After leaving Marysville, Ks, we spent the night in Oakley, Ks. It is a very small town on the way to the border of Colorado. We happened to arrive while the wheat was being harvested. I told the kids how blessed we are to live in a country where there is so much food.
That night we celebrated the 4th of July. The fireworks were so short and so small but we thought it was great the town still held them. I loved it just as much as a big show. So many towns don't have the money for a show but somehow this little town found a way to spend some money to remember our freedoms and how special they are.
As I stepped out of our camper to watch the fireworks with my family and numerous wheat harvesters, I was taken back by the thick smell of cow poo! Wow! It was so smelly! I don't think we have ever camped anywhere it stunk so bad.
We all laughed and thought it would make for a memorable 4th of July!
It was very surprising as we pulled into Colorado. The landscape was extremely dry with almost no trees. This type of terrain stretches for miles and miles. There weren't many crops because of dry conditions. Slowly, we made our way to the Rocky Mountains and finally saw Pikes Peak. It was very exciting to see the famous mountain and our soon to be home for a month.
Traveling this great country brings such amazing experiences. Getting to enjoy the actual place where the Pony Express got its start. Of course, the actual riders began in St. Joe, but Marysville is where so many of the important historical events happened.
There is still the real Pony Express Barn that has turned into a museum. I love taking the kids to the actual location where history happened. Instead of just reading it in a book, which we do also, we get to hike, walk, explore, and study the original places.
It is not a huge museum, but very informative. I recommend everyone go to this wonderful town and please, don't miss this museum!
The city pool is wonderful. We bought a season pass for our short stay as it was less expensive than daily passes.
There is a little sod house to look at in the park.
My earlier post talked about staying in the city park in Marysville and the wonderful Pony Express Museum. I would like to share more of the numerous memories we made in such a small town.
We made the short drive to the Historic Trails Park. There are plaques that describe the different historical trails that passed through Marysville on the way west. There is the Morman Trail, Military Trail, Oregon Trail, California Trail, Overland Express, Pony Express, St. Joe, and Otoe-Missouria.
There is also a model of the original ferry that crossed the Big Blue River there in Marysville. The Donnar Party crossed here and the first person, the mother-in-law died at this location.
The park isn't far from town and doesn't take long to check out and is a great history lesson.
I remember people saying to me, "Why in the world would you want to go to Kansas?"
I challenge anyone that might think there is nothing to see there, to give it a try. One of our favorite towns in the entire country is there, Marysville.
We left Missouri, heading west, and stopped in Marysville, Kansas. We had been here two years earlier and were so excited to come back.
The city offers free camping in their city park, but limits the stay to five days. Really, that is long enough to see all of the attractions, but not long enough for us. We like it so much there!
It may be a small town, but it has huge history!
This was the first home station for the Pony Express. Their museum is not too big, but full of information and fun. Our kids like to play on the pretend ponies and in the carriage.
The city pool is great.
The little old sod house made us appreciate our camper more.
Interesting sign at the Veteran's Memorial in Marysvale, Utah
Naomi by the lion mentioned in the Little House Books. The Koester House Museum.
It was one of those, "we are complete tourists" moments. We drove all the way to the geographical center of the continental U.S. It was in the middle of nowhere in Northwest Kansas. We had to go one mile north and then one mile west of Lebanon, Kansas. The guys at the gas station just before it said we could camp there if we wanted to and that no one would say anything. They said if we got any grief just let them know. Well, we drove out there, and it was a hoot. There was nothing around but an old, abandoned motel and a mean rooster that kept trying to spur Shae!
Mean ol' thing. It was big and white, with a big crow. It just stood on the nice picnic table and crowed his little cold heart out. He was letting us know it was his territory and we should leave. I would have loved to let the kids run around, it was actually a neat place. There is a nice picnic area and a large monument that says it is the center of the continental United States.
There was a little chapel that we went in and sang songs. Shae preached. He said, "Love God, Love People, that says it all." We all laughed. It was great to see that Jesus is still in the center of the U.S.
Gabriel loved looking at the cows in a nearby field. I wanted to shoot the darn rooster and eat dumpling for dinner. He was mean and I wanted to let my kids play. I told Cody to go get his gun, but then someone drove up. Good thing for the rooster, his days were numbered in my book. Two guys drove up on their motorcycles. They were from the area. They said the rooster is the town pest. Anyways, it was fun and now we can say we have been there.... Shae told me he would not have let me shoot the bird. Oh well.
Yesterday, Tuesday the 14th of July, we stopped by a gas station here in Marysville, Kansas. After two hours on the road I was beat - I know, pretty wimpy.
I was pretty tired so I had Cody run in and ask the attendant if there was a campground close by. She said we could camp at the city park. I wasn't too sure about this, but thought we could check it out.
It is awesome!
During our last visit we took a stagecoach ride through the city park.
We can stay for free and it has 50 amps, water, and a sewer dump. We are so thankful. There is also the most awesome playground ever. It is made to be similar to the actual town!
Look for the black squirrels around town.
We got up late this morning. We hiked to the Chamber of Commerce. They had a lot of great info. We visited the Pony Express Station One museum, and hiked to the Pony Express Monument and Murals. The murals look like they are moving! It all was a lot of great fun. Gabriel has decided he wants to be a Pony Express rider and not a bull rider! Sounds good to me!
The Pony Express Museum was wonderful. It was $3 per adult and just a little for kids, I can't remember the exact price. There was a movie, a pretend horse that Gabriel didn’t want to get off of. Josephine thought the carriage was her princess carriage. She sat in it for over ½ an hour.
The front doors of the real Pony Express Barn
The history in this town is amazing. The main streets are still made of brick! It is stunning.
The old buildings and shops are so neat to see. We went to the Koester House. It was from the middle 1800’s. We got to see an old piano worth over $100,000! Had to watch the kids in that room. Since the kids were so well behaved, the tour guide took us behind the ropes and played an old music box worth over $15,000. It was so beautiful sounding, I could have listened to it for hours.
This is the same lion mentioned in a Laura Ingalls book
We toured the courthouse, also. We went to the Trails park where 8 different trails heading west came through this area. Some were the Oregon, California, Morman, Military…
We had a great time at the pool today. It was a wonderful place. There is a kiddy pool for seven and under. There is also a huge water slide. We bought a season pass as that was less money than buying numerous daily passes for our entire family.
