Marathon Pundit: My Kansas Kronikles: Smoky Valley Scenic Byway

After my visit to the impressive Monument Rocks, my Kansas journey took me to a part of Kansas many non-Kansans know quite well: Interstate 70. It was there that I crossed over from west to east, that is across the 100th Meridian near the village of WaKeeney.

From there the Smoky Valley Scenic Byway commensed. It's named for the Smoky Hills, the "smoke," which I didn't see, is the haze that some people notice at sunrise and sunset.

As you've noticed in previous posts, Kansas isn't just windmills and cattle, although they're abundant on this byway. Of course, after my visits to the tree Beef Kingdoms of Kansas, I looked at these cows a little bit differently.

Just as businesses fail, sometimes towns don't make it. There's a natural yet macabre fascination with ghost towns, as we walk through them, we invariably ponder our own inevitible demise. On the southern end of the byway in Ness County is the town of Brownell, population 48. If you're looking for the opportunity to see a "living ghost town," then Brownell is where you need to go. On the left is the center of town. Below is Brownell's post office, which appears to have closed shop for good--a dead letter office.