Besides going to Manhattan , KS to celebrate my sister-in-law getting her PhD I had a chance to goof around in the state. The photos below were captured on Old Highway 24 - this is the same Highway 24 that is seen here in Colorado and is literally where I was born

Also on Highway 24 is the nearly abandoned Nicodemus, KS (pop. 17) which is the first town settled by freed slaves west of the Mississippi .  They were mostly from Kentucky and sold the idea that Nicodemus was a Garden of Eden.  It was anything but.  They were free and could make of their lives what they wanted to.  This was good enough for them. The National Park Service has an installation telling the story of Nicodemus.  The docents are dependents of the original settlers which makes this so much more salient

The next stop was the Air Museum in Liberal , KS.  Many of the planes were owned by a Texan who donated some 50 or 60 planes.  He flew them to the museum himself.

On the way home I stopped in at Gobblers Knob rest stop which was mostly filled with trucks