Chapter Eight May 5, 2001 Saturday Oklahoma City to Kansas City Dave is Working On It After breakfast, we took one last spin around Oklahoma City (to shoot a couple of quick pictures and buy some postcards). We had a great experience at the OKC Marriott, where we stopped to buy some postcards. The gift shop was not open, but the manager made a special trip to unlock it for us. They had no idea we were plantinum Marriot members, but had done it out of pure "hosplitality". What a delightful experience. We pointed the car north and quickly crossed over the border to Kansas. We stopped at this visitor center for maps and tourist info. It was still only 10am and Jesse was napping in the back when we turned off to see some "Blue Highways". Dave wanted to bag a couple of extra counties for his collection. The two lane highways passed those famous "amber waves of grain" plus many historic (read that run down) barns and pastures with cows staring at us as we stared at them. We shot way too many pictures, but this sample here shows the simple beauty of rural Kansas. We arrived in Wichita, Kansas around 1pm and quickly drove around downtown. We then visited the Mid-America All-Indian Center. We arrived just before a busload of seniors and followed along on their tour. We were impressed with the number of various Indian nations that participated in the center.  We strolled along the grounds and met up with "The Keeper of the Plains", a spectacular sculpture by a Native American artist and a Wichita landmark. We circled out to the airfields (Wichita is America's aviation city), caught a snack to go, then pointed the car northward toward Kansas City. As we left Wichita, we again drove off the freeway to see some famous "Blue Highways" in Kansas. The panorama shot above is an accurate portrayal of the dirt road Dave took us down to get "one more county" for his collection. It is hard to explain how that road went off, straight as an arrow for endless miles. The stark flatness, the juxtaposition of the green fields and blue sky created an amazingly natural beauty. We could not pass a sign declaring the "Prairie Chicken Capital of the World" without taking this picture and pondering what cities were the first and second runner-up. This herd of cattle caused us to pull of and watch for almost 15 minutes as they meandered into the stream. It was bizarre, like a slow-motion mob scene, as first one then another started to drink then later ones pushed the early ones into the water. Eventually, another group joined these and nosed more livestock into the drink. It was a strange mulling confusion that developed slowly and was captivating to a car full of city dwellers. Unfortunately, after a while, they became aware of our presence and headed toward us, ending the cow-happy free-for-all.   Dave wanted this last picture, as we returned to the freeway north of Wichita. He got a kick out of the notion: Pick your "City": Kansas thissa way and Oklahoma thatta way". We were truly in the middle of nowhere. We arrived in KC and checked into the Courtyard (for a two night stay!). We wanted a "Kansas City" steak, so we headed down to the stockyards and had dinner at "The Golden Ox". After dinner, Dave drove us once around downtown to see the convention center and Hallmark center, then past the riverboat casinos and past the company that he visited a couple years previously. Then it was back to the Courtyard and off to bed for a busy day in KC tomorrow. Original Web Upload May 2001 Last Update: August 29, 2001