Flyover People
Originally published 01:19 p.m., March 18, 2008
Updated 01:19 p.m., March 18, 2008
It felt great to be out on the open road again.
With winter’s gloom behind us, Dave and I set sail on the second Saturday in March, northbound on Kansas Highway 99.
The landscape hadn’t yet shed its winter colors, but with the promise of sunshine and 45 degrees that day, I was anxious to begin another season of Dave and Cheryl’s Kansas Adventures.
A family rendezvous was scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Brookville Hotel in Abilene to celebrate Dave’s sister’s birthday.
And we had more than six hours to get there – plenty of time to stop for breakfast, take photos along the way, and maybe even visit the Eisenhower Center.
Passing through Eskridge and Alma en route to Abilene is a little out of the way – but who can resist Wabaunsee County? With its rocks, rounded hills and wooden barns, it’s one of the prettiest counties in the state.
Those limestone chunks, nosing their way out of the dirt, may not make for good cropland, but the rocks add texture and beauty to the scenery.
Even dressed in winter drab, the landscape is stunning. Without the distraction of green, perhaps one pays more attention to shape and shadow in the Flint Hills.
Alma (pop. 764) is a town that limestone built. Spires of stone churches rise above houses and trees.
The Native Stone Scenic Byway runs through town. And according to the Kansas Scenic Byway’s Web site, 98 percent of the buildings in downtown Alma were built of native stone during the 1800s.
The Wabaunsee County Courthouse, constructed of smooth Carthage stone, looks about as sturdy as they come.
Dave and I ate a good breakfast at Deb’s Restaurant in Alma, eggs and bacon, hash browns and toast.
Leaving town, we headed west on a paved county road. When we came across a community named Volland, Dave checked the Kansas Atlas and Gazetteer.
“We’re not on the road we thought we were on,” Dave said.
Getting lost worked out well though. Along the way we had stumbled across the lovely but decrepit Sunny Slope stone schoolhouse, and now, the town of Volland. We’d have missed both had we ventured west instead of southwest.
Only a few homes remain in Volland. Two former general stores stand, one brick, one wood-frame, both of which have been closed for a long time.
Volland was once a major shipping point for cattle on the Rock Island Railroad, according to “Ghost Towns of Kansas, a Traveler’s Guide” by Daniel Fitzgerald.
The town began to falter in “the mid-1920s when shippers began taking their herds to larger railroad tows such as Alta Vista and Alma,” Fitzgerald wrote. “The depression of the 1930s also adversely affected the town, and many citizens eventually left during that decade.”
The road we were on was the Skyline-Mill Creek Scenic Drive. It led to Alta Vista.
Alta Vista (pop. 425) has an active downtown, including a bank and lumberyard, a tavern called the Bulldog Inn, and there’s the Barnyard Café.
Spanning the railroad tracks in Alta Vista, you’ll find a one-lane wooden bridge which is arched enough that from either end you can’t see to the other side. I can’t imagine how many times one driver or the other has had to back down that bridge.
In Dwight, I photographed the elevator complex. Lately, I’ve begun to study the shapes of small town elevators. No two complexes are alike.
Passing through Geary County, we were close enough to swing into Junction City to check out the courthouse. It’s a gorgeous limestone building constructed in 1899.
From there, we slipped on over to Abilene on I-70.
Abilene is only 100 miles away from Emporia - two hours, if you take the direct route. But what fun is that?
• “Flyover People” is online at www.flyoverpeople.net. Cheryl Unruh can be reached at cheryl@flyoverpeople.net.