The Most Beautiful Place, so far...

I was nervous about Kansas. It's a big state, which most people will tell you, is full of nothing. From the east, it starts off a little hilly, but the further you go, the flatter it gets. Each new city and state I reach, the reality of this trip washes over me more and more. Kansas has been no exception. It looks like no other place I've been. It's a beige plain on either side of the highway until it hits the horizon of smeared gray-blue clouds. This is the most beautiful state I've seen so far. It's not about architecture or clean streets. It's about endless plains, grazing cattle with no farms or houses in sight, and wondering whether living in such an isolated place is better than being in a big city.

My first stop was at a gas station. I had a quarter tank left and didn't wanna risk going any further without filling up. It was a road perpendicular to the interstate. The road ran off beyond the horizon. The only thing at the intersection was the gas station and a small general store. Me, with my Honda Fit, New York plates. Pickup trucks that all say Kansas. Fat bearded burly middle-Americans with worn-out cowboy hats. I didn't hang around there too long.

My second stop was Abilene, the birthplace of Dwight D Eisenhower. The billboard on the highway said it was a mansion, but Eisenhower's home is tiny. I followed the signs to the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. I can't stop thinking about my plates. I imagine that they are giant neon signs that say "this guy is lost". I didn't check out the Library or the Museum, I went straight for the "mansion". There's a side door that reads "exit", I walked around on a small path and found the entrance. The door said "open" and listed the hours, but I didn't seem open. I opened the screen door and then the main door. A bell chimed as I pushed it from the frame. When I stepped inside I saw nobody and fought the urge to say "hello?". Too many horror movies involve a young man from out of town stepping into a creepy 19th century home and asking "hello?". So I stood in the hallway for a moment and then heard some movement at the other end. A short old lady crept around the corner and immediately began reciting the history of Eisenhower and his home. "This is the birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower. To your right is the bedroom where he and his brothers slept..." Creepy! I could only just stand there and listen and look through the doorways of the rooms she discussed. She showed where each person slept, the piano where Dwight's younger brother played, a quilt their grandfather wove. It really was pretty neat. As we got around to the dining room, the woman made her first gesture, this whole tour, toward two pictures hung on the wall above a plastic case filled with donations. And so I realized the tour was over.

My third stop, the city of Hays. It's a lot busier than I expected. There's a museum of natural history here, but I'm gonna skip it and just use this day to relax before my drive to Colorado.