Touring North Central Kansas

September 13 & 14

I left Topeka at 8 AM heading west on I-70. My first stop was Junction City in Geary County. They have a very pretty limestone courthouse.

Further west on I-70 I came to Abilene in Dickinson County and their courthouse is downtown by the Eisenhower Center.

I fueled up there and then went south on 15 hwy and “Lola” was having a fit because I didn’t go back to I-70 like I was routed. I took the Marymount road west into Salina and came out in downtown Salina in Saline County at the courthouse in spite of Lola. Most men have a metal plate in their nose and know how to find places regardless of the nagging we receive from women!

I went back to I-70 and headed west again to 156 hwy, then headed southwest to Ellsworth in Ellsworth County.

Next I headed back to I-70 and west to Russell in Russell County. I ate lunch at a Subway.

I turned the routing off and headed north 27 miles out of Russell on 281 hwy, then east on 281 and 18 hwy to Lucas in Russell County. I had to make a stop in Lucas at the Garden of Eden where I took some pictures. I didn’t go in as it was closed at the time and I didn’t want to be tempted with an apple anyway. I continued on east to Lincoln in Lincoln County. They have a pretty courthouse also.

Then it was on east on 18 hwy to 106 hwy where I went north to Minneapolis in Ottawa County. Along 18 hwy there were several places where there was field art like the dragon I took a picture off. The farmers must have some spare time in the winter and their artistic talents thrive.

I fueled up again and went on east to 81 hwy then went north to 24 hwy where I made a 60 mile round trip to Clay Center in Clay County. I couldn’t find a closer way to get there as it was about 30 miles coming in from any direction.

After getting back to 81 hwy I went on north to my birth place in Concordia in Cloud County. From here I had planned to go on north to Belleville but since it was only 3:30 I decided to head on west.

It was another nice day to ride with temperatures ranging from the upper 50’s to upper 80,s and then falling back to 70 by days end with the passing of a cold front. I hit the cold front just west of Concordia and the wind picked up out of the north. I took 9 hwy west to Beloit in Mitchell County. They have a very pretty courthouse. These Kansas farmers have a good sense of humor as you can see by the picture of the stool I took west of Concordia.

From there I continued west on 24 hwy to Cawker City and the “World’s Largest Ball of Twine”. I went on west to 281 and dropped south a few miles to another gorgeous courthouse in Osborne in Osborne County.

I went north on 281 and came across smaller version of the Statute of Liberty near the junction of 9 hwy. It was placed there by the Boy Scouts. I went to Smith Center in Smith County and viewed their courthouse.

Then it was on east on 36 hwy to Mankato in Jewell County.

I went north on 14 hwy past a farm where dad farmed in Jewell County and where he met my mother, Dorothy Marcotte. They were living there when dad was drafted into the Army September, 1942 during WWII. I rode into Superior, NE where my grandparents, Fred & Nellie Marcotte, lived for many years and are both buried.

I stayed overnight in Superior and the next day I visited my grandparents graves then headed on north on 14 hwy going past the Nuckolls County courthouse in Nelson, NE so I stopped and took a picture of it also. Went to Edgar, NE and attended a funeral for my uncle Bill Marcotte, mom’s youngest sibling. He had leukemia for the past ten years and after a long battle succumbed to it. I did get to visit with aunts and cousins that I hadn’t seen in some time. It usually takes a death to bring a family together.

I headed for home about 1 PM going south and then east out of Edgar to 81 hwy where I went south to Belleville in Republic County.

All along US-36 were garage sales in the towns and at homes along the road. It was an advertised scheduled event. My next stop was in Washington in Washington County.

Next it was on east to Marysville in Marshall County where they have the new courthouse and the historic courthouse. I filled up with gas and found the address of my uncle Lloyd Gerstner and I stopped to say hello to him. He lived two bocks from where I stopped for gas.

I headed on east on 36 to 75 hwy and arrived home about 5 PM after traveling 796 miles in two days. I now have visited 45 counties. Farmers are busy harvesting corn and the milo crop in north central Kansas looks to be a good one. Be sure to check my pictures at the link to the right.

Touring the Southeast Counties of Kansas

Tuesday, September, 11

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.

