We arrived at the Fort Larned,...
We arrived at the Fort Larned, KS, National Historical Site just minutes after it closed for the day. A large portion of the original fort exists in a very good state of preservation. For a 20-year period from the late 1850 through the late 1870s, Larned was a vital military post along the Santa Fe Trail.
Our target destination for the day was the Missouri side of Kansas City. It was midday and downtown traffic was light so we headed west, straight through central St. Louis, on I-64. To the north side of the freeway as we passed through the Gateway City was Anheuser-Busch's corporate headquarters and main brewery. The maker of Budweiser offers comprehensive two-hour tours of the facility, including the brewhouse and the stables where their trademark massive Clydesdale horses are kept. If we'd had more time, the brewery would've been an interesting stop, but this was strictly a "get to K.C. day," so we stuck with the interstates to make the most of our time.
When we hit the western fringes of St. Louis, where the I-64 and I-270 merge, we turned north for a short (8 or so miles) jaunt up to I-70, aimed toward the left coast, and promptly got into a traffic jam that would do justice to some of the gridlock we experience in the Los Angeles metro mess. Seems that about 3 miles ahead, at the bridge crossing over the Missouri River, there was supposed to be some road construction-in the middle lanes. There must have been at least a mile of incredibly mixed-up, coned-off lanes. That 3-mile run took at least 20 minutes, and we almost got the right side and front of the C5 removed by one of the rudest and most indifferent truckers we've ever come across. This putz decided to move over a lane without any apparent concern about vehicles alongside (hey Bubba, them mirrors aren't hanging on the doors for decoration!), and without any warning. The moron didn't even use his turn signals; he just started slipping into the adjoining lane and other traffic be damned (and there's no arguing with a brain-dead driver in a rig that outweighs you by 75,000 pounds). The crowning glory to that episode was that when we finally got to the construction zone, there were a couple workers with a couple pickups, standing around leaning on their shovels and blocking three lanes of traffic. Geez, we thought Caltrans workers were the only ones to be that productive.
Once we got through that mess, the rest of the day's run was clear sailing. Right after crossing the Missouri River, we passed through historic St. Charles, the first capital of the state of Missouri (1821) and, a few years before, the starting point of the Lewis and Clark expedition. About 25 miles later, we made a mad scramble for the camera and snapped a couple shots of signs for Wentzville, figuring that our editorial group intern, Dakota "Cody" Wentz would get a kick out of them (he did!).
Wednesday * September 24
The rest of our drive west across the Show Me state to Kansas City was unremarkable. Small communities clustered along the interstate every few miles, with farms and gently rolling countryside filling the voids between the towns. We re-crossed the meandering Missouri River west of Columbia, as well as several of its tributaries. The most memorable of those was the Blackwater River, which, at least when we crossed it, was more like the Dirty-Brown/Muddy-Water Trickle. The drive was amongst the most laid back of the trip-until we arrived in K.C. and its maze of interchanges that rival Los Angeles or portions of the turnpikes in east New Jersey for being confusing.
After spending the night at a rundown and overpriced high-rise that had once been a classy hotel near Kansas City International Airport (the AAA Tour Book gave this dump a much better evaluation than it deserved), we began our day by touring the Harley-Davidson's Kansas City assembly plant. As we both have a great fascination for all things mechanical, it seemed a natural necessity to stop in and see how some of America's premier motorcycles are built (H-D also has plants in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and York, Pennsylvania). The plant tour was especially meaningful for Rob, whose V-Rod was born at the Kansas City factory.
 Grain elevators like this...  Grain elevators like this one along Highway 50 in Garden City are common sites in many rural communities in southwest Kansas. |  Bent's Old Fort from about...  Bent's Old Fort from about 1/4-mile away. |  "I don't think we're in Kansas...  "I don't think we're in Kansas any longer, Toto." |