May 14, 2006
I was recently at the triple point of Missouri / Oklahoma / Arkansas, but didn't manage to make it to the border with Kansas, about 40 miles to the north. So, this was something of a revisit to the same area, but with the goal of seeing the triple point border of Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas.
Missouri
Not far from Anderson, Missouri. I suppose this area could be considered the foothills of the Ozarks. Nice sweeping turns, and gentle hills. About 50 miles on, the sweeping turns would become tight, and the gentle hills, steep.
Breakfast in Seneca...
...at Richard's Place. It's what's for breakfast.
A chance to add to my growing photo collection of "Dogs in Pickup Trucks."
Oklahoma
I figured that the triple point boundary of Kansas Oklahoma and Missouri couldn't be too hard to find; just ride to the Missouri / Oklahoma state line and turn north on whatever road looked likely.
This happened to be a very nice road with no traffic (sometimes in Oklahoma, sometimes in Missouri and sometimes right down the line).
Here's a sampler of Right, Straight and Left:
Kansas
And, here we are. After crossing the turnpike into Kansas, I backtracked along the old highway. The monument on the left was erected in the mid-thirties as part of a WPA youth project. The flat marker (below, with my hand) is in the middle of what was once the road, surrounded by a low rail.
Galena, Kansas is on Route-66, but is now largely bypassed by long-distance traffic.
An original Route-66 bridge.
Stopping for a break in Cherokee County after seeing a promising looking house, way out in the middle of a field.
I would walk the rest of the way.
Not far from the town of West Mineral...
...is Big Brutus, an enormous shovel once used to strip-mine coal.
You are allowed fairly free access throughout the shovel.
Big? It's overwhelming.
Walking into a Cherokee County wheat field
The Neosho river.
A promising road, but not for the motorcycle I'm on.
I have often wanted to take the road to Benedict, Kansas, but somehow never did--until today.
The inviting road into Benedict.
I don't know what these wildflowers are, but they were everywhere (see below for the answer).
The plant in your photo is Hesperis matronalis which goes by
the common
name "dame's rocket". Year's ago, it was planted by
early
settlers as an ornamental but escaped and has now become
naturalized.
I have seen more dame's rocket in bloom this year
than in the
past several years. Must have been the right
conditions.
It is a member of the Mustard Family
(Brassicaceae).
Here is a link to it on my Kansas Wildflowers
and Grasses
web site:
http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/damesrocket.html
Regards,
Mike Haddock,
Kansas State University
Most of the buildings are gone, leaving entire city blocks empty.
City Hall, Benedict. This church still seemed to be in use.
There are some very nice homes in Benedict...
...and some that are perhaps not as nice.
Don't play in the street? That's clearly not something to worry about in Benedict, where Main Street (quite literally) is the playground.
The final stop at the Beaumont Hotel and restaurant in Beaumont, Kansas
In Beaumont, they're (justifiably) proud of their original water tower
