Oct. 11 – History and Wonders of the Modern World

As I wandered around Scott City last night I noticed that there was a barbershop on Main Street and decided to go there first thing in the morning and get trimmed up. There was already a customer in the chair when I arrived at 8, so I settled in to wait my turn. And wait I did!Have you ever had a barber who talks and talks – to the point where the scissors stop snipping? Well this guy was a pro – and I didn’t get out of there until about 9:30. Throw in a stop at Daylight Donuts and I didn’t pull out of Scott City until after 11. I did have a nice new haircut though!

My plan today was to ride to Ness City or maybe beyond, so off I went. The plains have quickly gotten monotonous – I mean how many grain elevators, ginormous farms, and 18-wheelers can you see before they all start looking the same? I actually started stopping at the historical markers….and reading them. Here is a cool one:

I need to read up on George Washington Carver – he sounds like an amazing man! Then John G. Alerted me to an upcoming attraction that sounded like a “must see”.

When I rode into Ness City I stopped the first person I saw and asked for directions to “The Skyscraper of the Plains” – because other than the grain elevators, nothing was getting close to scraping the sky. She said “Oh, that’s the bank building – it’s right around the corner” – and sure enough, there it was. Three stories reaching right up into the sky!

Ok, 3.5 stories. I guess that in the 1800’s, in Kansas, this was as close as you could get to a skyscraper. Actually it is a nice building…..but you guessed it – it is empty and locked up! Bummer. But now I have seen both the skyscraper of the Plains and the World’s Smallest Jail – how many of you can say that? I briefly considered cycling on another 12 miles or so to the next town to camp, but the wind was whipping and there was a little city park where I could camp right in Ness City – so I decided to stay. I bought a few groceries and set up camp. It was hot and the wind was howling, so I am glad I didn’t ride any farther.