We spent the night in Dodge City, Kansas, and ate breakfast at a local donut place, Daylight Donut. Coming from the north-east, where Dunkin’ Donuts has obliterated the concept of mom-and-pop donut shops, I appreciated it when the kid behind the counter said his parents had owned the place since ‘78.

The donuts were great, though we got funny stares when we asked for iced coffee (pretty much everywhere we asked for an iced coffee in the midwest, people looked at us like we were from Mars; when we finally broke down and went to McDonalds, they refused to serve it unless we chose an artificial flavoring).

We started off the day in the very amusing Boot Hill Museum and Front Street, an historically inaccurate but nevertheless fun recreation of the Old West harking back to Dodge City’s wilder days of yore.

The museum is essentially a strip of quaint establishments you’d like to imagine existed in cowboy days: a saloon, a barber shop, drug store, etc., all in a convenient row:

Ha, and I gotta admit, when you visit at 9 am before the hordes of kids arrive, it is a lot of fun walking beneath the roofed walkways secretly imagining you’re a cowboy (any attempts to try not to are ultimately futile as your inner child takes over).

Costumed actors perform for tourists, staging gunfights out front, burlesque shows in the saloon, etc.

Most of the interiors are dedicated to historical exhibits on Dodge City’s past, and if you were expecting a tourist trap, you might be surprised with the extent of the offerings. Tons of historical documents, guns, photographs, and other antiques are on display (many originally from Dodge City), along with a few unexpected items, like this working turn-of-the-century Nickelodeon porno called Clean Clara (sort-of out of place in an attraction geared largely at kids):

A plaque on the wall states that “the hobbies of the pioneers did not differ greatly from the hobbies of today.”

The plaque was right next to this bizarre wreath made entirely of human hair:

Seriously: every single element is woven with human hair. Just like the hobbies of today!

Among the many photographs of Dodge City locals is a picture of the town photographer herself. If you look closely, you can see she has oddly hung a bunch of her framed photographs from her dress for a pretty unique self-portrait:

Sadly, mostly all of the cowboy-era buildings in Dodge City were bulldozed long ago. The few actual historic buildings preserved in the Boot Hill museum were nearly torn down to create this lovely stretch of road:

Our roadtrip guide advised us to take a trip to the site of the real Boot Hill, now home to an office building and parking lot. A statue of a cowboy stands at the top, with a plaque reading: “On the ashes of my campfire, this city is built”…which sort of takes on a somewhat mournful meaning if you think about it.

Another great midwest theater: The Dodge. Opened in 1929, the Dodge seated 1,114, and featured a balcony, chandeliers, and red curtains. It premiered the Errol Flynn movie Dodge City in 1939. It was renovated in the 1990’s, then closed. The sign on the left announces that the building was to be sold at auction recently, no matter what the price.

Leaving town, we saw an awesome classic motel sign – the Thunderbird:

Our plan was to get to Colorado by late afternoon, so we headed out on US-50:

US-50 essentially runs along the old Santa Fe Trail, along which thousands of covered wagons once made their way across the country. At one point, you can see tire ruts still remaining…

…er, or you can imagine it. Essentially, the enormous depression in the field is the evidence that wagon trains once passed over this land:

These stick-shaped guys were crawling everywhere:

In Syracuse, we passed by the Northrup theater, which, unlike the Dodge, has been in continuous operation since 1930.

In 1991, it was purchased by the Chamber of Commerce, and with substantial community support, the art deco interior was restored and upgraded. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places:

Can someone tell me what these covered walks are called? It’s one architectural aspect I love about main streets in the west:

We were also surprised at the number of disturbing “Don’t Do Meth” billboards we were seeing as we continued west, which don’t really exist in New York.

Our goal for the day was to drive up Pike’s Peak in Colorado. Pike’s Peak is a mountain in the Rockies with an auto road up to its summit, at an altitude of 14,115 feet (the 31st tallest of the Rockies, and the most visited mountain in North America). For that reason, when we drove through Holcomb, Kansas, where the In Cold Blood murders occurred, we didn’t have any time to go searching for the infamous farm house.

