KANSAS!

We decided to make a long weekend out of the 4th of July holiday. After getting out of work a little early on Wednesday, we rented a car locally (a white Kia Soul) and drove to St. Louis, checking into the Hyatt Regency. Our hotel was right next to the Gateway Arch. We were so close that we could see part of it from our room. Thursday morning, we purchased tickets for the tram ride to the top. We visited the Arch previously, but this was our first visit since it was designated a national park in 2018. We were the very first visitors to the top that day! It was rainy, obscuring the views, but it was still pretty cool. On our way out of town, we stopped at a bar in Clifton Heights to see a good friend. From there, we set off for Wichita.

Heading southwest on I-44, we picked up some lunch at Arby’s in Eureka, drove farther, exited near Lebanon, and headed west on HWY 32, picking up Polk and Cedar Counties. We then went south, picking up Dade County, before heading west again to pick up Barton County. From there, we crossed over the Kansas state line, picking up Crawford County and stopping to pick up an early dinner at the Taco Bell in Pittsburg, home of the Gorillas (the local university mascot). There are gorilla statues all over town! Continuing west, we picked up Labette and Montgomery Counties. Taking a short drive south near Moline, we also drove into Chautauqua County. Then, we continued to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Wichita. We arrived just as the fireworks started, and our hotel room offered us a fantastic view of the shows. Fireworks lit up the Wichita area, stretching as far as the eye could see. We counted around 50 displays across the horizon, with one launching by the river just outside our hotel. Two hours later, as we headed to bed, some shows were still going strong. The spectacle was truly incredible.

We enjoyed an early breakfast at the hotel Friday morning before setting out for a long day of county collecting. Our first stop was Reno County, just northwest of Wichita. We stopped at the Strataca Salt Mines for a guided tour. It was our first time in any mine, and we found it fascinating. After the tour, we returned to our car and headed north. We drove through Rice, Ellsworth, and Lincoln Counties. We then drove west on I-70 to pick up Russell, Ellis (where we stopped at Subway for lunch), and Trego Counties. At WaKeeney, we exited the interstate and drove south on HWY 243 into Ness County. We veered west on HWY 4 and passed through Lane and Scott Counties. In the latter, we took a side trip to the north to visit the remote area known as Monument Rocks.

After leaving Monument Rocks, we still had a few counties to reach before starting our trip back to the hotel. Heading south on HWY 83, we reached the county line, then headed west to a near four-county point, where we picked up Finney, Kearny, and Wichita Counties. We had to double back a mile for Wichita County as I errored and didn’t have us drive far enough before turning north into the county. But we pulled it off. From there, we started the long trip back to Wichita.

We headed east on HWY 156, drove through Hodgeman and Pawnee Counties, then turned left and headed north on HWY 183 into Rush County. At the small town of Rush Center, we turned east and drove through Barton County. At Great Bend, we headed south on HWY 281 and crossed into Stafford County, our last new county of the day. We then drove back to Hutchinson to get a snack at Sonic before returning to our hotel.

Saturday morning, we enjoyed another early hotel breakfast before starting our trek. We started west on HWY 400 out of Wichita, driving through Kingman, Pratt, and Kiowa Counties. From Greensburg, we traveled north on HWY 183, driving about nine miles to the Edwards County line. From there, we doubled back to HWY 400 and continued west, picking up Ford County. We then got on HWY 56, headed southwest to pick up Gray and Haskell Counties, and stopped at the Subway in Sublette for sandwiches. Continuing southwest, we picked up Seward and Stevens Counties while we ate our subs. We planned to enter Grant County through a dirt road but had to turn around when we reached fenced-in farmland. Google Maps had steered us wrong! We backtracked to Satanta and took HWY 190 northwest to cross over the county line.

At this point, we stayed on HWY 160, heading east for many miles. We drove through Meade, Clark, Comanche, Barber, and Harper Counties. Harper County was our final new county for the trip, and it completed Kansas for us! From there, we drove straight to our hotel for the evening. The next day, we traveled about 11 hours back to our home in Wisconsin.

When all was said and done, we picked up 41 new counties and finished our 33rd state. So, what’s next? We have a trip to Glacier National Park planned for early September. Stay tuned!

NEW COUNTIES - 41

                   TOTAL COUNTIES FOR 2024 - 165

                  ALL TIME COUNTY TOTAL - 2728