#Gates50States

We wonder how many families spend their spring break time driving through and visiting Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Pretty sure it’s close to none. But that’s how we spent ours, filling in our map, one state at a time, and three states on this trip.

Apparently many business, restaurants, and museums are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays in Kansas, so we had to get one trip started a little before the kids time off of school. We drove to Terre Haute, Indiana on Thursday evening so we could make a long drive to Bel Aire, Kansas before nightfall.

An hour and a half drive almost due north from Bel Aire is Abilene, home of Dwight Eisenhower. We’d learned of Ike from history classes and WWII books. The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum told his story in great detail, and I’m not sure there’s been a more successful human being on the planet… ever. As a kid who literally grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and went on to earn every level of achievement he realized through hard work and dedication, he’s a real American story of inspiration.

Right across the street from the Eisenhower Museum is the Greyhound Hall of Fame. We had no idea Abilene was the racing Greyhound capital of the world, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take in such a unique place. The greeting we received at the door was the icing on the cake.

On the outskirts of Hutchinson, just 45 minutes from the Wichita area, sits a salt mine called Strataca. But not just any salt mine… this one gives tours of their underground operations. Little did we know at the outset this was going to be one of the enlightening highlights of our trip.

These folks don’t just trade in salt, but they trade in security, as well. They’ve monetized the vast amounts of space left behind 700 feet below the surface by offering it as a vault. It’s immune from natural disasters, temperature fluctuation, light, and even terrorism. They store everything from government documents to Hollywood film and memorabilia. Right here in Kansas!

On the recommendation of our Strataca tour guide, we drove to Playa Azul just a short ways north of the mine in Hutchinson for lunch. You know that good Mexican restaurant with tasty food that’s served really quickly, and they keep your basket of nachos full throughout the meal? This is that place.

The Cosmosphere, a history of space exploration, just next to Hutchinson Community College, was next on our tour stop. We went from 700 feet below the ground at the mine to thousands of miles into space! We got to see another SR-71 Blackbird on display, our second as a family, and Lincoln’s third, in addition to pieces from Apollo, Gemini, and other projects.

This was a nice compliment to and continuation of our time at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The interpretive displays told the stories of…

• rocket development by the German scientists under Hitler and how they surrendered to the Americans because they simply wanted to continue their work.
• competition between the Soviets and Americans in the realms of satellite development and human advancement in space exploration.
• successes and failures along the way as we’ve pushed further into our collective knowledge of space.

I’m always amazed at how brilliant our engineers and scientists were at getting men into space with 1960s technology. Those were some pretty amazing minds. And the Cosmosphere’s collections of items from the various eras really helps bring home just how advanced these men and women were.

I didn’t get to drive a massive reaper down a wheat field. For years when I’ve anticipated our visit to Kansas I’ve envisioned myself behind the controls of a huge John Deere harvesting the crops that feed our nation, but we weren’t in season for that. I was pleased, though, with the new knowledge we’d gained, and as always, that new appreciation for the state we’d visited, Kansas in this case, and it’s place in our Union.