I thought we were making excellent time until I Google-mapped it, and realized we were actually waaaay behind. In fact, unless we went way over the speed limit, we weren’t going to make it by the 6pm last entry.  So we gunned it and crossed the Colorado border. Our views quickly changed from this…

…to this:

As we were driving, I suddenly found myself becoming very light-headed, and at times, felt really dazed…but I brushed it off and continued speeding.

After days and days of endless fields, I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to be surrounded by trees:

We made it to the Pike’s Peak entrance gate about 5 minutes before closing (beating Google Maps’ estimate by a solid 45 minutes!). I was still feeling really weird and light-headed, but we began the ascent…

…and what an ascent it was. The drive up is a twisting road with near vertical drops at just about every turn…and no guard-rails. As my wooziness increased, it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps the altitude was contributing to my sudden brain lethargy.

A quick internet search confirmed that I was indeed suffering from altitude sickness. Excellent. A few guard rails are stationed at the most dangerous of drops (not to say you wouldn’t die if you happened to veer off where it ends on the left):

Our Hyundai Accent, accustomed to the sensibly-altituded roads of its home state of Pennsylvania, was clearly angry that we were forcing it to travel up 14,000 feet, and refused to go any faster than about 10 mph.

If you’ve never been, Pike’s Peak is well worth the altitude sickness, near-death driving experience, and possible engine damage. You begin to see incredible boulder gardens as you near the summit, with enormous rocks strewn seemingly haphazardly about…

Also, these guys run up to the car and look cute in hopes of food (a yellow-bellied marmot – thanks, readers!):

It was over 90 degrees on the ground. Near the top, we started seeing snow…

Finally, we hit the summit, and the views were glorious. Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write “America The Beautiful” after visiting Pike’s Peak in 1893…and it’s pretty obvious why.

At this point, the altitude was really messing with me, but I resolved to enjoy the sensation, and hope I didn’t pass out on the drive down and kill us both.

Luckily, we did manage to make it down, though I’m still amazed there isn’t a higher death toll on the Pike’s Peak auto road.

We decided to spend the night in Manitou Springs, a cute little resort town once favored by tuberculosis patients at the turn of the century for its clean air and two-dozen natural springs.

While most of the tourist shops were closed by our arrival at 10pm, I was excited to find that the arcade was open…

The Manitou Springs Penny Arcade is really one of a kind:

Filled with pinball machines dating back to the early 1900’s, every single game costs whatever it did when it was made…meaning you can play most for as little as a nickel or dime. The worn hard-wood floors and warm breeze flowing through the open doors make it a pretty special experience.

A great old fortune teller:

A great way to finish our first day in Colorado:

Manitou Springs is home to a number of great motel signs. The Silver Saddle:

La Fon (which was unfortunately not lit up). They have refrigerated air!

However, we went with our guide book’s recommendation and stayed at the El Colorado…

…where we got to sleep in our own adobe-style hut!

Sure, the mattress probably hadn’t been changed since the 1950’s, and an Oreo we left on the desk was swarming with ants when we woke up…but what’s a roadtrip if you only stay at Super 8’s?

-SCOUT

Continuing west on US-56, we drove through Scranton (population: 724). Not much was going on…

One building of note: a former Methodist church converted to a garage (you can just make out the big roll-gates on the right):

Across the street was this abandoned gas station, and I was really intrigued by the sign on the left: ENTER IF YOU DARE. I was all set to tempt fate when I noticed the Halloween decorations on the right, and realized it all must have been left over from last year’s haunted house:

Equally deserted but far more charming was the frozen-in-time main street of Osage City. Once an important stop on the Santa Fe trail, Osage City’s Santa Fe Avenue was built large enough for a team of oxen to make a full u-turn:

A row of stores:

Despite all three stores being closed, the buildings are all in really excellent shape:

I believe a lawyer actually works in the storefront on the far corner…

And yes, he has this simple wooden sign hanging just above the door:

The old garage – again, out of business, but you’d never know it from the outside:

We stopped in the Crossroads Canteen for lunch (located in a former bank building), and found we had finally escaped the stranglehold of Boar’s Head meat products. Hooray! Our sandwiches were great, and I recommend stopping in if you ever pass through.

