Of course, Garden City has a huge grain elevator. Guess what? So does every other town in Kansas. You’ll soon tire of taking pictures of them. Garden City also has a tidy little downtown district. I’m sure it would have looked much nicer under clear, sunny skies.
After you’ve left town, headed east, a funny thing happens. As you’re driving through the relatively level land, you come to a brief rise in the landscape–probably no more than a 50-foot elevation gain. As you’re climbing this “hill”, you see a sign that says something like “Scenic View, Next Right”. When I saw this, I thought that once I reached the top of the hill, there would probably be a dramatic drop-off on the other side, and I’d have a view of miles and miles of prairie. I anxiously awaited the viewpoint, and when I arrived…
…this was the view. A cattle feed lot. I stepped out of my car to make sure I wasn’t missing something (which was dangerous, since “next right” meant a wide spot at the edge of US 50). The smell hit me instantly! Cows stink, and a lot of cows in a very small space really stink a lot. Suddenly I realized that I was standing on the edge of a busy road, in the freezing cold, breathing some very foul odors, all to enjoy the “scenic view” of a feed lot!
What fun… and only about 400 miles more to go to Missouri.
Note: This trip was first published in 2008.
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