Road Trip: Up The Middle Of The Country

Day 11: Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - Kansas City, MO

Day's statistics:
Weather: 84°, showers
Steps: Steve 11,052; Linda 8,011
Travel: 136 miles

This was our third of three   <blank>   City cities we visited this trip (Oklahoma and Jefferson, being the other two).

I woke a little early this morning by happenstance.
So I collected the laundry and quaters, and headed to the dryer.
It was early - 6:30 or so - and I wasn't even the first person to use the dryer. But it was available so I put it to use.

Shortly after we showered, and while we were getting ready to go to breakfast, we got a call from the front desk.
There was a report of water leaking into the room below ours and the caller wanted to see if there were a leak in our bathroom. I checked - there wasn't - and told her that we just took showers so maybe that had something to do with it.

We went to breakfast.
They had continental, but with scrambled eggs, buscuits with sausage gravy, and the other regular breakfast staples.
I didn't get a picture of the breakfast area for some reason.

We checked out and I let the clerk know we were the people in the room she called earlier, got into the car, and started to head out.
Every state seems to be plagued with those who lack the ability to park their vehicle.

We again passed the KC Royals stadium.
Then we talked about where the Chief's statium might be. The Google machine indicated it... was next door.
We turned around, exited, and drove down the road a little and came across the stadium.

Then we continued on.
The oneway streets in the city made getting to our destination a little challenging. But we eventually made it to a parking garage adjacent to the KC Public Library.

We saw signage on the way in that indicated that there is one hour of complimentary parking for those using the library.
We took our ticket and headed inside.
On the corner at the end of the block was this fountain.

I checked at the front desk and was told to just scan the parking ticket in that device "over there", the librarian said, pointing at a reader / printer thingy on the counter off to the side. I scanned and told Linda we had until 10:40.
So we started our walk. There was an amount of artwork, and even a section up a ramp with a collection of paintings.



The library is in an old bank. And it shows. In some parts, at least.


We grabbed a selfie at the selfie station.

There were plenty of computers available, and books to read.


Off to the side near the main desk was this sign with books nearby. I actually asked the librarian at the desk if this meant that the results are fiction (because no one knows what they will be) or if the belief in climate change was fiction. She said she did not specically know what the intent of the sign was. I sure hope it was the former and not the latter.

We took the stairs to the basement to check out the "Film Vault".

It WAS a bank, afterall...


There were about thirty seats in the theater.
A second, much-smaller-but-no-longer-in-use vault was downstairs too.

Off to the side, there were some librarians behind a counter that seemed to be an old tellers counter.

There were Academy Award winning movie DVDs for loan.

An old camera was on display.

Downstairs there were seeds for those that wanted them.

On the walls in the hallway heading to the elevator were a number of portraits.

Here are some of the more famous names that we recognized, such as Joan Crawford, Theda Bara, and Baby Rose Marie.



We took the eolevator up to the second floor, where the children's section was.







After the pictures, including some Linda took with Chelsea, we headed up to the fifth floor.
There was a Local History section up there.

The fifth floor also had the access to the rooftop terrace. Yes, rooftop terrace.





We returned inside and headed down to the fourth floor, then the third floor, admiring the architecture, and just looking around. We found a lot of books, but also some quiet rooms, reading nooks, and a teen room.









We eventually made our way back to the childrens room for some more pictures with Chelsea. The World Book books have typewriters as bookends.



Chelsea said "check".

The hour was up, and we headed out.

While we usually go to church during the weekend, since we missed it this past weekend, we went to daily Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Motion Help Redemptorist Parish.
On the way, we saw this Sydney Opera House looking structure.

Mass was at 11:00. Right when we thought it was over - daily Mass usually lasts about a half-hour - we went through a few prayers of adoration that lasted another ten minutes or so (not that there is anything wrong with that).
Then we had the opportunity to take our pictures.









The stained glass windows above were from around the altars.
Down the length of the church were larger windows.










Around the top of the church were pairs of stained glass windows. One had a saint holding a yellow / gold sash on a red background with a red fringe. The other window had a saint holding a light green sash on a blue background with a green fringe.

There were probably a dozen pairs of these windows. However, in one instance, above the side altar to Pope John Paul (?), the window with the saint on the blue background was a little different. On this one, the sash was yellow / gold, and the fringe was red.

I sent an e-mail to the parish office to ask if this was accidental or intentional, and await a response.
We did one last pass through the church, trying to capture what we initially missed.










We started making our way to the exit, and eventually found ourselves in the entry foyer.

