Kansas

Hi again,
  Made it to Smith Center, Kansas on Saturday. We have a Monday morning appointment but they have electrical hookups and would leave the waiting lounge open for us. It is a nice lounge with two large rooms each with cable TV. So we can get caught up with our TV watching.) They also have showers and a washer/ dryer to use, very nice.

1000 pc. puzzle helped pass the time

  Smith Center is a small town of less than 1000 and no fast food or Walmart. We rode the bikes around town late Saturday and only the supermarket was open. It still is cool to see these old towns that still remain as they were many years ago. We were here in 2009 when the Excel (our RV) manufacturer was going strong and held a celebration for Excel owners. Several hundred owners would camp out on the school property. They would feed you breakfast and supper for five days. They held all sorts of activities and seminars, and all for about $100. They were holding them every three years but the downturn of the economy has sadly prohibited them from continuing.

  With not much to do in Smith Center on Sunday we took a ride to Lucas, KS. Now if you thought Smith Center was small Lucas was all of 400. We also thought it cool for our grandson with us, Lukas.

Worlds Largest Souvenir Plate

 Wendy had seen a flyer for two different attractions to see. Along the drive we saw something different- it was stone fencepost. And alot of them. Seems in the day with a lack of trees and limestone all about the area it was cheaper to use the limestone. It sure is a wonder as said they can be 100 lb. per foot, and up to eight feet long. They would drill holes by hand and split the slabs to about 12" square. Then the loading, transporting, and setting of the post. They also used the limestone for many structures still standing in the area.

 OK back to the attractions- The first one was The Garden of Eden. This was a home and garden built by Samuel Dinsmoor. He began in 1907 and used the limestone to form his 11 room log cabin. He then created his garden with cement sculptures surrounding the cabin. It has been estimated that he used 113 tons of cement in his cabin and garden. He worked on it for 22 years. He also built a 40 foot tall limestone log mausoleum for himself and his first wife. He is laid to rest in his handmade, glass-topped concrete coffin.

Some of the 150 sculptures

Mausoleum

  The second attraction was the Bowl Plaza. With all the visitors, they needed public restrooms. So they built one in the shape of a toilet. The inside and outside had some very interesting mosaics.

women's room

men's room

Next we walked down the street to the Grassroots Art Center. This is a small art gallery with about a dozen artist displays. There was a lot of unusual art work.

179,200 pull-tabs

 One last stop on the way back was to see the Statue of Liberty. Yes, it was out in the middle of nowhere! We had a great day exploring a little part of Kansas.