LeRoy

LeRoy is a modest little town with a library, senior center, cafe, bars, schools, shops, and a historic downtown area.

On our way into town, Magen took grim amusement in the fact that the cemetery was located right next to Reaper Road.

We were interested to see that an old church had been converted into a store called "Barbie and More."

In one of the parks, we saw a memorial building with a funny name. It turns out that it was a memorial to the Muscogee Creek chief and orator Opothleyahola. Pretty cool for a history nerd like me!

We also saw a beef jerky factory founded by a man named (no kidding) Martin Luther with some fascinating yard art outside. The boys especially enjoyed the enormous wooden rocking chair.

Downtown, they have a large, colorful mural. We've seen this in a couple of other SE Kansas towns, as well. It seems like a fun way to hark back to the town's roots.

LeRoy does have a small co-op, and of course the railroad also runs through town. Much of the farmland around here is peppered with small -- almost portable-looking -- oil wells, pumping slowly away. They look like they haven't changed much lately, and neither has the town itself.

Overall, I'd say that the cool-stuff-to-see ratio was pretty high in this fun little town. A great start to our Southeast Kansas trip!

Lebo

I had been to Lebo before, when I was working for Koss Construction on I-35 near there. It's a small town, with lots of modest houses, a few businesses, a school, a ball field, and a nice-looking mural. A few of the yards were very well-maintained, while others looked more like my own front-yard jungle.

The town was named after a U.S. cavalry officer who lived near a creek in this area. This author suspects that Capt. Lebo's surname is a corruption of the French Le Beau, which could refer either to a handsome man or, in an ironic sense, to a notably un-handsome one. (That made me giggle.)

Perhaps the best-known part of this town these days is the BETO Junction travel plaza, which has a gas station and a cafe that features enormous cinnamon rolls. (BETO is an acronym for the nearby cities of Burlington, Emporia, Topeka, and Ottowa, since the truck stop is roughly in the middle of them.)

Though we were exhausted after a long day of exploring, we were not immune to the charms of the fabled cinnamon rolls. We purchased one regular and one cinnamon caramel for tomorrow's breakfast, then got back in the van and headed up US-75 toward home and some much-needed rest.

Gridley

Gridley was another nice town with lots of friendly people. We saw a community center, a library, a co-op, several businesses, and some paved roads (which was quite a change from some of the other places we had visited).

We didn't do too much here, as the boys had hit their afternoon napping sweet spot.

In the fields, we saw oil pumps, some slowly running, but most idle. It reminded me of the recent earthquakes throughout the Midwest, which scientists have tentatively linked to hydraulic fracturing.

The energy is nice and can provide real benefits, both to landowners and society as a whole, but nothing is free. Sometimes, I fear that the costs of energy are higher than we realize... and the aftereffects can linger long after the wells have run dry.