Stunning Kansan vistas outside my car window. BW400CN, 35mm.
In my experience, there are two kinds of roadtrips:
- Wherein the fun and adventure are invested in the roadtrip itself — that is, each stop (planned or not) is its own destination of sorts; or
- Wherein (most of) the fun and adventure are invested in the destination itself — that is, you have little comparable interest in what necessary food/gas/overnight stops you have to make, relative to your substantial interest in the ultimate destination.
Last spring break, Esten, Jeff and I mapped out and executed the first kind of roadtrip. This time around, Jeff and I just wanted to go to Santa Fe and stay there — but we did our best to make the drives there and back interesting.
In consideration of maximizing the interestingness of our drive, we seriously considered this: Staying in Liberal, Kan.
Junction of Pancake Blvd. and Yellow Brick Rd. in Liberal, Kan. Portra 400VC, 120mm.
When we were mapping out our route, we decided to bunk up in Liberal for the night because it seemed like a good stopping point between mid-Missouri and north-central New Mexico. (Okay, the name itself — “Liberal” — also intrigued us.) We were also fascinated by the facts that the town hosts an annual International Pancake Day and is home to Dorothy’s House and the Land of Oz.
Unfortunately, we missed Pancake Day by about three weeks, and I’ll be generous by saying simply that Dorothy’s House was a bit of a letdown. (That said, we were there on a Sunday — a day on which all commercial establishments except the Chinese buffet and the hotels in this part of the country are closed.)
So we snapped some photos around the Yellow Brick Road, ate at the Chinese buffet, decided against staying in Liberal and moved on to the slightly larger town of Guymon, Okla., where we spent the night.
Words and Light 
I suppose there’s also the type of road trips that don’t go like they are planned. Although that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun!
love these photos btw!
http://www.tracyzhangphoto.wordpress.com/
That is true — I have yet to experience that kind of roadtrip!
My favorite uncle lives in Liberal, I don’t really think it’s that exciting but I do have to say I’ve never noticed “Yellow Brick Lane” before. The color saturation in these scans is great!
I really like the photo of the sign- and I enjoy your photography! Especially the photojournalistic ones. The blog about “Proper journalist footwear” was great, and I can relate 🙂
http://photo-salsa.com/
Too bad Dorothy’s house wasn’t wonderful. I like road trips and your picture of the signs. Congratulations on showing up on the WordPress homepage this morning! Gloris
Thanks for reading! I can only hope that Dorothy’s House and the Land of Oz attractions really are good — but judging from the outside, they looked abandoned and forgotten, to say the least. Who knows? Maybe they get more TLC during the higher tourist season.
Pancake day or Pancake eating contest? I luv maple syrup and butter on pancakes! Documenting your journey is great, especially with photos.
Thanks for sharing,
Remain.Simple
Worst tease ever!
Give us the New Mexico pics already.
Haha! They’re coming up soon enough, I promise.
Roadtrips are so much fun! Sometimes the unexpected and the un-planned is the best part…. :o)… lovely photos.
Thanks for sharing…Great blog 🙂
totally agree with ur roadtrip classification. no1 is the best!!
I found your site from the WordPress.com page which has several sites that are strong enough to make the page.
Your site is wonderful and beautiful..
Thanks..