Day 47 - Ashland to Minneola - Two Far 2021 - Sooo... Far

May 25, 2021

Day 47 - Ashland to Minneola

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It was a short day, but it was hilly! It was also the first day in a while that it's been really warm. Overall, it was a great day for a short ride.

We started with a museum in Ashland. It was called the Pioneer-Krier Museum. It housed artifacts from the early days of white settlement in Ashland - beginning in the late 1880's - and also had planes and memorabilia from Harold Krier, a local man who designed, built and flew aerobatic bi-wing planes in airshows in the 1950's and 1960's.

Ashland First National Bank building, 1887. Kerry wondered how many First National Banks there are in the United States.

Outside the museum, this old tractor invited being climbed on.

Inside the museum, more early 20th century items

But this thing, I didn't know. Paul told me what it was, but I'll put it at the end so you can guess if you want to.

There were some old communication aids

Even though many of the items we see in these museums are pretty much the same, we usually find at least one different thing. This museum had the town mortuary office on display.

The museum staffer told us the wicker box was used to transport bodies from the home to the mortuary.

A feed grinder. An animal (usually a horse) would be tethered to the long bar on the left and would walk in circles. That would rotate the large gear ring on the outside which in turn would rotate the smaller planetary gears and grind the grain.

Harold Krier was a local man who was an airshow stunt pilot in the 50's and 60's. He served in the Army Air Corps in WWII and became interested in aerobatic stunt flying after the war. This is one of his planes. He was killed in 1971 in a practice flight.

There were no stores or services after we left Ashland, so we just rode through the Kansas countryside.

This is Paul on his heavily customized RANS Phoenix.

As we rode north, the hills flattened out and we had some sweeping vistas. There is a homestead in the distance.

The sink is surrounded by higher ground.

It is not a valley surrounded by hills, but a depression in the land.

And the answer to the metal box above is pump cover. Paul said it would have been used indoors to cover a water pump and then cranked to obtain water.

We will get to Montezuma, home of RANS and birthplace of our Seavo, tomorrow. We will take a short pause there and enjoy a three night stay.

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 1,989 miles (3,201 km)

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