everything's up to date in Kansas City

ready to travel with our understated NE style patriotism 

We left Mark Twain Lake, Missouri mid-morning on July 4th and headed across the state to a campground just over the line in Kansas. The campground was on another lake, Perry, and I tried my luck taking pictures of dragonflies.  They are particularly challenging to get both the wings, which are translucent, and the body in focus, to say nothing about getting them to hold still. I even asked nicely, but either they didn't understand my yankee accent ...  or they didn't care. 😂

We stopped in St. Joseph, MO to do a little sightseeing along the way.  I mean, it was only 102°, so why not walk around in the blazing sun? And St Joseph, MO. Isn't that on everyone's bucket list?  Now St. Joseph takes some issue with St Louis calling itself the gateway to the west (even if it does have the big fancy arch and is where Louis and Clark started their famous expedition). St Jo (that's what the 'friends of St Joseph' call it), St Jo does have some right to this claim.  This is where the Pony Express started (they have a museum and everything),  and although the Oregon trail initially started in Independence, MO, it didn't take long before the pioneers, seeing the advantage of cutting 20 miles and 4 river crossings off the beginning of their trip, started from St Jo instead and ……..…..(this is another wait-for-it moment)..............

it's home to the infamous Jesse James (one of the most famous gunslinging outlaws of the west). 

It is also where he was killed. ⚰️🙏

After melting on the sidewalks of St Jo, we dragged our way back to the camper and blasted the air-conditioning as we made our way to our next stop, Lake Perry, Kansas. 

While there we visited Kansas City, MO/KS. Yes, Kansas City crosses the river and the state line. It was there before the state lines were drawn, so it is in both states and is the same city ... pretty much.  Several of the activities we had planned fell through, (wah wah) so we just sort of wandered around and soaked up the ambiance, architecture and neighborhood identidies. I love to do that sort of thing.  I found KC to be a bit, I don't know …schizophrenic in terms of architectural style, etc. (I mean, it doesn't even know what state it belongs to after all!) In some areas it was a wonderful sort of funky mixture of old and new. Not a place where they tore down all the old and built new, but refurbished the old with a quirky style. Then other sections … it was whatever goes. There didn't seem to be a consistent architectural style at all. It was such odd mixtures. Some was classic, some modern, some copied so that it looked like it came out of Italy or Germany.  Ok, maybe I'm being a little harsh, but really.  And again, I always have to add that I'm not talking about the whole city or state or region when I make these comments. I can only comment on what I've actually seen.  I should also mention that it was hot and sometimes I'm a little "testy" when I'm hot. So, to set the record straight,  there were parts of KC that I found really interesting … and parts that I did not.

We did visit the house where Jesse James was born, not in KC, but nearby. (We like to complete people's stories as much as possible.) 

Look for additional comments on the campground and our time in the area in the 'Bloopers, missteps, near disasters, won't do that again and best laid plans oft do go astray' blog😁 That's the blog for all of you who see the pics and say, wow, how idyllic.  

It is, but … life is life. 🤷

It will be coming out, I expect within the next month

Even the hay bales are touting their patriotic pride. 🇺🇸

Pony Express Museum, need I say more?

 Re-enacting the "first ride"

The museum has lots of old tack and horse stuff

This device was used to administer medicine to the horses (yikes)

check this out … one of the three men who founded the Pony Express, the idea man, was born in Burlington, VT!

This is a Pony Express saddle.  It was modeled after a Mexican style saddle which has a hard base and the cochilla, in this case a leather cover that can be put on and taken off the base saddle easily and quickly so it can go from horse to horse as the riders race along. The four pockets, two on each side were locked at St Joseph and then unlocked when the cochilla reached Sacramento ten days later.

And the end of the Pony Express 

The livery stable, now houses the museum.

A huge mural in town

This is Jesse James' house and where he was killed (shot in the back of the head by a member of his gang for the reward money). Crime doesn't pay.  (We'll, not in the long run)

the window motif at 102°, au plein aire

in bleu

railroad tracks and giant grain solos literally litter the countryside 

We had been waiting to have a steak dinner in Kansas City. We went to the Golden Ox.  It was delicious. 😋

It was in the old stockyard/livestock exchange district

Street view of the restaurant 

and neighborhood

One of the fountains for which Kansas City is known.

Intricate brick and tilework in one section of KC

 sillouettes and fountains 

KC is also a major working "port". Three rivers; the Missouri, the Kansas and the Blue, as well as  major rail lines all converge here.

Check out the size of these grain silos.  They make the heavy equipment in the bottom right look like matchbox cars! 

River and tracks

This was an area I liked. 

It was an older section near the river celebrating its historic setting,

 adding a touch of the modern as well.

while continuing to work with the form, structure and integrity of the past.

KC

As promised, my attempt at photographing dragon flies from our campsite … they're a little blurry (don't zoom in too much) and I'm not going to tell you how many pics were just straight deleted 😂

Next adventure: more Kansas!  It's a big state especially when you're traveling in the east-west direction.