My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
Duke and I had a busy day today. We started the day in Topeka, Kansas where we walked a short couple of blocks from our hotel to the state Capitol building. The Kansas Capitol building is one of the prettiest I’ve seen. We did a self guided tour.
The Kansas Capitol building in Topeka. The two wings of the building were built first. Then when they could afford it they added the center. The Kansas Capitol Dome. The ornamentation in the Kansas Capitol impressed me. Duke in the Kansas House of Representatives.
From Topeka we headed east and stopped to see my cousin just north of Kansas City.
Barry and me.
We had a nice visit and then drove to Jefferson City the capital of Missouri. We took a guided tour of the Missouri Capitol building.
Missouri Capitol building In front of the Missouri Capitol building with Thomas Jefferson. The Missouri Governors Office.
We left Jefferson City and headed a few hours south. Tonight we are in a comfort in Willow Springs, Missouri.
Duke and I like to visit state capitols. We have never been to the Kansas Capitol building so today Topeka, the Kansas state capital was our goal. We drove across Kansas from Coolidge on the western border to Topeka not far from the eastern border. We are very much on the Great Plains now.
The Great Plains in the middle of Kansas.
We have been on highway 50 since soon after we left Reno. Today we left 50 and headed a bit north. We stopped in Abilene where the Eisenhower Presidential Library and boyhood home are located. The library and museum were closed because of covid but we enjoyed walking around the grounds.
President Eisenhower boyhood home.
I’ve just started reading the Robert A. Caro’s book, The Path to Power, about Lyndon Johnson’s early years. The book talks about the big cattle drives after the Civil War when unbranded cattle were rounded up and driven north from Texas to the rail yards in Abilene, Kansas. Johnson’s ancestors ran some of these early drives and made a lot of money doing it. I enjoyed seeing Abilene, where the cattle drives ended.
Rest area historical marker near Abilene Kansas.
In Wichita we are staying at the Cyrus, a very nice old refurnished hotel about two blocks from the Capitol. We had burgers across from the hotel at a restaurant called the Pennant.
Today we continued to travel east on highway 50. We crossed the continental divide at Monarch Pass (elev. 11,312 ft.) and from there it was all down hill across Colorado following the Arkansas River.
Arkansas River in Colorado
Tonight we are staying Just over the border in Kansas in the little town of Coolidge (population 171 and elevation 3,356).
Coolidge, Kansas City Hall
We are staying in a very nice little cabin at the Trail City Bed and Breakfast.
Our Cabin at the Trail City Bed and Breakfast in Coolidge, Kansas.
The restaurant in Coolidge is closed this week so we drove 15 miles east to Syracuse and had a good steak dinner at the Black Bison Pub.
If you would like to see more pictures of our trip let me know and I’ll add you to the Apple shared album our the Google photos shared album.
We continued to travel east on our road trip today. We are heading to Memphis, Tennessee where we plan to visit my sister and her husband.
Today we drove across southern Utah and into Colorado. Utah has dramatically different scenery than Nevada.
Utah
We are still on Highway 50, although today a portion of 50 was closed so we had to take a very windy back road detour. It was slower but beautiful.
Today is my Birthday so I looked for a promising restaurant for a birthday dinner. We ate at Blackstock Bistro and it was fantastic. We shared seared sea scallops on beet chips with bacon, shallots and red wine vineager, and seared beef and goat cheese crostini and roast beet and arugula salad. We could easily have been at a bistro in Barcelona but we were at a bistro in Gunnison!
Today was day one of a three week road trip. We are heading to Iowa for Duke’s high school reunion.
According to our plan, today was the longest day of driving, 500 miles from Reno to Filmore, Utah. We were on highway 50 crossing Nevada for most of the day. Highway 50 is called the loneliest highway in America. We saw lots of sagebrush, mountains, and a couple of small towns.
Highway 50 in the middle of Nevada.
We stopped for a picnic lunch.
Lunch
It rained some.
For dinner we got some great tacos at Tacos los Panchos in Fillmore.
Marion's Blog 