Blogs from Kansas City, Missouri, United States, North America - page 3

The abyss of the blue sky slowly gave way to the billowing gray clouds of the coming storm. At first it was as though someone had stretched cotton across the sky, like the cob webs we buy for Halloween. That soon gave way to a couple of small mushroom clouds approaching from just beyond the horizon. As the wind began to blow a little harder, the sky quickly grew dark as the thunderheads began to consume all I could see. In the distance the booming echoed amongst the river bluffs, like a far off battle drawing ever nearer. As the temperature began to drop there was a slight chill in the air. The wind became still and it looked as though the storm would narrowly miss us. For a few moments there was a serene calm, ... read more

Treasures of the Steamboat Arabia Today was my day in Kansas City. My first site was the Treasures of the Steamboat Arabia Museum. This private attraction tells the story of three men; Bob, Greg, and Dave Hawley; who went looking for buried treasure and found something else entirely. In the 1830s, the Missouri River was a treacherous place to be a steamboat pilot. The river changed course constantly, leaving lots of shallow spots to run aground and underwater hazards. The most difficult of all were snags, tree trunks hidden under water. Overall, at least eight hundred steamboats sank in the river. Since the river kept changing course, many of those steamboats are now buried un... read more

The train left Albuquerque on time and spent nearly eighteen hours winding its way through mountain passes and along the side of valleys of New Mexico before heading straight along the flat landscape of Colorado, right through the middle of the USA. I bet photography of the train on its journey would look amazing. It stopped at tiny towns like Raton, NM and Trinidad, CO. New Mexico was sunny and dry but overnight heading through Kansas, there was the most spectacular lightening show. It went on for ages and when I arrived in Kansas City (KC) at about 630 in the morning, still not quite light, it was directly overhead and hammering it down with rain. There is something about thunder and lightening thats really cool. Given how excellent the California Merlot is, it's amazing how ... read more

After visiting the National World War I Museum, I must say that it is an extraordinary monument to the achievements and hardships faced by the Allied soldiers during The Great War. In addition, the museum now shows the “Man and Machine: The German Soldier in World War I” exhibit so we can see the war through the other side. It was truly amazing how the museum was laid out with the central circle being a chronological timeline that takes you from the beginning through all the important events and then to the end. Along the way there are personal writings and the thoughts of people who were actually there and experiencing what we can now only read about, imagining what these soldiers went through trying to survive such a dark and violent war. The first ... read more

Geo: 39.103, -94.583Trip was uneventful until I got to Kansas City. I have used my car's cruise control to avoid getting a ticket. Every summer for the past 2 years I have gotten a speeding ticket. While I know that I drive fast, both of those times, I was either coming downhill or just not paying attention to the spedometer. However, this time I got caught in a speed trap along with other drivers just as I entered Kansas City. The interstate's speed is 70mph and the interchange was apparently 55mph. I was trying to stay in the lane that would keep me on I70W, had to deal with road construction, and then noticed all the cops along the right shoulder. The semi infront of me did to, swerved into my lane, cutting me off with ... read more