Kansas, Sun City - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - Gypsum Hills

We arrived a little after the normal lunch hour at Buster’s in Sun City, KS so they were out of their 18-hour slow-roasted brisket.  But, I can highly recommend the half-pound cheeseburger with grilled onions and fried pickles.  Greg was very pleased with his pulled pork sandwich and onion rings.  I know, not healthy, but very good.  Unfortunately I didn’t think of taking pictures until we were halfway done with our meals.

Buster’s has a bar side (on the left) and a family dining area.

 

I understand that on the weekends the place is packed and the band shares the stage with the mountain lion.

 

The former bank next door has been converted to lodging and an entertainment area for hunters who come to the area during hunting season.

There wasn’t a whole lot happening in town today while we were there.

After lunch son David drove us through the Gypsum Hills area west of Medicine Lodge, KS.  I forgot to pick up my camera as we headed out the door so our pictures today are taken with Greg’s cell phone and I’m not as pleased with them as I would like to be.  The Gypsum Hills have thousands of acres of rugged hills, buttes, canyons and mesas which are in sharp contrast to the flat prairie land we normally associate with Kansas.  There is a 42 mile stretch between Medicine Lodge and Coldwater on Highway 160 that is particularly pretty.

The Gypsum Hills Byway is an “off the beaten path” route about 3 miles west of Medicine Lodge.  Since David was driving and knew where he was going this is the route we took today – absolutely gorgeous country.

 

 

 

 

I read in a Kansas travel magazine that when fall turns to winter a few thousand mountain bluebirds fly to the Gypsum Hills for the cold-weather months.

The Gypsum Hills are sometimes referred to as the Red Hills because when the iron-rich soil here is exposed it “rusts” to a dramatic red.

In September Medicine Lodge is the site for the Kansas Championship Ranch Rodeo and the Medicine Lodge Indian Peace Treaty Pageant.  This pageant commemorates the Peace Council of 1867 between the U.S. Government and the Plains Indians.