Maxwell Refuge                      9/12/99          487 miles
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So I'm up at 5am like always, even on a Sunday. I check with the epilepsy service and the only inpatient hasn't had a seizure. I don't need to go into the hospital and can plan my day. Some people drive to the Mall, I drive to another State. When I was in Lubbock I would drive around Texas, New Mexico, even Colorado. Now I'm in Oklahoma. I've driven through the OK panhandle north of Amarillo. I've driven all of I-44 from Wichita Falls, TX, past the Wichita Mtns, to Oklahoma City (OKC) and Tulsa. I've been north to Ponca City and south to Pauls Valley, the Arbuckle Mtns and Ardmore. What else is left? So I figure I should check out Kansas.

A cold front was coming through Kansas and Oklahoma. Last night it stormed bad. But the forcast was for clearing through the day, at least in Kansas. It was raining when I left at 8am and headed north on I-35. Maybe this wasn't such a good thing, but as I passed a dead armadillo I remembered the Homan theory. Seems Texas has plenty of the critters but you rarely see them as road-kill in Texas, but you do in Oklahoma. The theory goes something about discriminatory taste in cuisine, Okies have it, Texans don't. (Bye the way, the Homan theory isn't a contraction of Oklahoman but is ascribed to Richard Homan).

I drove 100 miles to the Kansas border. Driving in the early morning rain isn't that bad. Bands of clear blue sky cut through the dark grey. It's comparable to a sunrise or sunset. Did I mention the countryside? No? and good reason. Not much to comment on along the way.

I had gone over the AAA book for parks and interesting geologic formations and saw the Wellington area listed as having salt mines and marshes. Not having specifics, I drove there and asked around. Not much help there. I drove to the Wellington lake off Hwy 160. I missed the Chisolm Trail Marker but found the lake. It was 60 degrees, a 50 mph wind, and so far this was not the highlight of the day.

Back on I-35 and through Kansas. Kansas calls itself the Wheat State, but all I saw were fields of sorghum. Ripe with rust brown grain waving in the air. All the wheat had been harvested. They also call themselves the Sunflower State (don't know if they can't make up there mind or just boostful). I didn't see any sunflowers either. There were loads of what I call Black-Eye Susans - yellow petaled flowers with a black fuzzy center. They dotted the medians and sides of fields everywhere.

A welcome center near Wichita on I-35 was open. Only a year old. It was loaded with the kind of literature I needed. I also bought some items at the gift shop (no surprise they had a Dorthy/Toto/Oz theme).

AAA lists Wichita with a population of 300,000. Sunday morning is a great time to explore a new and unfamilar downtown - no traffic. It was too much to hope for a BBQ place, but I did pass their Old Town which looked surprisingly alot like OKC's Bricktown. Wichita also has a Petroleum Club like OKC and other similarities. I found the Indian Center Museum and peeked in. I walked the grounds and saw the symbol of the city - a 50 foot tall metal sculpture of an Indian with hands together lifted upwards to the heavens. The sculpture is at the foot of the river, and has the same impact as the Arch in St. Louis. The artist, Blackbear Bosin, was born in Oklahoma and moved to Wichita after the second World War.

Driving through and beyond Wichita I saw large predatory birds, hawks, flying or just sitting on fence lines. I thought the same thing -these must be the "Jayhawks" which are the mascot for the University. As it was nearly 1pm. I got lunch at a KFC north of town, then continued up I-135 to Newton. I took Hwy 15 straight north through farm land and turned west on Hwy 56 to Canton.

A one horse town, Canton calls itself the Gateway to Maxwell Wildlife Refuge. Through county roads, then washerboard roads, the refuge reaches into the middle of Kansas. I saw bison along the road and pulled into a parking area. A tram pulled by a truck costs $7 and the 3pm 45-minute tour was half an hour from starting. Having sat enough in my Jeep, I walked though the picnic area, across a bridge and into the reserve along an old tram trail. I was careful not to step in cow paddies nor the clean white bones of some large, dead animal. Beyond the sight or sound of the parking lot, it was pristine. The 4 foot tall grasses waving in the crystal blue sky on rolling hills. I walked back and saw a truck pull away from a fence which I had gone through. I hadn't noticed when I went, but this was restricted area, and someone had come back and closed the gate. Luckily it wasn't padlocked and I was able to open it and re-enter the grounds.

I drove further into the park and ascended a watch tower. High up I could see 10 miles. 20 in some directions. As opposed to the Bison jump in Montana, I could still see evidence of man in the distance. Nevertheless, the 68 degree warm sunny day, with a dozen bison surrounding the tram on a distant hill made the 260 mile trek worthwhile. I stood on the tower awhile before heading by Jeep over to the lake. This lake was idyllic in comparison to Wellington just hours before. People were fishing or just laying on the grass with no apparent cares or rush. But I had to leave if I was to get home to OKC that night.

Always trying to avoid backtracking, I returned to Hwy 56 and went west to McPherson, then south on I-135 and back to Wichita. The I-35 stretch below Wichita is a toll road (another similarity to OK). Since Kansas is a bread basket state, every city and town seemed to have large graineries and train yards. To emphasize the obvious, Moundridge, a town too small for the AAA book, has signs north and south of town on I-135. Their name is posted on 20 foot tall golden wheat stalks.