A drive to Wisconsin through Amish land

My daughter Jill had asked me some time ago if I could come to Wisconsin to babysit (I should say "kidsit" since they aren't babies).  She and Adam wanted to go to Door county to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.

Al hasn't retired yet, and who knows, could be years until he does.  So, I often do these trips alone.   I left on a Saturday as he was preparing to mow.

I took first street out of town.  It is so much more relaxing than highway 50.  That highway is purportedly one of the most dangerous highways in Kansas!  I wanted something more relaxing to start out my journey.

A pickup here and there, and a few bicyclists too.  

I could hear the melodic songs of meadowlarks 𝅘𝅥𝅱𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

The meadowlark is the state bird of Kansas.

This was taken from the look-out at the Flint Hills.

Look at the haze.  The news said that it was dust from the Sahara Desert!  Evidently it happens annually and lasts 3-5 days.

First stop was in Lawrence, home of the Jayhawks.  We lived there for several years while Al was in college and I worked on campus.

Now Al's sister lives there, so we stop when we can!  We went to eat at Torchy's Taco's.  That was a new restaurant for me.

"Try to keep the sunshine all around you, that the people may catch some of it and carry it home."  Wanamaker, 1917

Julie always brings me sunshine!  I believe she does to everyone she meets!

Would like to know this guy's story.

Hard to be "sun-shiny" about this!  GAG!

I had looked at the atlas (yes, the paper map) the night before to try to figure out what road to take that I'd never been on before.  I saw this on FB and laughed.

I highlight the roads we take in yellow.  This way I know which roads we still need to go on.  I decided to turn east at Osceola. (marked in yellow now)

Summer bugs on windshield

Having grown up on a farm, Allen enjoys looking at farm land as we travel.  These next few pictures are for him.

Smiley faces

I wondered what this plane is here for.  Pierce's Pumpkin Patch in Chariton, Iowa.  I decided to look them up and ended up calling the guy.

He told me that this twin-engine airplane was built in Wichita (close to us!) by Beechcraft in '41.  The Army had it first, then the Navy.  After the war, it was donated to the community college near this place.  Later, the school decided to sell it for scrap and in the end, this guy bought it.  He told me he has quite a collection of WWII things.  They have a festival the 2nd week of October and let people go through the plane!  He says at age 80, he has a hard time getting into it, but the kids love to explore it!

Oskaloosa, Iowa

Impressive post office!

I would have loved to go inside this church!

Around the corner from this church, I passed a home with a big sign out front:

HONK!  Bob's 60!!  

Of course I had to do that!!   Beep, beep, beep!!   Just think, when you just travel on big highways, you miss these things!

GPS even took me on a dirt road and through some iddy, biddy towns like Keswick.  And What Cheer!

Here is where I stayed in Kalona, Iowa.

I walked to the store next door.

Downtown Kalona.

There had been festivities all day with a parade.  It was Kalona Days, but I didn't know!  Had I known, I think I would have come a day earlier and spent 2 nights!  I will come back again when I can do more exploring around the countryside!