At the end of Mass, we were talking to a small group of parishioners, about the church, the window mentioned above, the area, and a place to eat lunch.
All three of them mentioned Casey's Barbeque.
When we got to the car, we plugged that into the GPS and could find no results. We DID find results for "KC Barbeque". While that makes sense now, we didn't really consider that then.
So we knew where we were going.
Before moving, I plugged Avis into the GPS too, and it turned out there was an office literally four blocks away.
So we headed there to talk to someone about the tire pressure warning, as well as the Maintenance Required message.
We found the office, I parked, and went inside.
There was a customer ahead of me that was having a bit of a problem. From what I could assess by ease-dropping, the customers account was flagged due to a delinquency payment. He also seemed to have forgotten his ID. Or something. And he left.
My turn. I talked to the agent and told him about the low pressure light on the dash. He said he would take care of it. Great. Then I told him about the Maintenance Required light. He said not to worry about it because the cars get serviced every three months no matter what. I said, well yes, but it has been driven enough that the system indicates maintenance required. He said that HIS car has it, as well as others, and not to worry about it. Well, OK... So I said "Just the air in the tire then." He said "I said I would take care of that." Umm... OK, I didn't say you wouldn't, I was recapping our conversation.
Anwyay, I asked if Linda should get out of the car. He said no, just leave it where it is. He then went into the back. I walked out and a moment later he appeared with a portable air tank. OK great - nice and convenient too.
He attached the hose and proceeded to put air into the tire. Without looking at a gage. You know, the sort of gage that would indicate how much air pressure is in the tire? He said, "OK, check it." I turned the key and the red box around the tire pressure was gone - though it hadn't yet registered a reading. He said we should be good to go.
Well... OK... but I think he had no real idea what he was doing. The TPMS showed that all four tires had different pressures. One was 40, and the other three were 47, 48, and 49. The label on the door frame indicated that they should be 38. As the tires warm / hot, pressure is usually a little higher - but only a couple pounds, not 10.
As the trip progressed - for days - when I remembered and we stopped for gas, I let a little air out of the three higher pressured tires. I eventually got them all to 40.

The Avis pause only took a few minutes.
We headed to Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Ques which was about three miles away.
The establishment was on a corner and the lot a bit of a challenge to get into, but we managed. We also managed to get the last and only spot available - a corner one.

We went inside and review the menu mounted on the wall by the entrance.

The restaurant was rather busy.

We made our way to the cashier / order stand, placed our order, and Linda found seats for us while I hovered around the counter to pick up our order.
Linda had the smoked chicken salad, and I had the Hog Heaven sandwich.

Because we arrived in KC ahead of schedule to visit the Toy and Miniatures museum, we were a half day ahead of schedule.
So rather than try to find something else to do off the cuff, we decided to head to Topeka - and it was only an hour away too.
Linda was astonished about how large this brewery was (assuming that's what it was, but even it was just a grain storage facility of some kind, it is still large).

Not too far down the road, we came across our fourth state line of the trip - marking our transition to the second half of the states we're going to visit.

The long and winding straight road, and some scenery.

Gage Park, in Topeka, was our destination.
We drove around the grounds a little. There were plenty of places to relax, a small train (though we only saw the tracks), and a couple of structures (that we don't know what they were used for).






We stopped and sat at a table for a little bit to get some fresh air, sunshine, and a few steps.

We got back into the car and continued on, eventaully coming across the E.F.A. Reinisch Rose Garden.
Though there were some flowers in bloom, I am sure this place must be fantastic at peak - plus equally crowded.












I would have spent much more time in the garden had there been more in bloom. But there wasn't, so I didn't.
I got back in the car and we continued on.
The park - not the rose garden - also had a water park section, though it wasn't open yet.

When we were driving to Gage park, we passed by an entrance to another park. So after we were done with Gage, we went back to visit whatever this other park was.
It turns out it was the Kansas River / Kaw River State Park.
This park wasn't as much of a park as Gage was. It seemed that this one may have had wooded trails. We think.
We drove down the road, and after crossing some railroad tracks, came across the river - which had a lot of junk in it - and a boat launch.




We turned around and headed back, passing two walkers / hikers on the road, one heading in and one heading out.

We decided to pay a visit to a local mall, primarily to get some steps.
We passed a plaid Smart (for those that don't know, Smart is a brand like Honda, or BMW) car in the parking lot.

Sadly, the mall had quite a few closed stores.
But this wasn't a situation of the economy, but rather that, according to a couple locals (they were married - so I guess that would make them a local couple) we interviewed spoke to, the mall jacked up rents. The tenants moved out and into the mall across the highway.
However, a new owner recently acquired the mall, and tentants were coming back.
Overall, it was a pretty nice mall.






We were in the midwest. Which makes "Severe Weather Shelters" only a concern to tourists...

We walked around for about a half hour, then it was time for dinner.

About four miles down the road was our dinner choice: Thai Table Restaurant.

We made our way inside, and were seating in a booth along the windows in the front.


We were seated, and given menus and chips with sauce.


There were only three tables with patrons when we arrived. But it was early. And by the time we left, there were about eight tables with customers.
We shared an order of steamed dumplings, and Linda had the veggie tom kha soup, and I had the shrimp pad sen mee.



We enjoyed our meal.

We made our way to our hotel, Days Inn, and I checked in.

Once again: bathrooms don't normally warrant any comment. But in this case it does. It was cramped. Really cramped.

Though it was a little early, we headed up to our room to relax a bit before going to sleep.

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