However, the
weather was changing from hot sunshine to rain and thunder storms. This made
for some very interesting clouds. We have seen some very beautiful and unusual
clouds on our travels. In McPherson, JJ took some good pictures of them.
Tuesday, June 19, we had a short move (80 miles/ 130 km). On the way, we drove through the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
It is part of
the only 4% of original tallgrass prairie, that is left in North America.
Prairie land is very good farming land, so most of it has been tilled (dyrket).
Once the prairie’s eco system is disturbed, it takes thousands of years to
establish the balance again. That is why the original prairie only exists where
the soil has not been used for farming or ruined by overgrazing of cattle. The
area around the national preserve has not been tilled, because it is in the Flint
Hills; an area with very little topsoil, making it hard to plow.
Unfortunately, the grass wasn’t very tall yet. It doesn’t get to full height (about 6ft/ 2m) until fall. (We agreed that we would have liked to see the tall grass, but we would not trade it for the fall colors we saw in New England. Can’t be 2 places at one time☹)
We went on a
ranger-guided bus tour and got lots of information about the prairie – what
lives there, what a prairie eco system needs to survive, the history of the area….
There was an historic ranch on the preserve. The buildings were not very well preserved, but we could see, that they had been very impressive for this area in the late 1800’s, when they were built.
Now we are staying at a public campground in Council Grove. It is run by the US Army Corp of Engineers (man kan vel sige at det er en meget avanceret udgave af ingerniørtropperne) and is located on the shores of a lake that was created when the corps built a dam. The Army Corp of Engineers is a lot more than military. Their 200 years of war experience has been put to use in peacetime.
They build bridges, dams (dæmninger) etc. They run hydropower plants (vandkraftværker) (they provide a fourth of all hydropower electricity in the US). When they build a dam they often build a recreation area and a nice campground around it. They have over 450 campgrounds in the US!!
We stopped at
Council Grove, on the recommendation (anbefaling) of a man we met from Kansas.
I asked him what we should see while in Kansas, and he recommended the Flint
Hills and Tall Prairie National Preserve. He also told us, that if we were in
that area, we should stop at the Saddle Rock Cafe in Council Grove for
breakfast or lunch. So, we went there for lunch on Wednesday.
The guy we talked to recommended the place, because the locals eat there. We saw “real” cowboys at the café (as opposed to the ones at tourist places (i.e. Wall Drug, Cody…) or walking around in big cities). These were hard working farmers or ranchers, who came into town for lunch.
Written by Mary
 |
| Just like being inside the Venetian in Las Vegas😊 |
 |
| Another beautiful sunset |
We saw
something, we have never seen before – intracloud lightning. This was just as it
was getting dark. There was a low hanging cloud on the western horizon (maybe
the same one that was there at sunset). At first, I thought someone far away,
was shooting fireworks, that were reflecting into or through the clouds. There
were bursts of red, yellow, orange. Then we realized, that the illuminated
(oplyste) area was too widespread and it was lasting too long, for it to be
fireworks. It was lightning within the clouds. We tried to take videos and
pictures, but because of the low light, they didn’t work well. Here is our best
picture. It doesn’t capture the sight very well but gives an idea of what it
was like. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! (But I must admit, I was glad that we were not
much closer!)
Tuesday, June 19, we had a short move (80 miles/ 130 km). On the way, we drove through the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
Unfortunately, the grass wasn’t very tall yet. It doesn’t get to full height (about 6ft/ 2m) until fall. (We agreed that we would have liked to see the tall grass, but we would not trade it for the fall colors we saw in New England. Can’t be 2 places at one time☹)
There was an historic ranch on the preserve. The buildings were not very well preserved, but we could see, that they had been very impressive for this area in the late 1800’s, when they were built.
Now we are staying at a public campground in Council Grove. It is run by the US Army Corp of Engineers (man kan vel sige at det er en meget avanceret udgave af ingerniørtropperne) and is located on the shores of a lake that was created when the corps built a dam. The Army Corp of Engineers is a lot more than military. Their 200 years of war experience has been put to use in peacetime.
They build bridges, dams (dæmninger) etc. They run hydropower plants (vandkraftværker) (they provide a fourth of all hydropower electricity in the US). When they build a dam they often build a recreation area and a nice campground around it. They have over 450 campgrounds in the US!!
It is our kind of campground – lots of nature, big site, not
too many people, so it is quiet and peaceful. We decided to stay an extra day,
just to enjoy the peace and nature.
Last night we
sat outside watching fireflies (ildfluer). We don’t see them much in Denmark,
so it is always a treat for us to see them. There were lots out. This morning,
we woke up to the sound of birds singing, instead of traffic from busy roads,
or train whistles from nearby tracks. We realized that it has been a long time
since we have stayed anywhere this close to nature.
 |
| JJ also caught sunrise on the lake. (Clouds again😊) |
The guy we talked to recommended the place, because the locals eat there. We saw “real” cowboys at the café (as opposed to the ones at tourist places (i.e. Wall Drug, Cody…) or walking around in big cities). These were hard working farmers or ranchers, who came into town for lunch.
 |
| Modern cowboys “ride” pickups instead of horses (although one of them decided to bring his horses with to town too😊) |
The town also
had some “old things” displayed around town. There was a jail built in 1870. It
is built by piling the boards horizontally, which makes
the walls thicker, so it is much more difficult to break out of. (Remember
seeing movies where someone comes to free a convict by tying a rope around the jail
bars and pulling with a horse? These walls were too strong to be able to do
that.)
We also ran
into this “guy”, making us wonder if we really were in Kansas😊
Written by Mary
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