It took us 12 hours of drive time through 2 states to get from our house to Colorado – and it took us 28 hours of driving time through 6 states to get home. I thought it would be “fun” to take the long way around adding Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas to our list of visited states.
We had to spend more time planning for these states than we usually have to as there is a lot of open road areas that we drove through so we couldn’t just pull over when we were tired or needed gas as there were long stretches where these options weren’t easily accessed.
When looking at tourist attractions in Kansas, and asking friends who have lived there, two main stops were recommended and both were in Hutchinson, the Cosmosphere (a space museum) and Strataca (an underground salt mine). After some research, Scott thought we’d spend a night in Hutchinson and visit the salt mine, and take the tour.
When we travel, I like to spend time in natural beauty (national parks, seashores, waterfalls, mountains), the kids like to be amused (parks, zoos), and Scott likes historical and cultural landmarks. This fell into all three categories (sort of). We were able to schedule a tour of the underground mine including a train ride and a “dark” tour which was entertaining. The salt crystals were natural and beautiful and the tour of the mine was educational in both history and modern culture.
Both the train ride and the “dark” tour were narrated with information on the history of the salt mine. We learned how miners excavated the salt crystals and what a typical workday looked like. We learned about the tools and explosives used to excavate the mine and experienced the quiet darkness of the mine.
The “dark” tour took us to completely dark areas of the mine – we were also taken to a section of the mine where the kids got to pick a salt crystal to take home with them. The kids thought it was really interesting to see the different colors in the crystals and each chose a totally different color and size as a souvenir.
The tour was also informative as we learned that the dugout mine areas currently serve as storage for some very interesting pop culture items including move reels, and props.
They also keep other objects of importance down in the vault too – including this old computer which is bigger than all 5 kids!! – the statistics were hilarious.
Apparently deep under the earth’s surface in the middle of the continent is an ideal place to store things as there are no natural disasters (floods, hurricanes, forest fires) that happen in KS and the twisters or tornados affect only surface level. It is climate controlled and not easily accessed so the items are safe and secure.
The tour with the rides totaled $109 for the 7 of us. I’m not sure that I’d recommend driving out of your way to fit it in but it was an interesting addition to our trip.
When we left Hutchinson, we drove through Wichita on our way to Oklahoma. We had a spontaneous stop in Wichita as we read there were some interesting things to do and see. We stopped at the Keeper of the Plains statue
The Keeper of the Plains stands at the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas rivers with hands raised in supplication to the Great Spirit. Since the sculpture’s installation in 1974 to commemorate the United States Bicentennial, it has become a symbol for the city of Wichita and a tribute to the Native American tribes who continue to gather at this sacred site. –Wichita.gov
We enjoyed a walk along the rivers…and then kept right on walking right to Central Riverside Park. This park was located near Keeper of the Plains and the kids were excited to have the opportunity to run and play. They were over the moon as there were walking paths, a great playground, and the highlight of the day – a sprayground park!
We learned last year that sometimes these spur of the moment totally unplanned stops and surprise finds are some of the best memories that we have…
We had a difficult time trying to decide what to do in Oklahoma. Our time constraints and travel routes limited our options and a web search did not offer as many choices as we would have liked. A friend suggested we schedule a tour of the National Weather Service in Norman Oklahoma, so we did. We toured the Weather Service, the storm prediction center, and the national severe storms lab. It was a free and interesting visit.
The kids were amazed as we sat in the observation tower and the guide explained the number of tornados that had touched down close to the campus observed from the very tower that we were in. Some interesting statistics….in 2015 there were 109 tornados in OK. There is an average of 4 per year in just Norman with 276 since 1950. This city lies in tornado alley which was great to learn about until this happened. 🙂
When we left Oklahoma, we drove through northern Texas on our way to Arkansas.
