Nortonville

Nortonville is a small town surrounded by farmland, right on the edge of the Jefferson / Atchison county line. Its name came from a popular railroad boss who often parked his railroad car on a siding near the town site. For a century, the town's prosperity was linked to the Santa Fe railroad, but that changed in the 1980s and '90s.

Today, Nortonville resembles many other small Kansas towns: It has a few agricultural businesses, as well as a bank, a bar, and some other small companies based in its historic downtown. It seems to be slowly declining as the state becomes more urban and farms become more corporate.

Nonetheless, the town does still have a spirit of community involvement. You can see this even in the town park, which is thoughtfully equipped and well-maintained. There's a nice little bandshell there, as well as slides, seesaws, and several play structures. There's also a nice picnic shelter.

One of the really neat things about this town, for an old history buff like me anyway, is that they have a couple of history books: A Century of Friends Old and New (1973) and 125 Years of Friends Old and New (1998). Most of the information above comes from those books. I love seeing people take an interest in their local places and taking pains to pass that knowledge down to future generations!

Ozawkie

Ozawkie is a lovely little town beside Lake Perry. By the time we stopped here, we were HUNGRY. Fortunately, Hamburger Paradise had just the meal for hungry travelers: The Monster Burger!

I could simply tell you that it's huge, but you really have to see it to believe it.

The food was great, the people were friendly, and our tired bellies were very full as we drove through the sunset toward home at the end of this long day.

Oskaloosa

In Oskaloosa, we visited Old Jefferson Town, which was a delight.

We were almost too late -- the caretakers were just about to leave for the day. However, they kindly opened the buildings back up for us.

We loved exploring the buildings and looking at the artifacts on display. It was a unique window into history, and everything from the feel of the wood to the smell of the old items had that unmistakable genuine feeling that history museums simply can't manufacture.

We especially enjoyed the old jail and the lovely bridges, though the whole site is definitely worth a visit.

McLouth

McLouth had lots of houses -- mostly old, some new, and a few that have been restored from old to new! One we especially liked was a huge old Victorian house with a wraparound porch that had been lovingly renovated.

The downtown was old but still carrying on: It had a barber, a flower shop, a library, a few restaurants, and a number of empty storefronts. It also had a school, which had several mobile homes around it.

We spent our time in town near the big sports complex, where there were many folks camping and tailgating in association with a softball tournament.

To see the tournament, we had to take the path past a red caboose, through the woods, and over a bridge, where we saw a beautiful white butterfly (which was a much more pleasant winged creature than the whining, bloodsucking colleagues that shared its airspace).

One small-town thing that amused us was the fella riding his lawnmower down to the ATM.

We'd like to come back and visit McLouth again... maybe for the Threshing Bee.

Valley Falls

As usual after a day of adventures, we were all a bit tired by the time we pulled in to Valley Falls. I noticed that many streets had saints' names, but Wikipedia says they were actually named after female pioneers. I'm not sure who's right, but I reckon it might be them.

We were not too tired, of course, to enjoy some delicious pizza at the local Simple Simon's pizza parlor there. (Except the baby, who didn't manage to stay awake very long after his milky repast.)

The restaurant where we ate offered a lot more than pizza. They also offered a full menu of sandwiches and sides, as well as Bluebell ice cream and video rentals.

To top it all off, they had a very clean bathroom that our sons were glad to use.

We ordered too much pizza, but we got ice cream anyway, as a reward for the boys completing their good-behavior sticker chart last week. And as small children will, the boys chose the brightest, most stain-causing ice cream flavors that they had.

After finishing our dessert, we headed home, stuck our pizza in the fridge for later, and turned in to enjoy a long nap. Pretty much a perfect Saturday, if you ask me.

Total miles today: 77.8

Rock Creek

 Rock Creek is a tiny town with lots of pretty yards and nice flower beds. Oh, and goats. It sure seemed like there had to be more goats there than there were humans.

We love city parks, so we were delighted to find one here, despite the town's diminutive size. Of course, it wasn't as big or as fancy as some we've been to...

All the same, the boys had at least as much fun at this park as they have at any other one we've visited so far.

It's amazing how much a small kindness can matter to those it touches. I hope the person who created this park feels a blessing as great as the joy that their gift brought my boys.

Meriden

Meriden had a lot of events going on today. We saw a lot of garage sales going on throughout the town, including one at the Watering Hole (a bar and pool hall downtown).

We were more interested, though, in this car show in the parking lot of Jefferson West Middle School. The boys and I wandered around looking at the cars, some of which were pretty old. This one had a whiskey bottle somehow attached to the engine. I wonder if maybe that's because it's been feeling overworked?

As we were looking around, I noticed several Confederate flags here, both in tattoo and bumper sticker form. Not sure what to make of that, but it struck me as odd.

We got there right before the prize ceremony, and it seemed like most of the cars received some prize or another. That was fine with us, because they were all pretty neat.