Claudia and I had a quiet and restful night at Aunt Jody's Farmhouse, and after a cuppa, a little breakfast, and some birdwatching, we set out again!
It was to be an easy drive to Hays, Kansas. We left about 9:40 a.m., and we figured it would be a quick five and a half hours’ drive, maybe seven hours with stops, to Dorothy’s Backyard in Hays.
While looking at the route, however, I noticed that Concordia, where my dad was born and spent his youth, was right on I-70. I asked Claudia if it was ok to stop. Of course, what else do we have to do?
When we reached Concordia, though, it was Concordia, Missouri that was right on the freeway. Concordia, Kansas (named after Concordia, Missouri, we later learned), was several miles north of the freeway. Still, we decided to make the trek, because maybe I would never be through here again.
As she looked at the route, she offhandedly said, “Not much else out there. Just the world’s largest ball of twine.”
Echos of my last conversation with Kevin!
****send me a picture of the biggest ball of string-string-string****
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?! We have to go!”
Claudia quickly added it to the GPS.
As we drove along, I got to thinking.
“Isn’t the geographic center of the United States somewhere in Kansas?”
“Let me look it up,” the First Mate replied. “Yep, and it’s not too far from the biggest ball of twine.”
We must go.
When I planned this leg, I figured I would just zoom "down the middle of the country" to make it home in good time. I must truly find the middle!
With three stops on the list, we pulled off I-70, which had been so good to us, and drove the country roads. A little north, a little west, and a little more north, and we were in Concordia!
First, a stop at DQ!
Then a little internet sleuthing, and found the church.
It was a guess that this was my grandfather’s church for which he was pastor in the 1920s between the family's residence in Wagon Mound, New Mexico and Dayton, Ohio through the 1910s, '20s, and '30s.
I learned that the United Brethren Church, Rev. Bernard Cleveland Eutsler's church, merged with the Methodist church at some point, and was after called Trinity Methodist Church. This church right on the main street and just a block from DQ, seemed like it must be it!
You can see older brick next to newer construction.
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| The back of the church. Older construction vs. new is clearly delineated |
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| Standing in front of the newer portion of the building |
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| Pretty stained glass |
A later sleuthing session found this. It's definitely the same church!
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| From an ebay listing of a postcard. |
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| Remodeled, but there it is! |
We learned that Concordia is also home to the Orphan Train Museum. Did you know about the Orphan Train? We hadn’t. By the sound of it, it was a positive for many children, and also had a dark side. Being Sunday, the museum was closed. And it’s just as well, because we had more sights to see!
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| There were several statues of children who had ridden the Orphan Train. |
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| Orphans from the train. |
Concordia is also home to the Brown Grand Opera House, which we drove past.
It is a cute town. Here are a few more sights:
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| Lovely Post Office |
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| Sculpture outside the post office |
Onward! To to the Center of the Universe Geographic Center of the United States.
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| Feel the vibes! |
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| Poppy made it to the middle! |
We turned back down the lovely road:
And 10 minutes later, the Mother of all Roadside Attractions!
It was reality! Kevin was surprised when I sent the pic!
Bucket List: ✅
Once again, down the beautiful country roads of Kansas! We zipped the last 90 minutes to Hays and hoped to catch some dinner before they rolled up the sidewalks.
We finally pulled into Hays over 10 hours after launch! It was quite the Adventure Day! We made it to Gella's in time for a good meal and a tasty brew!
I loved the wall sculpture inside. Fitting for our day's journey.
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| Kansas is the Sunflower State! |
