Across The Mississippi

After adding a little air to the tires and a little oil to the engine, we rode 10 miles east on US 36 to the turnoff for Lebanon, Kansas, where the geographical center of the 48 contiguous States is located a mile west of that town. There's a small park there, a stone marker, and even a chapel for those who may need spiritual comfort.

Carol poses 

We noticed many similar carved and painted stone markers in front of houses in Smith Center with the family name.

The official stone marker

This must have seemed like a good idea at one time.

That was about it for the excitement of the day. Over the years US 36 has been improved so that it no longer goes down Main Street of the towns along the way - now you turn off the main road for a quarter mile to go into town. We turned off into Scandia in search of a place for breakfast and found T.A.G. Grill and Bar, which had what we wanted and was the only place open.

Finally, a place for breakfast

 The weather was perfect for riding (again) but we were told that it had rained hard the previous day, which accounted for the haze in the air that kept the air relatively cool and pleasant. US 36 is in good shape, there was little traffic, and there was even a curve or two, although nothing sharp enough that I had to shift down for. As we went east the countryside became less flat and more rolling, and there were more trees. There isn't much that I can do to make the ride seem exciting. Much to Carol's displeasure, US 36 becomes a 4-lane divided road in eastern Kansas, and continues in that mode all the way across Missouri. The speed limit is still 65, and there are side roads, but there's something about the wide, divided road that separates you from the countryside.

Pleasant enough, but hardly exciting after the Rockies.

We pulled into Marysville, Kansas for fuel and rode through the old downtown area and discovered the first station of the Pony Express.

The first Pony Express station

Downtown Marysville, Kansas

US  36 now bypasses St. Joseph, but we exited and rode through town looking for lunch, although we were unable to find anything open downtown on July 4th except for a couple of fast food places. We finally found a place down the road in Cameron - Dino's Family Restaurant. The rest of Missouri rolled by and before we reached Hannibal (Mark Twain), we turned north on US 24, crossed the Mississippi, and went into  Quincy where we are spending the night. US 36 merges with I-72 through most of Illinois, so tomorrow we will find back roads on which to continue east.

Crossing the Mississippi