Suther Reunion

The Suther Reunion was held today at Wamego. The four sisters make a quilt each year and a drawing is held for the quilt. This was the 16th quilt given away. This year Jeanette Suther won the quilt and there daughter Lauren drew her name. Since Sr Betty was overseeing it was probably legitimate. This quilt was named "Chickadee Chalet" and was designed by Mary. The last one Mary designed Jeanette's husband, Robert, won.

Travel to 105 Kansas Counties

Well I am going to embark on a new adventure. I stopped at Alma yesterday and took this picture at the Wabaunsee County Courthouse. After taking this picture I rode west on The Skyline/Mill Creek scenic drive winding southwest to Alta Vista. This road shows up as Old 10 Rd on my GPS. It is a meandering 17 mile road through farm and pasture with many curves. There are old one room schools and farmhouses made from native limestone. It is an interesting ride.

This posting starts my expedition of traveling to all 105 counties in Kansas and I will take my picture at each courthouse to show I was there. I have it planned for about 5 trips with the shortest being 250 miles in northeast Kansas and the longest being about 1,850 miles when I travel along the northern two tiers of counties and then head south to Oklahoma line. That trip will probably take about four days. I have it all programmed into my Garmin GPS and it looks like the total of the trips will be about 3,800 miles. I will begin further travels once the weather cools off. I will keep you posted of my progress.




Thursday August 30.

Yesterday I went to Shawnee County courthouse.











Today I went to Jackson County in Holton.





Brown County in Hiawatha



Nemaha County in Seneca





Pottawatomie County in Westmoreland










and Riley County in Manhattan. The pictures I took are posted to the right under Kansas Counties.

The reason for the trip today was to go to Frankfort to see my mother who is in the Care Home. That doesn't take long because she does not know me and can't talk, at least of anything that makes sense. After leaving Seneca I came down through Centralia where I went to 4th & 5th grade and Vermillion where I went to 1st to 3rd grade. We lived on farms near both towns and moved to Frankfort in 1952 where I completed grade and high school.

As I was heading out of Frankfort I seen Jim Fry and his mother, Athena, sitting outside so I turned around and visited with them a while. Jim and I graduated from Frankfort High together and have kept in touch throughout the years. Jim and Helen Roeder were married one week after Mary and I and I was Jim's best man. We were in the National Guard together in the Marysville unit and both got called up to active duty in May 1968. I stayed in Colorado Springs and Jim went to Vietnam.

The crops look good up north, especially the soybeans. The weather was nice and cool this morning. I had trouble with my camera and couldn't get the time delay to work so only got pictures of the bike. That is easier than setting up the tripod anyway. The courthouse in Seneca is directly across the street from the school that burned down. Today I rode 240 miles.


Sunday, September 9, 2007

Today was a great day to ride and I rode 327 miles. The temperature was in the mid 60’s to upper 70’s throughout the day, a perfect temperature to ride. I left home about 9 AM and headed up K-4 highway to K-92. Oskaloosa was my first stop which is in Jefferson County. Their courthouse is newer and is plain.

From there I headed up 59 hwy to Atchison. They have an old courthouse and it is very pretty with a clock in the tower and shows I was there about 10:40. There was much going on downtown with a flea market in progress and many people downtown. Atchison is the birthplace of Amelia Earhart and has many other historic places to visit.

I headed north out of Atchison on 7 hwy and then a county road to Troy in Doniphan County. This is a nice drive and designated a scenic Kansas highway. Doniphan courthouse is also a pretty courthouse.

After Troy I headed back down 7 hwy through Atchison and on to Leavenworth in Leavenworth County. I rode by the US Penitentiary but decided I didn’t want to visit there. Again they have a nice looking courthouse and there is much to see and do around the area with museums, Old Ft. Leavenworth, and the National Cemetary.

Then I became lost. For some reason when I loaded the information for Wyandotte County in my GPS I got it wrong and ended up in Edwardsville looking for the courthouse. I had to ask several people before I found out the exact location. I headed back up I-435 to I-70 and headed east into Kansas City with the hopes of getting off at the 7th Street exit. Nope, it was under construction so I got off at the next exit and was forced to go south on U-69 across a bridge. As soon as I could I made a u-turn and headed back north. It was on 7th street and was easy to find. The courthouse is also a beauty.

