Ted Finally Reaches Missouri

Yesterday Ted made it through all of Kansas and got to Kansas City, MO in the evening! Ted and Sarge (the car) will have a much needed break while Ted's chaperons run the SkillsUSA competition in Kansas City.

Jamie missed the Kansas state line, so she got him at the Kansas turnpike instead.

• The Kansas Turnpike is 236 miles long and runs through Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, and Kansas City
• It was built from 1954 to 1956 and was incorporated into the Interstate system in late 1956
• On opening, there was no fixed speed limit on the highway; drivers were merely asked to keep to a "reasonable and proper" limit
• The Turnpike handles 120,000 drivers a day
• The turnpike is self-sustaining, deriving its entire revenue from the tolls collected and requiring no tax money for maintenance or administration

Now that Ted is in Kansas, I thought I should put in a little bit about the Sunflower State

• The name Kansas comes from the Konza (or Kansa) Indians who lived in the area
• The state insect is the honeybee
• Kansas grows wheat, corn, sorghum, oats, barley, soybeans, and potatoes; it also produces petroleum and mines zinc, coal, salt, and lead. It is the nation's leading producer of helium
• Wichita is one of the nation's leading aircraft-manufacturing centers

Ted stopped in Towanda, KS and remembers one of his favorite movies: Fried Green Tomatoes.

•  The full text of the sign:
• "The town and township lie tucked in the pleasant valley of the Whitewater River, and take their name from the Osage Indian term "many waters." First settler was C. L. Chandler, a returning '49er from the California gold fields who built his cabin in 1858. Towanda township was one of the first four in the makeup of Butler County--the largest in Kansas.
  In 1870, Rev. Isaac Mooney, frontier preacher and community builder, platted ten acres for a townsite. The village quickly became a trade center on the Emporia-Wichita wagon road and a division point for two stage lines. Towanda gained wide fame in 1919, when giant oil gushers were drilled on rockey Shumway land at the town's eastern doorstep by Gypsy Oil Company and the Trapshooters group.
  
  Close neighbor is El Dorado, the county seat on the east, since pioneer days a prime adjunct to the Flint Hills cattle country and for more than 50 years the focal point of vast petroleum development in south-central Kansas. Its largest industries are modern oil refineries of Skelly Oil Company and American Petrofina, while the Butler County Community Junior College tops its cultural institutions."
  
  

Ted slipped into Missouri yesterday afternoon where he will be for the next week:

• The Brothel Law in Missouri makes it illegal for more than four unrelated people to occupy the same dwelling
• The ice cream cone was invented in St. Louis
• It is illegal to "worry squirrels" in Missouri
• Anyone under the age of 21 who takes out household trash with even one empty alcohol beverage can be charged with illegal possession of alcohol
• The Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Lewis, MO is the larget beer-producing plant in the nation
• The official state rock is Mozarkite
• Installation of bathtubs with four legs resembling animal paws is prohibited

In Missouri, Ted got to visit his grandparents who are in KC to help with SkillsUSA also. They live in an RV that has been renames "The Whale", possibly due to their recent brush with the overflowing Missouri River.

Ted's favorite BBQ in Missouri is Bandana's. Here he has a grand time with the waiter, Jordan.

•  Bandana's opened in 1996 in Arnold, MO
• The meat requires 11-14 hours in a smoker to produce the signature Bandana's taste
• Bandana's does not serve hamburgers, fish, or pasta
• The potato salad and cole slaw are handmade fresh every day

This week Ted is sticking around in Missouri for the SkillsUSA national competition. Stay tuned for an exciting look at this amazing event!

(facts via: infoplease.com, stoppingpoints.com, legendsofamerica.com, bandanasbbq.com)