Continuing onward from Cawker City - we travel another 3 hours and decide to look for a place for the night. We choose Marysville, KS as it has 3 parks for us to choose from. Its always a little risky traveling without a solid travel plan - but most of the fun happens in the unplanned! I'm in charge of calling ahead and making reservations while Andy is driving. The first 2 parks I try are closed for one reason or another - so our 3rd choice wins by default.
As we arrive into town we are thrilled with our choice of towns - Marysville is a gem. It has cobblestone streets and looks like a place out of a different era. Our host at our intended RV park meets us at the road and waves us into his driveway. It's not really an RV park after all- it's a field behind this guys (Dave) house! Andy & I do a doubletake - but we don't really have a choice so we pull in. He leads us to a spot and we park. There are 2 other travelers here - and he has hook-ups for 5 more. It all seems a little strange - but we go ahead and pay and unpack. Dave could not be a nicer guy. Turns out he is a local celebrity - head of the fire department - and he penned the national slogan "check your smoke detector battery once a month". He gave us the lowdown about the town ... which was the first pony express stop in Kansas. We are anxious to check out the town so we unhook the jeep and head out before night falls.
The town is so nostalgic - with it's brick streets and ancient storefronts. This downtown seems to be thriving - we saw lots of people out and about. People greet us as we pass on the street - gotta love that. We located the Pony Express Museum, beautiful County Seat Building, and famed Pony Express statue and mural. We popped into a local restaurant for dinner and saw that they were having a book signing for a local author. This community has great energy - I may have to consider it for my list!
The town is so nostalgic - with it's brick streets and ancient storefronts. This downtown seems to be thriving - we saw lots of people out and about. People greet us as we pass on the street - gotta love that. We located the Pony Express Museum, beautiful County Seat Building, and famed Pony Express statue and mural. We popped into a local restaurant for dinner and saw that they were having a book signing for a local author. This community has great energy - I may have to consider it for my list!
We go on back the the RV and are greeted again by Dave. He hands us a basket full of fresh tomatoes out of his garden. (When we were talking earlier he asked us what we missed from home and we told him our garden had been bursting with tomatoes and we had eaten all that we had brought with us.) I try and pay him but he won't take it. He tells us to just pay it forward and we assure him we will. I believe that Dave is one of the reasons this town has such a good feel to it. We learn that he's lived in Marysville his whole life, married his high school sweetheart and has raised 3 girls.
Then he tells me the most disappointing news ... we are going to miss the Kansas Statewide Garage Sale! The entire state of Kansas participates in a border to border garage sale and it this weekend! I look at Andy and he says absolutely not - we are not staying! I can't believe I am only 4 days from seeing such an event - I love the whole community effort aspect of it - not to mention it sounds like fun! Andy insist it would be a travel nightmare - and unless I want to see him using a 38,000 pound vehicle in a road rage incident then we better get going. My heart sinks a little knowing I'm going to miss it. Dave wishes us a goodnight - he will be unavailable the following day as he will be participating in a Sept. 11 tribute. I almost forgot the date - time slips away on the road. We'll have to make time tomorrow for some sort of remembrance ourselves.
Then he tells me the most disappointing news ... we are going to miss the Kansas Statewide Garage Sale! The entire state of Kansas participates in a border to border garage sale and it this weekend! I look at Andy and he says absolutely not - we are not staying! I can't believe I am only 4 days from seeing such an event - I love the whole community effort aspect of it - not to mention it sounds like fun! Andy insist it would be a travel nightmare - and unless I want to see him using a 38,000 pound vehicle in a road rage incident then we better get going. My heart sinks a little knowing I'm going to miss it. Dave wishes us a goodnight - he will be unavailable the following day as he will be participating in a Sept. 11 tribute. I almost forgot the date - time slips away on the road. We'll have to make time tomorrow for some sort of remembrance ourselves.
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