I went back to I-435 and onto I-35 to the Santa Fe exit and into Olathe to the Johnson County Courthouse. This one has a modern design and is very attractive.

I then headed south on 169 hwy which is a 4 lane road to Miami County. Along the way I had a motorcycle pass me that must have been doing 140 mph. I was traveling 70 and he scared me when he zoomed by. I could see a mile ahead and he was out of sight in less than a minute. The clock on the Miami courthouse in Paola shows I was there at 3:05. This is another old courthouse that takes up a square block and is very pretty.

From Paola I took a county road about ten miles west and then went one mile north to 68 hwy where I headed west past the huge Wal-Mart distribution center into Ottawa. Franklin County Courthouse was built in 1893 and was named a historic place. It is a grand courthouse.

I went north out of Ottawa on 59 hwy. They are beginning work on this road to make it a four lane. The next stop was in Douglas County in Lawrence and down Massachusetts Street. They have a grand courthouse and the clock places me there at 4:30. There was a lot of activity in downtown Lawrence and part of Massachusetts was closed off.

I headed for the Turnpike and was home around 5 PM. I have now been to 16 courthouses and only 89 to go!

All the pictures except the first on this site came from : http://skyways.lib.ks.us/counties/

Go there to learn more about the Counties.

New signs to announce Flint Hills in Kansas

You have seen it here first.

This past week I traveled to Wichita driving cars for Ed Bozarth. As I was heading south on the turnpike south of Emporia I saw some workers installing a limestone facing like the one pictured. Then returning from Wichita going northbound they were placing another limestone near Matfield Green.Saturday I went to Denver and back delivering a pickup for Bozarth and upon my return I seen where another of the limestone’s was in place just east of Junction City and also one in the westbound side of I-70 just west of the Maple Hill exit. I suspect these limestones will be engraved announcing your entrance into the Flint Hills of Kansas. I took the above picture today just west of Maple Hill. They look to be very attractive signs and should make tourists & Kansan's take notice of the natural beauty of the Flint Hills.

Update Monday August 27. When Mary arrived at work this morning she asked the head of Tourism and she said, "The signs are being done with KDOT money. They will say “Welcome to the Flint Hills”, will be lit, and nicely landscaped around them."

Trip to Little Rock, AR

Mary and I went on a short vacation to Little Rock, Arkansas. Even though they set a new record high of 106 on Saturday we still had a good time. We arrived at a Comfort Inn Saturday afternoon within walking distance of the Clinton Library. Saturday evening a van from the hotel took us downtown for dinner. We ate some excellent pizza at Gusano’s Pizzeria. We walked a short distance down President Clinton Blvd. Mary was entertained by a Michael Jackson mime.

Sunday morning we ate in the hotel at their complementary breakfast then went to Mass at a nearby church. Before we left home I questioned Mary about me taking trousers to wear to church and we decided since we were on vacation we would wear shorts. As the priest was giving the announcements at the close of the Mass he gave a talk about dress code and to not wear shorts to church. Since I couldn’t hide under the pew I listened then left quietly after Mass.

After Mass we drove around some and would have liked to walk along the river walk but it was just too hot to enjoy that. About 12:30 we headed for the Clinton Library and ate an expensive brunch while waiting for the Library to open. We did enjoy going through the Library and spent about 3 hours doing so. One forgets how many things happen during eight years of a presidency. We both had the narrative handsets so we could listen to President Clinton explain each exhibit. It was laid out by the year and was easy to follow. We took a trolley downtown to a Clinton gift shop and then back to our car.

Since we ate a large lunch we were not real hungry for dinner. We had the hotel van driver take us back downtown and walked around some. They were having an Alice Cooper concert by the river and there we some weird people showing up for it. We went into a restaurant close by where the band was playing. We didn’t realize how loud they were until we left the restaurant.

Monday morning we ate at the hotel then headed for Eureka Springs taking two lane roads most of the way. It is much more interesting than the interstate. We arrived in Eureka Springs about 1:30 and went downtown to walk the hills going into many shops. We went into the lower ones first then drove up the hill to where most of the better shops are. Most of the shops were air conditioned so it wasn’t too bad. We bought a few things and went to find our motel about 4 PM. We stayed in the Best Western of Eureka Springs and later went to eat at the Forest Hill restaurant. We were not impressed with it.

