Exploring Small Towns in Kansas and Colorado

When:  Friday May 21 to Weds May 26, 2021
Where:  Rocky Pond (Belleville Kansas)
Cost:  $20/night for full hook-ups (and extremely good wi-fi)
Bucket Lists: Worlds Largest Easel (Goodland Kansas)
Beer:  Kansas Territory Brewing (Washington Kansas)

Like most people, when traveling, I’ve always felt rushed to get to the final destination because vacations are usually time limited to a week or so.  Now that I’m retired and Kasie can work from the road, we are blessed to be able to enjoy the journey a little more.

Belleville Kansas Mural — By Denise Dove

About Belleville Kansas

In May 2021, we decided to take a trip to Colorado Springs in the RV.   Our first stop was to Belleville, Kansas to stay in my hometown and where my parents still live.  Belleville is the quintessential small town with a slowly decreasing population of around 2000 people who all seem to know each other.  People talk about things like the weather, crops, and the schools.  The community invests heavily in their public schools, and everyone follows the Battling Buffaloes sports teams.

Downtown Belleville features a number of businesses arranged in a “historic square” that surrounds a majestic white courthouse built as part of a 1930s Public Works Administration project.  Through much of my childhood, my parents owned and operated an antique store on the square.  Today, you’ll find businesses like the local newspaper (the Belleville Telescope), a gift/coffee shop (The Feathered Nest), a flower shop, insurance agency, real estate agency, appliance store, and a really good wood-fired pizza joint (Woodshop Pizza).   The Blair Theater still displays first-run movies on its ornate marquee.  There are now a set of e-bikes for rent on one corner of the square, but I’ve never seen them being used.  The two stop-lights on Main Street start blinking red sometime around 9:00 pm.  Things don’t change or move too fast around Belleville, and that is part of its charm.

Belleville is located at the intersection of Highways 36 and 81, and is known as the Crossroads of America.  Several businesses are located close the highways, including a Dairy Queen and the Los Primos Mexican restaurant for good grub.  Travelers can also visit the Republic County Historical Museum or the High Banks Museum as Belleville is home to the fasted half-mile dirt track in America.  People come from all over to watch the car races, and the county fair in August features several races every night.

Rocky Pond in Belleville Kansas is a prime location!

Rocky Pond (Belleville, Kansas) – A $20/night bargain!

Rather than park in my parents’ driveway, we thought it would be fun to stay at Rocky Pond.  In the 1980s when I was in high school, Rocky Pond was the location of several keg parties, primary because it was located just outside of the city limits.  At some point, the city annexed the pond, and made significant improvements to the area.  The eight 50-amp full hook-up sites are all first-come first-serve for just $20/night.  The complimentary internet is crazy fast (we were able to stream without any difficulty).   There are also some cozy cabins for rent.  The pond area contains a nice fountain, showers/bathrooms, pier, and picnic shelter areas.   A group of local volunteers decorate the road around the pond with Christmas lights each year that people from surrounding communities rave about.   Adjacent to the RV park is a the “Buff Ruff” dog park, and within walking distance are the Belleville fairgrounds, where the race car track resides.   And, just beyond that is a city park with swimming pool, basketball courts, horse shoe games, and an outdoor amphitheater.  Simply put, RVers will find a lot of outdoor activities to do when camping at Rocky Pond.

Kansas Territory Brewing Company (Washington, Kansas)

Kansas Territory Brewing - Washington Kansas

Just thirty miles east of Belleville in Washington Kansas lies a brewery who makes one of my favorite beers of all time:  Kansas Territory  The first time we visited the brewery we both fell in love the freshly tapped Pineapple Life Coach Lager.   The brewery’s non-fruit “Life Coach” is one of its flagship beers and is very popular as well.  Perhaps the best part is that the beers were $2.50 on tap and $7 for a six-pack.  That’s the cheapest craft beer I’ve ever purchased!   Maybe the owners think folks around north central Kansas are used to Bud Light and Miller Light prices so they have to compete. 

The brewery does offer more traditional craft beers – like Locomotion Stout, Wind Wagon IPA, Aeroplane Pale Ale.  Yet, there is something about an easy drinking lager that is a true local beer for north-central Kansas.  They’ve recently introduced the Bradford Light so they have two lagers now.  

The brewery also has a limited food menu – burgers, pizza and pretzels mostly.  But the food is good.  And priced similarly to the beer (cheap).  

During our May 2021 trip to the brewery, the beertender gave us an informal tour of the downtown location, and told us a little about the owners, Brad and Donna Portiener.   Serial entrepreneurs, they made most of their money at the Bradford Built truck bed manufacturing plant just south of town.  We learned that a new beer production facility was being built next to the truck bed operation, and that we were welcome to stop by and take a look even if no one was around.  We jumped at the invitation and ventured to the new location.  We spent 30 minutes or so marveling at the large tanks, walls of empty “Life Coach” cans, and the chalk markings on the floor of where future equipment would go.  It was nice to see the owners giving back to their community by building there, and the community supporting the new site.

