Friday November 24th 2023 - Thanksgiving road trip to Oregon - Days 9 and 10 - O’Neil NE to Kansas City MO, 1 hike - ~2.6 miles, 275 feet elevation gain

As with the rest of the high mileage days, we started pretty early.  Being Thanksgiving, there were VERY VERY few things open in rural Nebraska. We looked at the very few franchised fast food places we passed but none of them were open and we didn’t see any diners or cafes open either.  Finally, at Grand Island (about 110 miles into our trip) we found a truck stop with a few choices.  It was just barely adequate grub but it was nice to have anything.

As we continued our long drive south on US-281, I spotted an unexpected sign and had to turn back.  A very brief drive down a not quite even a mile long KS-191 and we were at the dead end where the monument, complete with a chapel, flag and various other tributes to the geographic center of the contiguous 48 United States.  It was fiercely windy and while the temperature was allegedly 40, it felt frigid in that wind.  I took a handful of pics and did a FaceTime with Brian, my Dad mostly stated in the vehicle.

After the monument, which is near the very small community of Lebanon KS, we finally made it onto US-36 which runs East to West across the northern edge of Kansas.  This road was similarly featureless but easy to drive as US-281 had been and it seemed kind of endless.  We made a few stops for food and entertainment along the way and arrived at our Kansas City hotel around 7 pm.  Dinner reservations were at 8:15 and it turned out to be a full 30 minute drive to get to the downtown Seasons 52 location our dinner was at.  I took the reservation kind of impusively after googling for ‘thanksgiving dinner Kansas city’ and just assumed it would be at some sleepy suburban mall.  It turned out to be in a VERY hectic part of downtown KC called the Country Club district.  Seasons 52 was a massive beehive of activity and they were running a little behind schedule but we were seated around 8:30 pm for a very late Turkey dinner.  It was enjoyable and unique but ultimately probably not an exceptional meal.  Still, after days and days of mini marts and fast food, it seemed appropriate to have a ‘fancy’ Thanksgiving away from home.  We made a point to stay up another hour after our big dinner but it was still not ideal prep for a restful night’s sleep.

Friday we took it relatively easy.  After a light breakfast at the hotel we headed to a park near here that had a nice looking 2.7 mile loop trail.  It was actually 2 interlocking loops and my Dad did the smaller part of the 2 loops with me which was great since I wanted us both to get at least a little exercise to prepare for going to bed very early in prep for the early airport drop-off to come on Saturday morning.  The park, Parkville Nature Sanctuary, has wonderful topology with a little waterfall, some moderate climbs up to a knoll and a mix of lowlands, creek and forested areas.  I was really impressed with the whole thing.

After the little hike we headed over to the Kansas side of the river for a very highly rated BBQ place. It must be good because even at 11 am there was a huge line outside.  So we found another well rated place on the Missouri side but it was, against it’s posted hours seemingly not open at all today.  We did go into a whiskey tasting room which was near the BBQ place and had some meticulously crafted whiskey based cocktails.  My Dad bought a bottle for a friend in Oregon.

Finally we ended up actually eating lunch at Harry’s Country Club at the recommendation of the friendlier of the 2 whiskey tasting employees.  I had a BLT and a bowl of Italian Wedding soup which was great on this windy cold near freezing day.  The butter cake at the end was the best part.

The rest of the day was very relaxed.  We tried to find an iPhone case for an older phone at Best Buy but failed.  I walked some of the office and industrial park roads and vast parking areas around the hotel just to get some more steps in.  We played Monopoly on the iPad in the quiet hotel lobby and finally headed out for an early dinner at nearby Cracker Barrel.  My Dad and step-mother ate at Cracker Barrel a lot when they lived in Missouri but it didn’t ever exist in Oregon when I was living there and later Cracker Barrel opened a few locations in Oregon but I don’t think any of them lasted very long.

So, other than the early morning airport drop off, this concludes the Dad and son portion of my long journey. It’s been great to spend time with Dad and to give him a break from the routine at home and to receive a lot of help driving and company for the long days driving.