There is no place like home and there is surely no place like our new home. Over Memorial Day we had the opportunity to travel to Kansas to do some house hunting and explore our new home area. Needless to say, it was an experience.
After living in three countries and four states and traveling through many others, I can honestly that I have never encountered anywhere quite like Kansas. I was particularly struck by one stretch on I-70. The particular area of Kansas that we will live in is located in the Flint Hills. You will crest a hill (which really isn’t that tall) and be able to see incredible distances. Before I go on, I have to disclose a major factor in my experience – it was very dreary when we drove in. This section of land was green but the rocky ground underneath was easily visible. While there were trees they almost seemed to be a reminder of just how few trees there were overall. The cattle on the hills were clustered in tiny groups. Add a gray day and I was pretty depressed.
The waves of emotion didn’t stop when we reached the main gate of the new post. Our current post is a hub of activity due to all the training that goes on here. The main gate is very similar to a toll road/border crossing combo. Multiple lanes can be opened to accommodate various amounts of traffic. While the gate guard can be friendly and personable, normally it’s a matter of efficient procedure. The post itself is relatively compact and filled with parallel roads and stop lights. Our new post is most assuredly not our old post. As you drive up to the main gate you are greeted by the airfield with all its impressive equipment. The main gate is much smaller and less imposing than we were used to but you are welcomed each and every time with a friendly, “Welcome to Fort Riley!” The post itself is drastically different in its setup. It is made up of multiple “Camps” which is just a nice way of saying that it’s a distinctive section of post attached to the other distinctive sections of post by long sections of road. Parallel roads and square “blocks”…..not so much.
Everything on post has developed around the original main post. The post was originally started in 1853 and was involved in the protection of those traveling on the Oregon and Santa Fe trails. Think about what a fort would look like in 1853. You now have a relatively good place to start imaging the historic post section of Fort Riley. Many buildings are made of limestone and at times you have the feeling you are driving through a “museum town.” While in many ways this is just an amazing opportunity to be immersed in history, when you are emotional it is not always encouraged to see multiple buildings that look like they could be turned into an old fashioned jail house in a blink of the eye. The actual housing located in this area is just beautiful and inviting.
Wil made me navigator on our trip and it was probably the best mixed blessing I could have received. He was kind enough to put up with me when I was short tempered from flipping the map multiple times to find each image of the different “camps” and then not knowing what directions to give as multiple streets had different names depending on what side of the intersection you were on. As I said, it was a mixed blessing. I can now tell you the names of the main roads on post and have a general idea of which way they run.
Due to the many changes in travel plans that have occurred in the last few weeks, we wanted to leave Kansas with some definite answers on housing. God graciously led us to a newer apartment complex that is on the edge of Manhattan, a town about thirty minutes from post that is home to Kansas State University. We will have a spacious two bedroom two bathroom apartment with lots of storage. We are so excited for our first home.
Stay tuned in the following weeks for updates on all of our coming travels!
