Trifter

            I never even thought I would ever have to travel to Kansas, until one day my brother who was in the military, met some one, fell in love; so now I have been to Kansas about 6-7 times.  When I look at a map of the United States, I tell my brother, you’re in the dead center of; this great nations. In Kansas there is lots of grass and cows, and really not much to do, unless you research the land. There Official State Seal is truly does represent Kansas, with a man plowing his many miles of grass and a boat in the background on the river. The capital of Kansas is Topeka, which is up in the Northeast region of the state. The Motto of Kansas is “To the Stars through Difficulties” since Kansas had many ups and downs trying to attain statehood. Kansas became a state in 1861 and their flag, which has not been altered much, was designed in 1927. The flag has the State Seal on it, along with the State Flower; which is the sunflower, a very tall, bright yellow flower when it has fully bloomed.

            There are many facts about Kansas that many people don’t know, such as the northern part of Kansas is considered the plains, there are just hills and grass from one end of the state to the other. It was the perfect land for the Indian population to occupy. The Indians that settled in that region were called the Kansa or the Kaw Indians. The state is the fourteenth largest state in the US, and is surrounded by Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado and Nebraska. It is pretty much the shape of a rectangle, which is 208 miles north to south, and 411 miles from the east to the west. From Wichita I had driven through Topeka, I have go to Sedan, we traveled to Dodge City and our family’s intriguing one is Manhattan Kansas. We could not believe it but it was there, and since we were from New York City, we were sure there was no other place called Manhattan, but we were wrong. While we were out the one-yeas, we drove down to Oklahoma from Wichita to visit a train museum and pick up a few gifts, and so we were able to add another state to our list of visited states.

Image via Wikipedia

            During the summer it gets really hot, from Spring through the Summer Kansas suffers a lot of tornado, causing destruction especially in the flat lands. While their winters are cold with a lot of snow, it takes a lot of courage to live in that state. I can deal with the snow and cold, but the heat and tornado, thanks, but not thanks. It is a nice place to visit, and there is a lot of land out there, but as Dorothy says, “there is no place like home!”

            There are many interesting place to visit, and I am sure I will find many more in my lifetime, as long as my brother lives out their with his family. We visited the Space Exploration Science Center in Hutchinson, and the Sedgwick Zoo in Wichita. We also traveled to Sedan Kansas, which was the home, of Emmet, the clown. The town itself was absolutely beautiful and very colorful, kind of like in the Wizard of Oz, they also had a souvenir shop/Restaurant, which served basic finger foods, but all their souvenirs were from Oz. The town itself had a yellow brick road, which many famous super stars had their names imprinted in the yellow brick. Down toward the end of town, which was maybe two blocks there was a meadow, with ducks and swans, along with a lovely picnic grove, were we let the kids run free.

            There are many things that have happened in Kansas, from the initial exploration in 1541 of Europeans; while in 1682 someone else came along to declare it for the France.  In 1762 France gives the land to Spain, and in 1800 the Louisiana Territory was given back to France, which of cause included Kansas, by 1803 the land became part of the United States in the Louisiana Purchase, and even after that it took Kansas fifty eight years to become its own state, in 1861. That is why its motto is “To The Stars Through Difficulties’; Kansas has a lot of history, with so much unsettled times during the beginning of the 1800’s. It is a beautiful place, with lots of history, so if you’re ever head that way, research the state, you’ll be mighty surprised.