My Kansas Kronikles: An overview

I like Kansas--that is, natural Kansas--better than I expected to.

Horace Greeley, An Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco, with an assist from William Least Heat-Moon's PrairyErth (A Deep Map): An Epic History of the Tallgrass Prairie Country.

I like Kansas too. Not just natural Kansas, but the people as well.

Last Sunday I hopped in my car and drove 10 hours to Topeka, Kansas, the first stop of my week long trip to Kansas. The Sunflower State was until then the only Midwestern state I hadn't visited. In Thomas Frank's book What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, the author stated that Kansas is America's least popular vacation spot.

To me then, the choice of Kansas as a vacation spot was the logical choice.

Kansans are incredibly nice people. When you've met a Kansan, you've met a friend.

While I was taking pictures all over the state, people not only waved at me, but smiled while doing it. I've visited about 35 of our 50 states, and hands down, the people of Kansas are the friendliest.

Natural scenery? There is a lot of it in Kansas--you just have to drive a little bit off of Interstates 35 and 70 to find it. Don't worry, I have proof. I took a lot of pictures.

Sure there are problems in Kansas. What place doesn't have them? Methamphetamines are a major plague throughout the state. Kansas compared to other states is disproportionately rural, and rural areas have a high rate of alcoholism.

Crime? There is crime where I live, there is crime in Kansas.

But I had a heck of a time in Kansas. I only wish I had more than a week to explore the least, from the perspective of a tourist, America's least explored state.

As is by now clear, My Kansas Kronikles is my latest blog serial.

Next post: The Reverend Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka.

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