1000 miles from nowhere

I took a little drive the other day, a detour if you will.  I was headed to a small town in a small county for some work, but I saw the sign for the Auto Tour of the Santa Fe Trail that cuts through Marion County, KS.  I stopped and took a folded piece of copy paper which showed a map of the county and the driving tour.  

I had to take dirt roads, blacktop roads and gravel roads. 

I stopped, turned around, and backed up many times. 

But wow. 

Being places where you could see the ruts in the land from the hooves and wagons was really powerful.

Imagining what it was like for those pioneers who came west in search of freedom and a better life.

Thinking about reading the Little House on the Prairie with my kids and having to explain,

really explain what life was like then. 

I enjoyed myself immensely. 

So much so that I was almost there...

I could hear the laughter in the prairie grass.

I could smell the cooking fires.

I could see the river to be crossed all too soon.

It's amazing what there is to see and do here in Kansas.

I'm learning that every day.