ROUTE 66 In the South East corner of Kansas.
Kansas is in the Central USA. Kansas is named after the Kansas River and the capital city is Topeka. More about Kansas once we return West towards Colorado.
Since we arrived in Texas, we arrived in Tornado Alley. We have been on Tornado watch already 4 times with 2 small tornado’s touching ground in towns not that far from us.
Tornados happen all year round but in the period March to June most likely. And they happen mostly during the hottest part of the day between 4 and 7PM during severe thunderstorms and hailstorms. Tornados rate EF 1 to 5, an EF 5 tornado has winds over 350 kilometres per hour, doing incredible damage to buildings and infrastructure.
The Kansas section of Route 66 is just 20 kilometres long before it enters Missouri.
Baxter Springs is one of only three towns through which Route 66 passes in Kansas. It is a city in Cherokee County. For some this is the American Frontier. In 1835 the Cherokee people were part of 5 civilized tribes forced from the Southeast of the USA to West of the Mississippi River. A trading post was established at the springs. Some Native Americans and European-American settlers began to develop a community around the post. The 19th-century settlers eventually named the city and nearby springs after early settler A. Baxter. He had claimed land about 1850 and built a frontier Pub. In 1926, Baxter Spring downtown main street was designated as part of the Route 66 transcontinental highway connecting Chicago and Los Angeles. The area of Baxter Springs, Kansas, has been inhabited by indigenous peoples since the early 1700s.
Just before entering Riverton from the west, we passed the Rainbow Bridge constructed in 1923. The bridge is still accessible by car even though a newer bridge also runs over Brush Creek. the Route 66 Visitor’s Center unfortunately was closed. The building was built in 1930, the gas station was originally owned by the Independent Oil and Gas Company. The other interesting stop is at the Eisler Brothers Old Riverton Store, open since the 1920s. the owner, also the president of the Kansas Route 66 Association, displays his memorabilia.
Galena is a town located on the short, 20 odd kilometres stretch of Route 66 in Kansas. It is a town with mining roots that boomed during the early 1900s. Route 66 crosses the railway using the old viaduct built in 1923. It is over 200 ft. long and meets the town’s Main Street. The bridge predates Route 66 by three years and was built to carry the Jefferson Highway. At the base of the bridge, to your left is the Muffler Man. This 19-foot tall “muffler man” (which, of course isn’t a muffler man) is called “Frecs”, short for Freckles, after his miner grandfather. It is really big! The building next to it has quite a few eye-catchers like the “Sheriff Car on a Pole”. The car on the top of the pole is a replica of one of Disney-Pixar’s Cars franchise characters, “Sheriff”. The original movie character is a 1949 2-door police car with siren, speaker, and a red rotating gumball light (that lights up at night).
Haunted Staffleback Bordello, in the 1880 was a brothel owned by the Staffleback family. The gabled building which had fallen in disrepair was recently restored. Old Kan-O-Tex service station is the famous “Kan-O-Tex” service station at 119 North Main St. The service station dates to 1934. At one time it was “Little’s Service Station”. It sold a regional brand of gasoline in the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and this gave it its name: Kan-O-Tex.
After 20 kilometres we entered Missouri
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