Tuesday morning, August 14, was our 42nd anniversary and we started for home. We took the back roads through Arkansas and came into Missouri where we took a 90 highway that I would like to ride on the motorcycle sometime. It was probably 50 miles of curvy roads through the back country. It amazes me how many people live along this road in very poor homes. It seemed like there was a home every mile and sometimes several in a mile. Some places it was hard to imagine anyone living there. We came out south of Joplin and finally found a Shoney’s where we ate breakfast about 9:30. We went up highway 71 north of Carthage then took 2 lane roads through Pittsburg, KS and on to Topeka arriving about 2 PM.

We had a nice leisurely trip and really enjoyed it, in spite of the heat.

BMW Rally & Salmon Fishing in Wisconsin

On July 11 under clear skies and cool weather I headed for West Bend, Wisconsin for a BMW rally. It was a great day to ride with the temperatures in the 70's. I went up through Atchison, KS and St Joseph, MO and took US 36 to Cameron, MO. I then took I-35, I-80, I-380 to Cedar Rapids, IA, then on 151 to Dubuque, IA. I followed Wisconsin 11 hi way along the Illinois border and stayed overnight at a campground in Milton, WI on 26 hi way. It cost $19 to pitch a tent and would have been $29 if I wasn't an old poop. It was close to I-90 so I heard truck noise at night but slept fair.


The next day I headed for West Bend which is not far from Lake Michigan. I arrived there mid morning. I set up the tent in a spot I thought looked pretty good and went off to see what was there. Within the first hour I bought a new Olympia mesh riding jacket & pants. The one I was wearing was starting to fade and was black and I wanted this silver one. It is real comfortable and lets in a lot of air so I can wear it in hot weather. There were many exhibits to look at and lots of BMW's. In the evening I listened to Polka music! Not very long though.

I went to bed but there was still a lot of noise and road traffic. I had a hard time getting to sleep and then at 4 AM the beep, beep, beep of a truck backing. I had camped near 15 porta-potties and they were backing in to service them. Then the pump started and I decided to get up and head for the shower, along with many others. They had 4 semi trailers set up with shower facilities but they wouldn't open until 6 AM for some unknown reason. In where the restrooms were there was one shower and 10 people in line so I made it 11. About 45 minutes later and a lot of grumbling I had a shower and headed back for my tent. I layed down for a while but by then others were beginning to get up. I got up and started packing things up. I had one seminar I wanted to attend at 10 AM and then would leave. After I packed everything on the bike I headed to town for breakfast and found a good local restaurant.

About noon I headed north toward Door County. I stayed along the coast of Lake Michigan as much as I could, even taking some paved county roads. I came out at Sturgeon Bay and proceeded north as far as I could go taking 57 hi way. I did not take the ferry to Washington Island. I then came back south on 42 hi way and liked the west shore better. It is really pretty and the cherries were ripe. There were many red sour cherry trees and all were ripe and many bing cherries. I came back down to Sturgeon Bay and found a motel about 5 PM as I wanted to get caught up on some sleep, which I did.

I had made arrangements to stay with my nephew Art & his wife Pam Gerstner and told them I would be there around noon but I think I arrived about 10 AM. Art was going to take me salmon fishing which was a first for me. I was really looking forward to this and it was the highlight of my trip. As luck would have it it was a windy day a we could not go out on Saturday. Art and Pam have two children, Howie 5 and Charlie about 1. This was my first visit to their nice home in northeastern Green Bay. Howie was excited to see me and wanted to play, which I did. Charlie was a cutie. After lunch, Art took me and Howie for a ride to Algoma where we would put the boat in the next day. Many of the charter boats were in with their catches of huge salmon. This made me excited to go and catch some in Art's boat. We went on to Sturgeon Bay and went to the Door County Maritime Museum. Howie was excited to go because they had a pirates display and he LIKES pirates. We spent about an hour going through it. Next Art took us to a cottage along the lake that belongs to Pam's uncle. Art keeps it mowed. We sat out there for a while and had a couple of beers. We then started home and stopped along the way at a cherry stand and I bought two quarts of red bing cherries and a quart of yellow cherries for $10. They were so good and sweet.

