Day 3 — 15 April 2017

Vance and I have been having a wonderful time on this trip. Vance, who spent years visiting in-laws in Kansas, is really enjoying being a tourist.

Today was a busy day. On the road at 8:00. After a quick top up of the tank (since we’re heading into the wilds), we traveled north from Salina to Bennington for our first elevator of the day (#15). This is a small elevator of classic proportions, nicely set off by the tree growing next to it. The weather today is clear and sunny so far, though the wind is as bad as ever.

Then on to Lindsey, via a couple of miles of dirt road for #16. This one was exceedingly cool -- rural and remote. Even better, it was open and we could see in. Inside were mostly ruins.

Time was running short so we headed north toward Belleville for our 10:00 appointment at the Boyer Museum of Animated Carvings, which was being opened especially for us. This is a place I’ve known about for years and have always wanted to visit. There we spent a wonderful two hours with Annie (Boyer) and Randy Lewallen, who gave us a private tour, then turned us loose to see the exhibits. Paul Boyer, now 87, has a creativity that is difficult to describe. The pictures below do not do it justice — you have to see his work in action to understand the scope and depth of his genius. A 30-minute, professionally produced DVD is available.

Downtown Belleville is arranged around a town square. On the south side is a nice old theater with a good sign (obviously restored).

After lunch at Los Primos (huevos con chorizo) we headed for Scandia on Hwy. 36. When we got there we found they were having a town flea market in the town center, so we got out to look. By then the wind had finally died down and the day was warm and pleasant.

We met a fellow there who told us about the Hwy. 36 Treasure Hunt in September — a vast garage sale in towns all along the highway across the whole state. Then we met a woman whose family used to publish the Scandia Journal. She owns the old print shop, which is still full of old letterpresses and even a Linotype machine, along with a lot of antique furniture.

After that we found the old grain elevator in Scandia (#17), apparently abandoned and open.

Next stop, Concordia. The Cloud County Museum Annex has a wonderful, sculpted-brick wall depicting many of the highlights of the county. We stopped here on the way to the elevator. Coincidentally, a woman who was a volunteer at the museum happened by and filled us in on the history of the wall and its production, as well as giving us a brochure about it. Unfortunately, the light was not good for photography.

Then we went to see the elevator (#18), which is located next to the track just north of downtown. It is larger than many we’ve seen and is tied into a complex of structures.

On to Huscher. This included traveling over 3.5 miles of dirt road to reach the town, which is just two or three houses at a crossroads. This elevator (#19) is a little gem, apparently in very good condition, with its red-and-white scale house, all possibly still in use.

At Delphos we were expecting to find two elevators but were surprised to find three, including a tiny clapboard building (#20) unlike anything we'd seen before. This ancient structure was barely upright, listing a degree or two.

The next oldest (#21) was considerably larger but was also derelict.

The largest, and apparently newest of the three (#22), may be still in use.

On to the little town of Glasco, where we met with disappointment. The two elevators that Vance had discovered on Google Earth were gone -- torn down. Dejected, we headed out of town but were surprised by another wooden grain elevator right downtown (#23). Our spirits revived.

In Lincoln we found a tall, stately building (#24). It was derelict, like so many of its kind, and was unfortunately much obscured by surrounding silos.

The town of Sylvan Grove came next. There we found two elevators, side by side (#25, 26). The older one, which was derelict, was the more interesting of the two. The newer, more nondescript one, may still be in use. A hopper car on legs served as a fertilizer bin.

From Sylvan Grove we drove over empty roads through beautiful countryside to Lucas to see Samuel P. Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden, an icon of outsider art. This amazing sculptural installation was begun in 1904. I refer you to Wikipedia for more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_P._Dinsmoor

Next door to the Garden of Eden is Miller Park, which opened in 1921, with the sculptures being added starting in 1932. In 2013 the sculptures were moved to their current site, having lived for a while in Hays, Kansas.

By now it was getting late in the day and we still had some more elevators to check out. On the way to Paradise, we spied one (#27) that wasn't on our list in Waldo. This interesting "triple decker" also may still be in service. Thunderheads were beginning to form in the east.

We arrived in Paradise shortly thereafter. What a great day -- we'd been to both the Garden of Eden and Paradise! The elevator there (#28) appeared to be still in use. It was accompanied by an interesting round, stone scale house.

The clouds were starting to build in the most spectacular, amazing way. We stopped to take some photos. The little panorama below doesn't begin to convey the magnificence and impressiveness of them in this wide-open landscape.

We arrived in Russell just before dusk to photograph their elevator (#29), which is evidently still in use. Note the message on the silo at the right.

Also in Russell we found the Dream Theater in full glory. It's wonderful how many small towns have preserved their old theaters and their signage in near-original condition.

Night was falling so we decided to head for our hotel in Hays. I'll close this out for today with one last cloud picture.