The Geographical Center of the United States (Lebanon, Kansas)

After staying a few days in Belleville, it was time to head west.  Our first stop was just an hour away at the Geographic Center of the United State located just north of Highway 36 near Lebanon, Kansas. The place had a handful of visitors even though it was early morning, raining, and a weekday.

Bruce Springsteen talks about “meeting in the middle” at the chapel near the Geographical Center of the United States in Lebanon Kansas

Upon arrival, the first thing I noticed was a little white chapel. At the time we visited, someone used a red Sharpie to write something about Bruce Springsteen, and left it on the chapel dias. I later learned that the text was from a commercial voiced by The Boss that aired during the 2021 Superbowl. The message was that we need to “meet in the middle” more…just like in Lebanon Kansas. I totally agree.

In the area, there are three signs which refer to the center of the United States – which left me wondering which one of those signs was the TRUE center of the U.S.  I’m pretty sure the location is the stone monument with the bronze plaque.   But it made me wonder if some surveyor might have been off by a dozen or so feet so there were three signs….just in case he was wrong with one.   Yes, these are the things I think about. 

“They Also Ran Gallery” (Norton, Kansas)

Our next stop was a loser.  Literally.   They Also Ran Gallery features the framed portraits and a brief biography of the men and women (thanks Hillary!) who were major candidates for the presidency and lost.   The “museum” is on the second floor of the First State Bank and was started in the 1960s by the bank’s former president and owner.   He was inspired by a book he had read by the same name written by Irving Stone (which is also at the gallery) and started the museum to draw people to Norton.  

A bank employee curates the museum, and was a delight to talk to.   She pointed out some of the more popular and/or perennial losers (e.g. Henry Clay), including those of local significance (e.g., Bob Dole).  I’m no Doris Kearns Godwin, but I did recognize many names thanks to having some pretty good grade school and high school history teachers. 

I spent most of my time refreshing my memory on the modern losers.  Interestingly, Ross Perot was not considered enough of a candidate to make the wall.   Yet, if a president lost his bid for a second term (like President Carter or President H.W. Bush), he still made the wall.  If you are wondering, President Trump did have his mug on display because he lost the 2020 election.  It is sort of sad that I had some uneasiness about whether that might be so. But he was right up there beside Hillary! (Btw, I got a little choked up seeing Hillary Clinton’s photo on the wall with all those men…some day, that glass ceiling is going to break.)

World’s Largest Easel — Goodland Kansas

World’s Largest Easel (Goodland, Kansas)

After few more hours on I-70, we came upon the World's Largest Easel in Goodland, Kansas.  I was not expecting much, and this stop over-delivered.  The colorful painting of Van Gogh’s sunflowers is much larger than it looks from the interstate.  Yet, the best part was that the easel was right next to a very nice dog park and inviting Welcome Center.  A paved “Topside Trail” connects that to another park with gazebos, tennis courts, softball fields, a water park, and a museum.  I’ve decided that the next time we travel I-70, I’d like to stay in Goodland for a night or two.  They really do put out the welcome mat for travelers!

Welcome Center Boondocking (Burlington, Colorado)

For our two-day trip to Colorado after leaving Belleville, we spent the night at the Colorado Welcome Center in Burlington Colorado.  There’s a “Old Town” museum right next door that looks super touristy.   It was late in the day (close to 4 pm) so we opted to just walk downtown and grab some Mexican food from one of the three Mexican restaurants there.   We also walked over to the fairgrounds area to see the Kit Carson County Carousel, but it had not yet opened for the season.   We went back to the RV and called it an early night amongst the other truckers parked there. 

 Paint Mines Interpretive Park (Calhan, Colorado)

Paint Mines Interpretive Park in Calhan Colorado

About 75 miles after crossing the Colorado border, we arrived at the Paint Mines Interpretive Park.  This was yet another detour that exceeded our expectations.   After a few miles of driving dirt roads on flat terrain where we were wondering “ is this going to be worth it,” we arrived at the park.  What is so cool is that the place is (1) free and (2) seems to spring up out of nowhere.  

The main parking lot is small, but we were early in the day an snagged a spot for the RV/Jeep.  A school bus of kids arrived shortly after we did so we lucked out.  We later learned that there are two additional parking lots – one for overlook section, and one on the east side of the park. 

The ~750-acre park contains roughly 4 miles of hiking trails overall, but there are smaller loops to traverse.  Our journey started with a winding trail that was fairly flat, but then opened up to a number of hoodoos, monoliths, and other colorful rock formations.   Oxidized iron in the clay creates bands of yellow, red, pink, and purple colors.  The Native Americans in the area would gather the clay to make paints for their ceramics – which is why the place is called the Paint Mines.  Artifacts dating back ~9000 years have been discovered in the area, ranging from arrow heads to petrified wood used in tool making.  

Yellow and blue flowers were blooming during our time there, adding to the color palette.   The colorful rocks were massive, but climbing on them is strictly prohibited.  Unfortunately, several kids from the bus (and their teacher) ignored that prohibition, even despite being called out for not heeding the rules by another park visitor. 

After making a number of stops from our home in mid-Missouri, we were again starting to feel like “real” RVers. We arrived at our “final” destination in Colorado Springs mid-afternoon, but our big road trip was just beginning….