Kansas Post Rock Country

On I70, halfway between Salina and Hays, go north on K232 about 16 miles. When you get to K18 take a left. Just ahead on the left, across from the Conoco and the K18 diner, turn onto 1st Street and you'll be in Lucas, Kansas, and the heart of Post Rock Country. It's a stretch of road known as the Post Rock Scenic Byway.

I went there to see the posts. I had spent the last few years carving figures in them as a form of traditional sculpture out in California. I was on a road trip in my camper, so why not take a little detour? 

I left Post Rock Country four days later with a profound appreciation for the beauty of the land, and the heart and soul of the people.

For a hundred miles in each direction, every farm, every ranch, and every little town is sitting on top of a 9 inch thick layer of Limestone that wouldn't let tree roots grow. The settlers that arrived, starting in the 1870's, had to turn their wood working tools into masonry tools, until the railroad brought lumber in the 1920's.