2006/03 Southwest USA trip (AZ-MN) - Flint Hills wildlife refuge |
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From the reserve we had a couple of hundred miles to cover across the rest of Oklahoma and into Kansas. The Flint Hills area of Kansas is mainly grasslands on gently rolling hills. From the camper it looked like we were sailing through a heavy swell, with waves of grass on either side of us.
We left the Kansas Turnpike just after Emporia. The Turnpike is actually a tollway, one of the few in the 
western states, and it cost us $5 for a hundred miles or so. From there we headed into the Flint Hills wildlife refuge. This is another refuge with controlled ponds and fields planted for wildlife. We camped alongside Lairds Pond, which looked to be well below its full capacity, but a nice quiet camping spot. The weather forecast looked quite good for our drive to the north. We noticed that the Kansas mosquito had already taken wing.
Thursday March 2nd
Dawn was the warmest part of the day. Soon after, a north wind sprung up and the temperature dived. The local birds weren’t keen on our pond, and without much to look at we left the refuge, rejoined the freeway, and headed towards Kansas City.