We traveled another 270-some miles on Saturday, cutting across Kansas from the northeast to the central south. We landed at Cheney State Park, which is a massive park on a reservoir lake. Massive and, from the looks of things, under-staffed and under-budgeted. Poor park has seen better days. But the sites were very large and the local families (all squeezing out one last fall hurrah) packed up and departed on Sunday morning, leaving the place (virtually) to ourselves.
I have been waiting to blog, with the intention to write more about Saturday’s drive across the countryside – through fields booming with large agribusiness facilities and towns littered with abandoned businesses, but frankly, I don’t know where to begin. The whole situation is extremely complicated, and (nowadays) so fraught with political nuance, that I think I will leave that essay for another day and let my photos tell their own story.
Suffice it to say it was a mostly pretty drive, though much of Kansas can be deadly flat for my tastes. A real highlight was our lunchtime stop in Manhattan, to dine at The Chef. This is the restaurant they ate at frequently in the Hulu limited series Somebody Somewhere. If you haven’t seen it, please check it out. What a gem. (The meal was decent, and the town picturesque.)
We had a nice three mile walk on Sunday, meandering through the woods and pastures of Cheney State Park. Crumbled tar and lacking signage be damned, it was a fertile forest with a floor composed of a strange mix of clay and fine sand. The goldfish pond picnic area was a real highlight – particularly the monarch-encrusted trees, and watching the frogs leap back into the goldfish pond as Paul walked the perimeter (I caught only the last few seconds of this).
philipedwinpark 