Dawn on a Kansas fishing lake

Today was the homestretch and I was tempted to hop on the freeway and boogie to the end. But nope, that wasn’t the journey I wanted, and forgetting the journey in pursuit of the destination is just not a satisfying way to travel. On the road or in life (philosophy moment). So I took hwy 24 eastward. I stopped for the historic town of Nicodemus. I’ve heard of Nicodemus but never visited. It’s a town in the Kansas prairie settled and built into a thriving community in the late 1800s by freed black slaves.

I’ve noticed distinctive looking Carnegie Libraries in some of these plains towns I’ve passed through. I asked my friend google what the deal is, and learned some new to me history of the Carnegie Libraries. https://www.npr.org/…/how-andrew-carnegie-turned-his…

I checked out the World’s Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, Kansas (any farmer with hay could have made this thing and more, but only this farmer did).

This is the house where I lived in college! I stopped to visit my alma mater, Kansas State University. I always thought the campus was so beautiful, but since then I’ve wondered if I thought that because I just hadn’t been very many places to compare. Nope, it’s still a strikingly beautiful campus with elegant limestone buildings and winding tree-shaded walkways.

Only then did I hop on the interstate, ready to be done.

I have about a week to visit my parents, who I haven’t seen since September 2019. My brother will be here too. I think we are imprinted with the place of our birth. The smells, the terrain. It seems to fit like an old shoe.

Made it to mom and dads!