Kansas Trip - Diggin' It With Friends

Day 1: The Drive (04/08/2011)

Picked up Brea's G'ma and was on the road by about 830a. About three hours later we had made our first stop in Goodland, KS to drop G'ma off and ate a delicious Fried Chicken Buffet at Hank's Cafe.

After lunch we were back on the road and made it to the Cedar Court Motel there in Clay Center, KS just before 5p. After unloading the truck we walked out over by the pool for a brief meet and greet with the handful of folks who had shown up already (Harold, Dave, Rhonda, Vlad, Carol, Bob, Jason). Dave and Harold answered my call on FMDF for a few of the remaining slots I had open ion my 50 State Quarter book... it's now finished, thanks guys.

Most of the group headed over to El Puerto, the Mexican restaurant. Me and Brea where still full from the trip, but did take a ride over to grab some alcohol for the next two nights. Around 9 we finally migrated to El Puerto, and though the food wasn't bad, we were totally disappointed that there were NO MARGARITAS!!!???

Day 2: The Hunt (04/09/2011)

Started the day off by meeting everyone up at Huntress Park by 8a. We spent the next four hours or so scouring the park (which had obviously been hit before).

The day was spent digging pull tab after pull tab for me, resulting in $1.58 in clad over 36 coins and not much else in the way of goodies.

But a few folks were able to grab an Indian Head penny or two and even a Mercury dime while two other hunters landed a gold plated ring and a delicate necklace.

Around noon it was time to head on over to Utility Park where we had our lunch planned. On the way over, Brea and I stopped by the Clay Center town square and took a few pics of their old courthouse and a neat pic of the marker for a time capsule.

Over at the park everyone gathered up as the food was cooked and set out. It was a great little feast full of burgers, dogs, ziti, 7 layer dip, potato salad and loads of cake. After the eating, it was time to dish out the goods. Raffle tickets were sold for a chance to win a Minelab Explorer SE Pro donated by New England Detectors with all the ticket proceeds benefiting Brian Duvall's Clad 4 Kids Charity.

There were a few other prizes handed out (all of which were generously donated by New England Detectors) for categories such as "Oldest Coin", "Best Jewelry", "Silver Coin", "Weirdest Object". I ended up bringing home prizes for "Most Pull-Tabs" with a winning total of 31 for the morning, and also for "Farthest Drive" which we trumped the 2nd place people by almost 150 miles... as Denver was a good 455 mile drive. One of the prizes, an 1864 2 Cent donated by Harold was the 3rd of it's kind now in my collection.

After all of that was said and done, most of the group followed Dave up a farm field he had gotten permission to hunt (Pictures HERE). In the meantime, since Brea and I had a dinner appointment with my cousins John and Susan later on in Salina, we opted out and visited the small, dilapidated Clay Center Zoo. The animals all looked miserable and the larger ones, like the bear and wolves just did not have the space to do much more than pace back and forth.

That evening after dinner at Logan's in Salina with my cousin John, whom I hadn't seen since around October 2003 when we were both in Scania CSC in Iraq, and then my cousin Susan of which this was our first time meeting each other... ever... but anyhow, right, so on the way back, around 8p and just turning on to Route 24, I was pulled over by a Sheriff. HE said I was doing a 51 in a 35 and a construction zone. He didn't give me a ticket, but I swore the only posted speed was 65 MPH. Sure enough, the next morning on the way out... there was no 35 MPH zone posted on my side... so WTF!?

Day 3: Back to The Farm (04/10/2011)

We said a few goodbyes and left the Cedar Court Motel around 11a. Having seen a wind-farm that stretched for miles, we decided to see how far it really went... turned out to be 15 miles along the interstate... that's a lot of real estate.

Our first stop on the way back to the farm in Goodland was one of The 8 Wonders of Kansas... the St. Fidelis Church, better known as "The Cathedral of The Plains" in Victoria, KS (a fun fact about Victoria.. the first Black Angus steer in the US were raised here).

Wanting to add to our pressed penny collection, our last stop before the farm was at the Oasis Travel Center in Colby, KS where we picked up our lovely "Kansas Oil" pressed penny.

Day 4: The Hunt Continues (04/11/2011)

Started the morning with some delicious homemade biscuits and gravy just before we were out the door and headed out to "The Smoky Gardens", otherwise known as Soldier's Memorial Park. This park has been here and been in use since at least when Brea's G'ma was a child, so we thought it might be a good place to metal detect. We didn't leave with too much, and with all the trash it just ended up a big disappointment. Even the water that was once here was dried up, but the bed was so littered with trashed, finding anything good would have been a yearlong chore.

We drove back to the farm and I got to thinking, I'm gonna boost my pre-amp gain on my XLT up to 4 and see what happens. So I started hunting around the old farm house (which used to be a one room schoolhouse way back in the day) and started consistently pulling clad around the 6" mark. Sadly, I was getting any deeper. I ended the day with a multitude of finds, and the oldest coin being a '52 wheat.

Day 5: On The Road Again (04/12/2011)

We were to leave and head back to Denver by noon, and we were right on time... but not before we stopped by Main St. in town and picked up an antique 1919 C19 Edison Disc Phonograph. Why? Well because we could I guess, and it was free.

Our only stop on the way home was in Genoa, CO to check out "The Wonder Tower". This place is just wierd. The guy who runs the place is an eccentric old fellow and he has SO MUCH STUFF. It's definitely worth checking out and paying the $1 to climb the tower for the view.

So that was the Kansas trip. Hope you enjoyed the read and pictures.