Fowler

Fowler is Goldbug Country! That is, the high school mascot is the Goldbugs. Main street had a lot going on: city hall, library, shops, restaurants, and houses. There's also a grade school, a high school, and the smallest cement jail in Kansas. There's a funny story about the jail, which is mostly a tribute to one mayor who wanted to be able to say he accomplished something, but without as much funding as he'd originally planned on.

Outside town, we noticed some pasture land with a really interesting feature: There were windmills, pumping water into stock tanks, each with a single tree planted nearby. I found myself wondering whether the trees just got lucky, or if some rancher had cultivated them there to shade the herds from the brutal western Kansas summer sun. 

Meade

Meade, as the seat of its namesake county, was larger than the other towns around it. It had lots of shops and restaurants. We saw a fire near the grain elevator, and the wind was so strong that the smell of smoke stayed with us for miles, even after we left town. 

There are lots of homes here, in all shapes and sizes. We stopped a while at the Dalton Gang Museum, which is definitely worth visiting. The escape tunnel was especially fun, though Matt was sad that he couldn't climb on the roofs of the buildings. The man at the museum told us we really needed to stop by Brianna's Cafe in Montezuma to get some of her homemade pie. 

This town is also home to the Meade County Historical Museum, which is on the same block as the Triple K Firearms and concealed carry shop. No wonder the Daltons felt right at home here.

One thing that amused us was a Mennonite church with a brand new Nissan NV (probably about $35,000) parked in the lot. Plain folk indeed.

We were also amused by the Bartel Bake Shop and Well Drilling, which was founded by the late Pete R. Bartel, an entrepreneurial gentleman of the sort that makes a small town thrive.

Missler

There were three trailers in line to unload at the Missler grain elevator. The only other thing of note here was an interesting ditch drain that Matt asked to see closer. I said yes and the next thing I knew, he had "seen" it closely enough to crawl through it all the way to the other side of the road.

Plains

Plains is the home of "Widest Main Street, USA," which actually might be true. Main Street looked wide enough for two combines to pass by side-by-side, with room to spare. The town has some old adobe structures next to newer brick ones. Main Street is part concrete and part brick. The town has a ballpark, a swimming pool, a library, and a community center. There are many nice homes and cute shops, and the town is surrounded by fields. There are a few gravel roads, but most are paved.