Kansas is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States.  On January 29, 1861, Kansas is admitted to the Union as free state. It was the 34th state to join the Union.

The 1st Infantry Division is a combined arms division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving in the Regular Army.^[5] It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917 during World War I.^[6] It was officially nicknamed "The Big Red One"

We didn't visit.....maybe next time...

Home for a few nights.....

Pretty colors during sunrise out our living room window....

While driving west on I-70 we ran across a point of interest sign that sent us to visit...

The "Cathedral of the Plains" is Saint Fidelis Catholic Church in Victoria, Kansas. It has seating for 1,100 people, which, at the time of it's dedication in 1911, made it the largest church west of the Mississippi River. The church is 220 feet long, 110 feet wide at the transepts and 75 feet at the nave. Its ceiling is 44 feet above the ground and the towers are 141 feet tall.

Since St. Fidelis Catholic Church is not the seat for a bishop, it is not a Cathedral. It received its nickname from William Jennings Bryan when he visited St. Fidelis in 1912.

After several years of petition, St. Fidelis Church was declared a minor basilica  as of February 21, 2014. The Cathedral of the Plains is the first basilica in Kansas and the 78th in the United States. The church now displays a tintinnabulum (bell) and an ombrellino (umbrella) in the sanctuary as symbols of the basilica's link to the pope. The official name is now The Basilica of St. Fidelis, but most people continue to call it the Cathedral of the Plains.

A recognition of the predominantly German immigrant community in the town's center. Just a good picture opportunity along the road... it was abandoned.

Harvest season... Pumpjackat the edge of the crop field. Diversity in farming at it best! On our way to Monument Rocks in the middle of NOWHERE! No clean cars in this part of the state! Simply amazing formations.... Literally in the middle of nowhere.

Love visiting these sites!
 

Even birds love what these rock formations have to offer!

See....middle of nowhere and BOOM....rock formations! Grasshoppers everywhere!!!

It was pretty hot that day!But, it's a dry heat....;)
See what we mean...???

Just a cool picture driving down the gravel road.... She came out onto the road to visit us.... Street art...I guess they had nowhere else to go with the tire after they changed it out....???? Just driving down the road during our return to Russell and we stumbled upon this herd of 12-15 Pronghorn....just before opening day.

Things just seem to be abandoned out west....

We made a quick swing through Hays on our way back to the coach....

A cute town, so we stopped for some late lunch on the way home. Just so happens that this establishment is owned by the town mayor...and he came over to speak with us while we were dining. Very nice man, Shaun Musil, who spoke with us of his trials and tribulations during this time of COVID. A great visit overall!

Our final day, we visited the town in which we stayed...the hometown of U.S. Senators Bob Dole and Arlen Specter.

Post Rock Country...Lacking wood for fence posts on a treeless prairie, early settlers in north-central Kansas quarried limestone posts, stuck them along the edges of their fields, and strung newly invented barbed wire from post to post to mark their property. Because of this common use in the area, the layer of rock the posts were made of became known as Fence-post limestone.

And then we move on to Colorado....