newer building.
After leaving Erie I continued south on 59 hwy to 47 hwy where I headed back west to Fredonia in Wilson County. Their courthouse was small and well hidden with trees. As I was leaving I could see a large flag on a hill and seen a sign directing me up there. Once on top you can see for miles and I took picture of the flag. Since it was 9-11 most flags were at half staff. I also stopped at a Sonic for a burger and had a little visitor hop up on the table begging for a fry. The squirrel must hang out there and beg. I was surprised that it wasn’t fat.
I headed south out of Fredonia on 400 hwy and 75 hwy to Independence in Montgomery County. Their courthouse has a bell out front. Much of the area did not have crops planted since they were flooded out in June. I saw one pivot irrigation system with trash clinging to it near the top.
I headed east on 160 hwy to Oswego in Labette County. Their courthouse is well marked and easy to photograph. Much of the area in the south east part of the state is pasture and hay. The pastures are not pretty like the flint hills and have lots of weeds and trees growing. The ground looks very rocky.
I continued east on 160 hwy to Columbus in Cherokee County. They have a nice courthouse with a fountain in the front. Two years ago I was in Cherokee County and visited the strip mining area around West Mineral and went to the Big Brutus Museum so I included a picture for this trip. It is well worth a trip to see such a large machine.
Okay I am headed back north now on 7 hwy and was headed for Girard but a few miles before I get there the road is closed and a detour to the east to Pittsburg. So I went north of Pittsburg to 57 hwy and then to Girard in Crawford County. Their courthouse is also hard to see because of all the trees.
I headed north on 7 hwy to 69 hwy into Fort Scott in Bourbon County and about this time I could have used some. Jack Daniels and Coke, hmmm. I had to keep going though so forget that. Fort Scott has a cannon protecting their courthouse. There are many nice buildings in Fort Scott including the church I took a picture of.
I continued north on 69 hwy to 52 hwy where I went west to Mound City in Linn County. Theirs is small, but older courthouse.
From Mound City I headed west on 52-32 hwy and then took 59 north to Garnett in Anderson County to another historic courthouse. It is a very pretty courthouse covering a square block.Well I am finished for the day so time to head home. The GPS had me routed up through Lawrence but I elected to take 31 hwy to the northwest through Waverly. There I got on I-35 headed west and at the first overpass they were cheering me on. Well maybe it was because of 9-11 that they were waving flags but I can dream. I honked and waved back. I took 75 back north to Topeka to end the great day. I have now visited 29 counties. Tomorrow I plan to head northwest and on Friday attend a funeral in Edgar, NE for one of my uncles. I changed oil and filter in the BMW today so I am good for another 6,000 miles. I now have over 42,000 miles on it. Most of the pictures on this post came from:
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/counties/
For more information about the counties go to this web site.
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