Kansas Adventures
Warning: this is a post with a LOT of pictures.
When we were little, my mom (and sometimes my grandma, dad, and/or uncle) used to take us on Kansas Day Trips. We went so many places - to the Seelye Mansion, Dalton Gang Museum, the underground city in Ellinwood, Monument Rocks, to name a few. (And we got lost so many times. This was before mapquest. Or GPS.)
Some of my pictures are looking a little pixel-ated when I upload them. Weird.
Brad and I have been wanting to go on Kansas trips for a while now, especially since we don't get many big vacations while we're both in school. So yesterday we loaded up the dog (crazy us!) took off.
It wasn't really a tourist thing; we just stopped at a few random places. It was fun, though.
Our first stop was Teter Hill / Teter Rock / Teterville. My dad used to pasture cattle out on Teter Hill, and I remember a couple picnics on the spot. We once caught a horned toad there, which became a class pet. I think in 4th grade.
I even got to herd some cattle off the road on the way out! When we were headed back toward "town" (Cassoday), we ran into the owner of the cattle. He told us he had about 100 head missing. We saw probably 40-50 in our 12-mile ride out to the hill.
Teter Rock was put up by James Teter in the 1870's to guide pioneers to the Cottonwood River. This is not the original but a replacement erected as a memorial to James Teter in the 1950's. The original Teter Rock was used as building materials in the 1920's for the oil boom town Teterville, which lasted less than 40 years.
We also saw a herd of wild horses in the pasture next to Teter Hill.
I love the prairie!
Our second stop, and the real reason for the trip, was Chase State Fishing Lake, so Brad could fish.
I entertained myself by taking pictures...
...and watching the dog.
There are waterfalls by the lake that are pretty cool... when there's actually water to run down them. This was more like a trickle.
This is the stream bed that runs from the lake to the waterfalls.
We make a quick stop at the Chase County Courthouse. Unfortunately, there was a very modern Saturn Vue parked in front that hindered my picture-taking.
The third and final destination was the Clements Stone Arch Bridge. I've always seen the KDOT sign on Highway 50 but never ventured off the beaten path (in my defense, most times I was on a junior high sports bus and couldn't exactly stop). It is beautiful... but it's also in need of some restoration/cleanup. Thankfully someone's working toward that. The stone is all dry fit, which means there's no mortar; the limestone blocks are fit together by the skill of the mason. Amazing.
And for some strange reason I'm having trouble focusing on homework today. Huh.
When we were little, my mom (and sometimes my grandma, dad, and/or uncle) used to take us on Kansas Day Trips. We went so many places - to the Seelye Mansion, Dalton Gang Museum, the underground city in Ellinwood, Monument Rocks, to name a few. (And we got lost so many times. This was before mapquest. Or GPS.)
Brad and I have been wanting to go on Kansas trips for a while now, especially since we don't get many big vacations while we're both in school. So yesterday we loaded up the dog (crazy us!) took off.
It wasn't really a tourist thing; we just stopped at a few random places. It was fun, though.
Our first stop was Teter Hill / Teter Rock / Teterville. My dad used to pasture cattle out on Teter Hill, and I remember a couple picnics on the spot. We once caught a horned toad there, which became a class pet. I think in 4th grade.
I even got to herd some cattle off the road on the way out! When we were headed back toward "town" (Cassoday), we ran into the owner of the cattle. He told us he had about 100 head missing. We saw probably 40-50 in our 12-mile ride out to the hill.
Our second stop, and the real reason for the trip, was Chase State Fishing Lake, so Brad could fish.
We make a quick stop at the Chase County Courthouse. Unfortunately, there was a very modern Saturn Vue parked in front that hindered my picture-taking.
The third and final destination was the Clements Stone Arch Bridge. I've always seen the KDOT sign on Highway 50 but never ventured off the beaten path (in my defense, most times I was on a junior high sports bus and couldn't exactly stop). It is beautiful... but it's also in need of some restoration/cleanup. Thankfully someone's working toward that. The stone is all dry fit, which means there's no mortar; the limestone blocks are fit together by the skill of the mason. Amazing.
And for some strange reason I'm having trouble focusing on homework today. Huh.
love the photos! On your next "trip" you should head up to Florence (Marion County) they have a nice natural spring and if you want to stay the night they have a really nice BB called Doyle Creek Ranch it is made from an old bunk house and is owned by the owners of a working ranch. Not much left of the town of Florence, but lots of history around. They even have an old Harvey House there. My grandpa lived and farmed there his whole life. The best summers of my life were spent on "the farm." We don't get back as often as we should and it's only a few hours up the hwy. Thanks for the memory reminders!
ReplyDeleteI love the Clements bridge! Not that your pictures aren't amazing, but I always think it's difficult to capture how massive the bridge is in a photo (at least my photos). Definitely worth a stop off Hwy 50. Great KS post!
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