It has been a long time since I have stayed at a KOA, it was clean and a lot like a camping hotel. Not a destination camp ground, but a place to stay on the way somewhere. Beautiful green grass and ponds that we enjoyed this morning as we packed up and ate breakfast.
Our first stop today was the Kansas Statehouse (Capitol building) the second tallest dome Capitol building in The USA behind Illinois at 306 feet tall. It is 17 feet taller than the US Capitol building. We arrived at 9:00am just in time for a tour to start. The guide was filled with tons of great information about Kansas and it’s Capitol Building. Unlike Colorado, all of the marble in the Kansas Capital building is imported from all over the world, and they have marble from just about everywhere.
the Limestone in the basement (now the ground floor) however is from instate.
Kansas is the 34th state and our 34th president Dwight D. Eisenhower is from Kansas.
Also Emilia Earhart was from Kansas. We enjoyed the murals too.
We got to climb up to the top.
We then made our way to Kansas City for BBQ at a place that came highly recommended by credible BBQ fans, Nathan and Megan Colburn, called Oklahoma Joe’s. On our way there, we experienced our first toll road on I-70.
the line was out the door and down the side of the building. That was a good sign.
it was fabulous! There was smiles all around.
We crossed into Missouri and headed towards Columbia to meet up with a high school friend.
Missouri, like Kansas, is quite beautiful and covered with the most green luscious fields.
We pulled into Columbia around 4:30 and found the right apartment. It was good to see Travis again and meet Kim. The kids felt immediately at home. Caleb thoroughly enjoyed Travis’ collection of Star Trek cards and books, and the girls made themselves busy about decorating a box with stickers Kim had given them.
Both girls are under the box playing.
About 6:30 we decided it would probably be good to get dinner before too much longer. We don’t have Cracker Barrels in Oregon, so it seemed like a natural choice and we sure did enjoy it.
After dinner we headed to Mizzou for a tour of the school where Travis is working on his PHD.
Yep Hannah and Thomas Jefferson go way back. Or maybe just Thomas Jefferson goes way back ;0).
Kim and Travis are the kids new BFFs.
It was quite late and quite dark, so the red eye is bad, but this is a sculpture of Beetle Bailey as the comic strip author is an alumni of Mizzou.
It has been fun to catch up with friends, thank you Travis and Kim for being such fun and kid friendly hosts. The kids think they have died and gone to heaven with all the fun books, stickers and a box to decorate with them. Thank you again.
Owens Endeavors 