An ancient wall ad for 5-cent cigars:

This very odd tree stump was planted just in front:

Our appetites sated, we hit the road again…

When we weren’t seeing this out the window…

We were seeing this:

Every other farm seemed to have these silhouette figures set up on their hilltops.

Next up was Council Grove, a bustling little town compared to pretty much every one we’d been through since leaving Kansas City. One of the last stops on the Santa Fe trail heading south-west, Council Grove has a number of roadside history stops, like this reconstructed cowboy jail:

My favorite bit from the below jail history sign: “Jack the Peeper was shot while trying to escape after terrifying the town for months.”

So many questions arise from this odd fact: Who was Jack the Peeper? Why was his peeping so terrifying? Can you really peep for two months straight without getting caught? And as bad as peeping is, did he really deserve to be shot? The heavy gate that once held Jack the Peeper and others:

The last known privately-owned rail station in the US:

Council Grove has two very famous tree stumps, which has to be a record of some sort. The first is Council Oak, an oddly-designed monument (the stump of a tree and a hanging cross-section covered in a 1970’s-orange metal tent):

In 1825, when Council Oak was a towering tree, an important treaty was signed with the local Osage tribe beneath it allowing passage through their land, thereby establishing the Santa Fe trail.

A little ways down the road, we found the Post Office Oak, which has to be the first tree I’ve ever seen with its own umbrella. According to legend, Santa Fe Trail travelers heading west would leave letters in a hole on the oak, to be carried to the nearest post office by travelers heading east.

US-56 then brought us through downtown Council Grove. Though it has its share of tourist shops, Council Grove appears to have a relatively thriving life of its own, which was nice to see.

We got a great milkshake from The Apothecary (blue)…

…which still has a little soda fountain counter…

…as well as its old apothecary shelves and drawers:

Across the street, Hays House claims to be the oldest continuously operating restaurant west of the Mississippi:

A beautiful corner bank building:

The Cottage House – a cute little hotel just off Main Street (though, er, read the reviews before staying here):

Council Grove also has a branch of the awesomely-named Duckwall’s, a chain of discount stores operating in Midwestern areas lacking a Walmart:

Council Grove is home to another great (sadly, out of business) Midwestern movie theater: The Stella. Opened in 1918, it hosted live musicals and theater productions, as well as silent films. Its last film was shown in 1999. A man purchased the property in 2003, saying he would give it away for FREE (!) to anyone willing to spend the $400,000 in repairs needed to save it. Any takers?

Back on the road, the sky suddenly turned ominous, and within minutes, we were in the middle of a deluge:

Luckily, the storm passed within about twenty minutes, a common occurrence, we would learn, for storms in the midwest. This is the first time I’ve ever looked out and seen an isolated rainstorm (raining on the right, clear on the left):

Finally, the skies cleared and it was sunny again! All that remained from the storm was this one grumpy-looking cloud hanging significantly lower than the ones above:

We then pulled into Kinsley, Kansas, notable for one important fact: we were exactly halfway between New York and San Francisco! We rejoined with US-50, and gunned toward Dodge City, where we were planning to spend the night.

Finally, as we were leaving Kinsley, we passed by an enormous field of wind turbines. Noticing a friendly information plaque in a parking lot adjacent to the field, we pulled over and got out to have a look…

Suddenly, swarms of quarter-sized mosquitoes rose up out of the field and began attacking us! We ran back to the car and rolled up the windows, then spent a good ten minutes killing the ones that had managed to get in the car. I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the friendly wind turbine information booth, but to whoever put it there…

…thanks.

