Then back to Great Bend where I tried to find a pay phone (I don't have cell coverage there), but the only pay phones I could find were out of service. Finally I stopped at the Ford Dealership to borrow the use of a phone. I used the phone to get directions to the home of Bob and Beverly Mix. Bob is one of the artists featured at the Grass Roots Art Center and I got his number from the Center. He welds creatures and vehicles from scrap and junk metal. Bob & Beverly took me on a tour of their yard where I saw several wacky vehicles, the skeletons of a saber tooth tiger, dinosaur & primitive fish, and other creations. The art was impressive, but the real highlight was Bob & Bev and their stories. That may have been the coolest thing I have done while working on KansasTravel.org.
Before leaving town I visited the Zoo. Although I still need to get photos at the Independence Zoo, With this one, I have been at every zoo (9) in Kansas.
It was now getting late in the day and I started back east Cheyenne Bottoms, a state park that combines with the Refuge to provide the stop over for migrating birds. I was planning on waiting until sunset when large numbers of birds might congregate. One problem - drought. The thousands of acres of ponds and marshes are totally without water. So I gave that up and went back on the road. The last stop before returning to Salina was Lindsborg, Kansas' Little Sweden. It was too late to do any of the galleries or the museum, but I stopped for supper at The Cookery. My Reuben sandwich was very good, but I was really there for the pie. I had the sampler which included small slices of three pies. I had rhubarb, peanut butter and butterscotch. The butterscotch was my third choice, but it was by far the best. The rhubarb pie was not good at all.
When I was leaving, the delightful young waitress said I should get the Tollhouse pie the next time. She said "it is to die for." |
