Miles Driven: 752
States: Missouri · Kansas
Yelping My Way Across the United States: Papa Bob’s Bar-B-Que
Bar-B-Que stop number two. Recommended by my dear friend’s boyfriend and famous for the Ultimate Destroyer on Man vs Food. This authentic hole in the wall, Papa Bob’s Bar-B-Que is right off Highway 32, 15 miles outside of Kansas City.
Each BBQ region is home to its very own style and specialty of barbecue. Kansas City’s specialty is burnt ends. I’m typically a Texas BBQ brisket kinda girl, but when in Rome, right?
The Road to the Center of the United States
With a long day of driving, we made sure to stop and get a few miles in. Ending up in Topeka, KS at the lovely Capitol Building, I forced encouraged my aunt to walk about 30 flights of stairs.
Put in “Center of the US” into your maps and you’ll get pretty close to the middle of nowhere. You’ll end up near Lebanon, KS. No service and signs that lead to nowhere. We drove through Main Street and stopped at the only 2 places we thought would be open on a Friday afternoon, the Post Office (which ended up having no employees present) and the beauty parlor. Fortunately, it’s the only “tourist” place nearby, so the woman working easily gave us directions.
Finding Peace at the Geographic Center of the United States
The Geographic Center of the (Contiguous) United States wasn’t exactly overflowing with tourists, in fact, we were the only ones there. Located a few miles outside of Lebanon and 12 miles south of the Kansas-Nebraska border, lies the center of the contiguous US, the center of 48 U.S. states.
I later learned after the additions of Alaska and Hawaii, the geographic center of the United States is a point in South Dakota. However, the exact center of land mass will always be imprecise due to the changing shorelines.
Savoring the fresh air and stillness of the country, we took advantage of having the place completely to ourselves by spreading out our yoga mats and getting in a little downward dog. I’m sure this was the highlight of the day for the two farmers driving by.
100,000 Miles
Siri and I were at it again, taking me 30 miles down a two-lane road only to find a road closed sign, no service, and no option to re-route. I wasn’t risking going around the road closed sign this time with no assurance of an ending point. So, with no other options, I turned around and drove aimlessly with Siri’s muffled voice “proceed to route” followed by me screaming a lot of inappropriate curse words. Finally, turning Siri off, I did what any other lost driver does, came to a turn in the road, saw two other cars go that way, and decided this must be the correct (sign-less) detoured route because we were not going back to Lebanon. Turns out, I was right!
Besides driving past endless stinky cow pastures, the only other highlight of the day was Gracie’s birthday.
Gracie hit 100,000 miles only 2 months away from her 8th birthday!
Check out more of my cross-country road trip here.
