Tulsa, OK to Wilson, KS
We woke up to sunny and warm weather in Tulsa on Jan 8th. We started out the morning with a trip to nearby Joe Station Bark Park.
You might think “wow, all they do is go to dog parks.” And that’s kind of true so far in the trip. Since we’re spending every day in the car it’s important that Merlin gets enough exercise in so he can sleep/enjoy the ride without getting frustrated. Going to dog parks along the way has been the perfect solution. We get the chance to see neighborhoods and towns we might normally pass by and chat with locals. All it takes is 20-30 minutes of playing with another dog to tucker Merlin out!
(Mike stepped in dog poop while getting that photo taken, first poop incident so far on the trip.) After the park and a change of shoes we stopped at Antoinette's Bakery and picked up two absolutely delicious breakfast sandwiches grilled to perfection which we enjoyed back at the cottage before checking out.
The next portion of our trip took a little imagination to plan. No matter how we sliced it, coming from the East, Denver is a long way from anything and Kansas is a big state. We decided we’d break it up by driving up toward Salinas, KS and then over to Denver. In researching Salinas we learned about nearby Wilson and Lucas. A town of about 800 people, Wilson is home to the Midland Railroad Hotel - a stalwart from the heyday of the Union Pacific Railroad in the early 1900s. The hotel also happens to be pet friendly! We decided instead of staying in Salinas we would stay in Wilson at the Midland Railroad Hotel and then swing over to Lucas on our way out of town.
On our way to Wilson we rolled into the friendly Meridian Dog Park in Wichita with the White Stripes' 7 Nation Army on the stereo. The rolling fields and grasslands in southern Kansas felt much different than the somewhat familiar landscapes we had been driving through.
We entered the tiny town of Wilson and spotted the hotel right away. When we checked in we learned that unfortunately almost all restaurants and bars close on Mondays in Kansas, including the one in the hotel which we had hoped would be an easy choice for dinner.
We took a walk around town, stoping by the giant painted Czech Egg (Wilson is the Czech capital of the Kansas). On our walk we were greeted by nods and smiles from cars and people passing by - this is clearly a town where everyone knows everyone and the visitors stick out like a sore thumb!
Despite it’s smaller size, there were a couple cool establishments in Wilson that we regretted not having a chance to visit. Luckily for us, Grandma’s Soda Shop & Diner remained open for the evening and we ordered a pizza. Back at the hotel the hostess offered to put on the movie Paper Moon from 1973 which features the hotel. So there we found ourselves taking a break from traveling around Kansas, watching an old movie about traveling around Kansas, and staying at the very same hotel as the stars of the movie.
Our night was very comfortable and relaxing, and highlighted by news from our apartment broker that he found a tenant to take over our lease starting in mid-January! Here’s hoping it works out!
