Wilson, KS to Denver, CO
Mike and I got a solid nights' sleep at the hotel but we were lucky we went to bed early because Merlin is still adjusting to the time change and woke us up around 5! We dozed for a few hours before grabbing some food from the continental breakfast and packing up the car once again.
We headed past a large lake to the next town over - Lucas, KS. I've always been intrigued by oddities and roadside attractions and when I found out about Lucas I had to go!
It's a town of about 400 people and is known for its grassroots art movement. Between 1905 and 1927 a local sculptor Samuel P. Dinsmoor created a "log cabin" constructed of carved limestone surrounded by more than 150 sculptures and called it the Garden of Eden. The rest of the towns people were inspired by Dinsmoor and continued his legacy of creating eccentric and public art. Folk art sites in the city include The World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Version of the World's Largest Things traveling museum, Bowl Plaza - the public toilet in a toilet shaped building (the inside is all mosaic tile), Miller's park, Fork Art Park, and the World's Largest Travel Plate.
We drove through Lucas and caught a few of the highlights - the Garden of Eden, Fork Art Park, and we each took a turn in Bowl Plaza!
From there we headed toward Denver. As we continued further west through Kansas the landscape really started to flatten out. It became more like what Mike and I imagined the grasslands would be - completely flat fields all the way to the horizon line.
We stopped at a dog park in Hays Kansas, and once we crossed into Denver we stopped off in Burlington Colorado and had some fun in it's human park. It was one of the best playgrounds I've ever been on!
As we got closer to Denver, our first peek of the rockies was exciting and impressive and we both enjoyed the transition from the super flat to the super monstrous mountains!
We arrived at our AirBnB cottage in the LoHi neighborhood at around 4:00 (thanks to the time zone change!) After the long drive Mike was feeling pretty wiped. We took a long walk around the neighborhood taking note of the many bars and restaurants, but ultimately decided to pick up some local beers at the store and order in!
