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Stormin' Across Eastern Kansas
Quite a few people who haven’t been to Kansas have formed their impressions of the state by watching a movie made in 1939. The Wizard of Oz, filmed in a Hollywood studio, portrays Kansas as hot, dry, tornado-ridden and tabletop flat. While this may be a somewhat apt description of western Kansas, the state’s eastern region has a surprisingly hilly topography. And our five-day tour through this enchanting prairie landscape turns out to be anything but dry.
Although our designated route in eastern Kansas is all on-pavement, Jeff Armitage and I will take our dual-sport motorcycles off-road at every opportunity during the next five days. I'm expecting to get a few more dings on my 2006 Kawasaki KLR 650, but Jeff has never had his pristine 1990 Honda Transalp off-road, or even gotten it dusty as far I as I know. So I'm wondering how he'll react if his "baby" gets a few battle scars.
Monday (200 miles): Searching for Big Brutus
Bright sunshine and warm temperatures greet our departure from Arkansas City, Kansas, as we roll east on US 166. A left turn quickly has us descending into rich bottomland, snaking our way along Grouse Creek, past farms and grazing cattle. Before long, though, we're back on US 166 and looking for another interesting diversion. We find it in Sedan and stop for an early lunch at Mel's General Store. Annually, some 50,000 visitors come here to shop in the Victorian-era stores on Main Street, and to tour the surrounding countryside, which some have dubbed the "Kansas Ozarks." ...
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