Day 40 Elk City State Park

Packed up and “got the hell outta Dodge” this morning. We are discovering that Kansas consists mostly of plains, trains, and more plains. Not a very interesting drive. Severe storms stayed ahead of us all day and, happily, we never caught up to them. Passed through some tiny towns that time has forgotten. One of which had all these crazy metal creations around their public park. They might have done it out of boredom, I could understand that. We did stop at one local color restaurant for a forgettable lunch; however, they were selling big bags of homemade pork rinds which John bought.  Many of the farms or ranches had “ranch gates”, no two were the same. Ranch gates are two posts on the side of the entrance and a pole connecting the two on the top. It might be a simple structure like just 3 metal poles or it might be ornate with the ranch name. These originated back in the 1800’s as markers directing travelers to a house. Later as roads developed, the ranch gate entrance became the owner’s trademark. Saw a lot of dilapidated, abandoned places too. I assume either the owners gave up and left or big agricultural bought them out. Finally made it to Elk City State Park outside of Independence, KS, an adequate accommodation on a large lake. Tomorrow we head for Missouri.