Sunday morning we went to church, then came home and Art & me got the boat loaded for fishing. (One thing that was unique about their church was that it did not have kneelers. I liked it because in our church the kneelers are too close to the pew and it is hard to kneel. They stood instead of kneeling.) Art had spent as good deal of time on Saturday getting his equipment ready and it takes a lot of equipment. Art said before church that we should have our first fish on by 1 PM. We made the trip to Algoma, paid the $6 launch fee and launched the boat. The weather was perfect with partly cloudy skies, light wind, cool temperatures and not much for waves. The surface water temperature was 49 degrees which is cool for this time of year. We had problems right off because the kicker motor (small trolling motor) would not stay running and was not pumping water to keep it cool. Art had never tried trolling with the big 150 HP motor but it looked like we could go slow enough to make it work. Art got me lined up and I guided the boat while he put out the lines. First he put out two planer boards, one on each side of the boat, with spoons attached. These run out 30 feet or more to the side of the boat. Then he put out two dipsy divers, one on each side, with a lot of pretty stuff on them. I don't know what all this stuff is called. Then he had two down riggers, one on each side, and put them at a depth of about 40 feet. We were fishing in 60 t0 120 feet of water. Art had one hit one of the spoons but missed it. At exactly 1 PM I caught a rainbow trout. They really jump out of he water. I would guess them to be about 5 pounds. We caught two trout and 4 salmon. We missed several that would hit the lure but we didn't get them hooked.

We really had a thrill when Art hooked a big one from one of the down riggers and at the same time I had one on a dipsy diver. They kept crossing lines and we were trying to keep them from getting tangled. I finally lost mine and I got the net ready to net the one Art had. It was huge and kept trying to get tangled and it finally did. It got in the motor and cut the line. Our excitement ended abruptly! We made a big circle a came back around to see if we could pick up any others in the area and we did. In the next hour we picked up 2 more and one was big. Art got it up near the boat and I wondered how I would get it in the net. I didn't! I missed it and it took off. Art was able to slow it down and bring it back and was telling me how to net it this time. I didn't miss this time and we got it boated. We did not weigh it but estimated it about 18 pounds. It was big and beautiful and I was glad we were able to get it in the boat. We headed back in about 7:30 so we could get in and get the fish cleaned before dark and the other boats came in. We were out about two & a half miles but with the big motor it didn't take long to get in. Art has a GPS and a Garmin fish locater. The GPS shows us where we are and how far out we were. You can also mark spots and go back to the same location. That is how we were able to make circle and go back where we thought there might be more fish.

A guy took our picture with two of the biggest fish. They have a real nice cleaning station with water, conveyor belt and grinder to grind up the waste. It is then used for fertilizer. We cleaned the fish and cut them up, washed them off, and packaged them. The salmon are not native and can not reproduce on their own. When they go up the rivers it is too warm to spawn on their own and they are netted, milked and small fish are raised in hatchery, then released. Salmon live 4 years then die, so those that are 4 and are not harvested are wasted. They were introduced into the lake to control problem fish that were too abundant, dying and covering the beaches with stinking fish. So the salmon were a win - win for everyone. Art says at 3 AM there will be 200 to 300 boats launching at this site alone. Many charter boats take customers out on a regular basis.

Art was a great host and very patient with a first time salmon fisher like me. It was the highlight of my trip. On Monday they were predicting rain and thunderstorms so we opted to go perch fishing on the bay closer the Art's home. We did not catch any keepers but did enjoy a nice day and the birds coming in to see if they could get something to eat. We came home around noon and cleaned out the boat and put things away. I played with Howie and after we ate we went for a walk. So thanks Art & Pam for sharing your home, time and family with me. I really enjoyed it.
I left for home Tuesday morning about 7 AM and arrived in Topeka at 7 PM. It was about 720 miles. The temperature rose to 80 degrees about 11 AM at Cedar Rapids, IA. That was the warmest it had been in a week. Then by the time I got to Des Moines it was 100 and the rest of he trip in he upper 90's. My riding jacket and pants worked well. I rode a total of 1,658 miles and averaged 43.62 miles per gallon. I spent $130 for gas.