Turtle Tales: Day 49 - No Dorothy, No ToTo, No Oz

Well, we are in Kansas now and the ride here was pretty uneventful. The weather was cooperative with cool temperatures in the morning and warming up to 74 degrees this afternoon when we arrived in Emporia. Nice!

The ride itself was uneventful. We passed through the rest of Iowa (picking up IH-35 in Des Moines) and then drove through Missouri and crossed the Missouri River at Kansas City, Missouri and then into Kansas. There were a couple of interesting things on the ride today, but for the most part it was an easy ride.

We spent most of the day talking about all that we had seen, done and experienced on this leg of our journey, and the changes we will make as we prepare for the second leg of our journey which will begin in August. At that time we will head to North Carolina to see our son Jason and his family, then travel to the west coast of Florida to continue our lighthouse quest (we've already done the east coast of Florida), then on to Key West to relax and create new memories!

We are staying in Emporia, Kansas. Emporia is located between Topeka and Wichita Kansas. Emporia is known for its newspaper, the Emporia Gazette, published in the first half of the 20th century by the legendary newspaperman William Allen White. The paper became the widely perceived model of excellence in small town journalism.

Other interesting facts about Emporia:

1. Emporia is the site of the first Veterans Day observance in the United States in 1953.

2. On June 8, 1974, a F4 tornado struck Emporia killing six people, injuring 200 people and causing $25 milion in damages.

3. Emporia State University is located here.

4. Several large private sector employers such as Tyson Foods and Dolly Madison make their home here in Emporia

Off to find Aunt Em..........

This is a picture (on the run) of the Iowa Speedway which was located across

the road from our KOA camp site last night