-SCOUT

I’ll come clean: I’m really embarrassed to admit that, prior to arriving this morning, I thought Kansas City was in Kansas, when in fact it’s in Missouri. Hence, my celebrations at finally reaching Kansas turned out to be a bit premature (thanks to commenters below, I’ve now learned that Kansas City actually exists in both Missouri and Kansas, with the river as the dividing line; I don’t remember any of this mentioned in my 3rd grade US geography class!).

We didn’t have much time to spend in KC, so we drove around the downtown, passing by what appeared to be a great old theater (the first of many we were to encounter as we headed west):

An old warehouse – not especially notable…

…except for this great, very simple sign:

Old Westport seemed to be the destination in town that draws tourists, so we headed that way – passing this really interesting building at the corner of Westport and Main:

Awesome clocktower:

Across from it was an office building…

…covered in very whimsical, ornate patterns. I especially love how rays of light from the lamps are integrated into the design:

Another theater that is no more – the Warwick, which opened in 1912 and could seat 1,022 customers on two floors. It closed in 1953 and now appears to be vacant:

After taking a few wrong turns, we finally found it: Historic Old Westport! Westport was originally settled in 1831 and incorporated in 1857, and thrived as a supply center for migrants taking the Oregon, California, Santa Fe, and Lewis & Clark trails.

Westport was eventually annexed by Kansas City in 1897. Below, the oldest building in Kansas City is the Albert Boone store, once an outfitter for wagon trains during the 1800’s. Today, it’s a bar:

However, as interesting as all this might be, I will forever remember Old Westport for one thing: the home of the one and only Burger Mobile:

Though I’ve never seen another Burger Mobile to compare it to, I really can’t imagine a more perfect rendering:

The Burger Mobile was clearly superior to our Hyundai Accent, and we were shamed to park behind it.

A dusty marker identifying the Santa Fe trail outside the Westport Flea Market bar:

I really hate malls, and the idea of making a detour to visit a mall on a roadtrip is akin to blasphemy…But we had to make an exception to see Country Club Plaza, the very first mall in the world. When we turned the corner and found ourselves on the streets of Seville, Spain, I have to admit that it was not what I was expecting.

To be specific, Country Club Plaza is the very first shopping center in the world designed for customers arriving by car. When developer J. C. Nichols began buying land in a remote area for the purpose, he was ridiculed, and the project was referred to as Nichols’ Folly. Today, it covers 55 acres and is home to a number of upscale stores and restaurants.

Best of all is the architecture, which could be described as Seville by way of Epcot. A Barnes and Noble:

Below is Giralda tower, the tallest building in the shopping complex…

…half the size of its original in Seville:

(photo by Flickr user Rob Shenk)

Country Club Plaza features over 30 murals, tile mosaics, and fountains. Rather than rely on the typical sprawling mall parking lot, parking garages are hidden behind shops, or on top of roofs.

Detail above a door – if only this style of mall had caught on:

Another tower – note the weathervane, as well as tilework on the clock face:

Moorish arches on a Sears:

Tiles outside Starbucks:

This was outside Starbucks as well. At first, I thought the boy was peeing on a frog. Then I realized the frog is spitting on the boy. I’m not sure which is weirder:

One of many tile mosaics on the sides of shops:

That was all the time we had for Kansas City, and we headed west to rejoin our route. Because US-50 mirrors Interstate-35, we decided to follow our guide’s advice and take US-56, ultimately rejoining with 50 in Kinsley, Kansas.

We came to Baldwin City, home to Baker University (notable alumni: the founders of Panda Express). We detoured to drive through their small but charming main drag…

This City Hall building is as classic as they come. I half-expected Jimmy Olson to run out with his latest scoop from the mayor’s office.

Parmenter Hall – the first building built on Baker University’s campus, constructed of native sandstone.

In between towns, we again found ourselves traveling past endless farmland. One in particular…

A closer look:

Looks like we’re finally in Kansas!

-SCOUT