Today was yet another travel day. We took it easy leaving our Wichita hotel room, giving us plenty of time to workout (no more hills thank goodness) and time to get some real work in before getting in the car. Then we were on the road again! The first half was pretty quiet, just more prairie buuut we made it into Oklahoma. Zack says it's Kansas "with a little spice. There were a few more trees and a few more hills, but not a lot much else!For lunch we stopped at Nic's Grill in Oklahoma City. It's this small little spot with very little space, basically a bar and three tables. Also it's cash only - which thankfully we had some on hand. The menu was simple enough, either a burger + fries or their special of the day + fries and while this seems like a boring menu, their burgers were amazing! They were MASSIVE and the patties were thick and sooo juicy. They offered a few different toppings but my favorite was the grilled onions. They were almost charred, black even, but it added so much flavor to the burger. The fries were also freshly cut - sorta how In-n-Out does it.In my opinion, Nic's was better. 10/10 would recommend to a friend. After lunch we went to check out the state capitol before leaving town. I was surprised that it was nowhere near the heart of the city because, well, I have never seen that before. Most capitol buildings that I have seen (not that I have seen SO many in my lifetime) have been right in downtown or on some hill that is on the edge of the city but overlooks it. Clearly this trip will be very educational for me as well.Commentary by Z: the state capitol had a big oil tower in the parking lot. What? Why? Apparently they found oil underneath the capitol building so they drilled a diagonal shaft to get to it... chill guys. It's the capitol building. Leave it alone and go find oil somewhere else.After our extended lunch break, we resumed our drive to Dallas but before we made it to the Texas border we headed off the freeway to Turner Falls. This waterfall is one of the tallest waterfalls in OK (there is another in a state park that matches its height of 77ft - so the internet says). We had to pay to get into the park, but at $8.50 it was well worth it. The river was so blue with natural deep pools where locals and tourists come swim in the summer.An easy path took us right to the falls. It seemed so random in a place that had been flat for so long to suddenly have the gorgeous hills and a waterfall nestled in between it.(We are only a little weird)The park also has a castle that was built in the 30's as a summer home. And yes, I said castle. The building sits on the mountainside and is open to the public to explore which we most definitely did!Another great stop in this trip!Commentary by Z: this "castle" is like every boy scout's dream... even for a grown up boy scout like myself. It's like somebody just got bored and decided "hey, there's tons of rocks around here, I bet I could build myself a sweet little fort up on this hillside" and then before you know it, it becomes this massive project with multiple rooms and 10 fireplaces and secret staircases. There were a few other families/couples there, and from each one it was the man that was way overly excited and was followed around by his polite spouse and kids. Was kind of sad to leave it but I def spent the next 20 minutes in the car thinking about how I could make one of those in my own backyard.We finally made it to Dallas and met up with some friends of ours at Velvet Taco for dinner. This place had their own twist on tacos. They offered a variety of protein: chicken, steak, fish, tofu, etc. but then topped them off with different salsas, dressings, and other yummy things. I got a fish taco and a rotisserie chicken taco. Both were excellent but my favorite was the fish taco. It was great to catch up with old friends and enjoy dinner in the city. After dinner Zack bought a slice of red velvet cake because dessert is always a good way to finish off dinner. The cake was delicious! So moist and dense with lots of frosting, just the way I like it. 3rd leg of the Journey: ~8 hours. 412 miles.
Showing posts with label Kansas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kansas. Show all posts
I kinda dreaded this part of the trip. For the most part we have planned out our trip so that our drive time is no more than 4.5 hours; except for the first two segments of our journey. The first part, Utah to Colorado, wasn't bad because we had the mountains. I was not looking forward to today's drive to Kansas because we all know what that means...a whole lot of prairie. Vast open stretches that go on forever. But you know what? I was pleasantly surprised when the drive was pretty fun and actually beautiful (sorry Kansas lovers).
To break up the 7.5 hour drive, we made a few different stops. The first was the "Big Easel". It's a huge, 80ft tall art installation to look like an easel holding a Van Gogh Painting in the town of Goodland... so pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It was a great time to stretch our legs, walk around a bit and, of course, take a few pictures!I was impressed with the size and loved that this city added a little art to attract tourists. We for sure got caught in that trap, and there was another guy near us taking pics too. I'm generally really curious what he was doing because he had a piece of paper with some writing on it that I couldn't see. He had the paper and easel in view of the camera. Some secret message that I will never know... I hate the feeling of not knowing. Maybe he was proclaiming his love to his girlfriend and Van Gogh was the man to help him out. The next break was in Oakley where the Statue of Buffalo Bill stands. The thing was massive! Just look at the picture!The museum was closed being a Sunday and all but they had a stand with information about Buffalo Bill's famous western show and a little history behind him and the area. To be honest, I had only really heard the name. I didn't know that much about him, but now I am an expert so feel free to ask any questions regarding his life. Just Kidding. Please don't do that or I may be embarrassed with the little information I actually retained ha. Our last stop of the trip was one we almost passed up, Zack had found this cool cathedral online but thought it was in Oklahoma. Luckily we saw it in the distance and pulled off the road to take a look.Dubbed "The Cathedral of the Plains", it turned out to be a 100+ year old cathedral built by German immigrants. I guess their American Dream was moving to Kansas! It makes perfect sense for people who just wanted their own land to farm and to be left alone. The doors were open so we had a chance to sit inside for a moment and enjoy the beauty of the stained glass and other intricate designs adorning the walls, but let's talk about the stained glass for a moment. There were at least 30+ intricate pieces covering the walls and depicting moments from Christ's life and various saints caring for His children. I just loved how it was around sunset when we came in so there was soft lighting outside contrasting the dim light inside the church, which made the glass really light up! It's almost like they were LED powered. It was gorgeous.This was my favorite stop of the day by far. The Church is nestled in a quiet town, which is impressive that these people wanted a beautiful place to worship so they built one. I can only imagine the time and money it must have taken to make the cathedral what it is today. Kansas has surprised me. Even in winter, when the grass is dead and the farms are waiting for the growing season, the plains were beautiful. It made me appreciate how vast the US is. There is so much land and amazing things to see. These stops slowed us down a bit while en route to our final destination for the night in Wichita, but it was worth it. We enjoyed the journey so much more when we strayed from the Freeway a bit. Second leg of the journey: Colorado to Kansas. 9 hours, 535 miles.
