"This is What Happens When You Don't Have a Shoreline" - Elle

"Everybody in the car...or perhaps you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on Earth which is only four short hours away?"- Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's Family Vacation

How could you NOT go to see one of the truly ridiculous things on the planet? Even though it was disappointing to discover that the ball o' twine in Cawker City - despite the protestations of Cawkerites near and far - was not the largest one in the world, it is the largest sisal twine ball anywhere in the known and unknown universe. For more information on the controversy check out an article entitled Towns with Balls.

Also stopped in Osborne, home of the "Geodetic Center of North America" and by North America they mean the United States and by the United States they mean the original 48. To make it easy for everyone they have a commemorative sign and a replica of the actual marker that is about 18 miles south. I'm guessing that the next town is going to have a replica of the world's largest catfish - caught by Rufus Leaking in Baton Rough, LA - just 450 miles southeast of this very location!

BTW, the state slogan is "Kansas - as big as you think". OK. So far no argument with that. The rotation of crops makes it a patchwork of lush greens and more brown - but a good kind of brown. Rich soil and the remains of a successful harvest. Nice and flat everywhere. This is a GREAT state!

Check out the pictures for a photo essay of the W.L.B.O.T. and some new signs, one of which commemorates the glory days of the longest wining streak of any high school football team in Kansas. Of course, the school has since been sold and is a drug rehab center.