This doesn't look like Kansas!

We are back on the road again, glad to see new places and wander more of God's wonders. After leaving Oklahoma later than planned because of a family reunion, we'll be speeding across the first two states that we've visited before. We were raised just 30 miles from the Kansas state line, and so we know what this state looks like. It is flat, with straight highways that you can see all the way to the horizon.

We left the panhandle of Oklahoma in the middle of the morning, and crossed the state Kansas state line. Yep, we've seen this state many times. We bought two shopping carts full of supplies to replenish our empty refrigerator and pantry, and headed quickly on down the road.

We drove two more hours before we got to our main stop of the day. We left the motor home at this road-side park on the side of Highway 83, and unhooked the pickup to do some exploring in this part of Kansas. This little park certainly looks like Kansas with flat grassland surrounding it. 

We drove the pickup 8.3 miles to Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park. We purchased the $5 state parking pass and took off on the half-mile trail to the first view point. After being off the road for a month and a half, it sure feels good to be hiking in new places again! This certainly looks like Kansas so far.

But then the grassland opened up, and we were suddenly looking over the badlands that the park is named for. This doesn't look like Kansas!

One of the signs at the park included this picture of what is now North America. While we can see the outline of the United States, the sign explained that the middle part of the country was once covered with water. This didn't look like Kansas then, because it was completely covered with water! 

That explains why so many fossils can be found in this chalky environment of the Kansas badlands. Our trail today was lined with large stones that had ridges and indentions of aquatic fossils. One signpost explained that the erosion in this area exposed "some of the best fossils that have been found anywhere in the world" and are on display in museums all over the country--as well as on our trail today.

Besides the rock formations, Denisa is also glad to be back among the wildflowers. This coneflower was holding up in the heat today,

as well as this beautifully colored tea cup flower.

Our second hike at the state park was a two-mile trail that follows the ridge of the canyon. While we could look down over these Niobrara chalk formations, we weren't allowed to walk amongst them. A guided hike is available by reservation when the local volunteer has time to schedule it, but those are usually only in the mornings during this time of the year. This afternoon it was over 80 degrees, and we were sweating with no shade available.

This chalky hot environment makes a great habitat for the local reptiles. A signpost described some of these scaly animals, and we found them on the trail. The first was the Prairie Lizard, with light stripes running down its sides, and spots between the stripes.

We were also glad to find the faster and more colorful Six-Lined Racerunner. That's an interesting name, considering that they have seven lines down their back--three on each side with one down the middle.

Racerunners are usually quite fast and running races. But this one paused long enough to stick out his tongue and pose for the camera.

Have we mentioned that it feels good to be back out in nature, wandering God's wonders?

The yucca are at peak bloom, and part of our trail felt like we were walking through a yucca forest.

The birds are enjoying the blooms, especially this Lark Sparrow. We know that name because another educational signpost mentioned the resident birds. It described the colorful head pattern of chestnut, black and white stripes, with a single black dot at the base of the throat. The sign also explained that these birds have been vacationing in Central America for the winter, and then return to this area for April through September.

But Denisa's favorite Kansas bird is the Horned Lark. They spend the entire year in Kansas, in flocks that can number tens of thousands.

Just as their name describes, they have a dark mask and tufts of feathers that look like horns on their head.

They also have a band across the upper chest. While they enjoy posing on fence posts and rock piles, they are ground feeders in shortgrass prairies. Denisa took way too many pictures of this handsome bird that loved to pose.

Based on these markings that are the same, but lighter, should we assume that this is a juvenile or a female?

The Niobrara chalk that makes up the formations in Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park is soft, and easy to damage. This display at the entrance requests that if visitors feel like they just have to carve their initials or leave a mark, please do it right here on these scrap rocks. When she read the sign, Denisa tried to leave her Mark here. But he got in the pickup and insisted he was going with her.

After NOT leaving her Mark at the state park, we drove another 15 miles down more gravel roads. That brought us to our second remote destination that certainly doesn't look like Kansas! We have arrived at Monument Rocks.

The Monument Rock formations are made of chalk that has been eroded by the wind and rain to form these dramatic silhouettes on the Kansas prairie.

It's hard to explain just how big and impressive the Monument Rocks are. One of us is in each of the pictures. We are trying to be obvious, but still hard to see because we are so small in comparison. For example, Mark is standing between the two chalk towers below . . .

and Denisa is a tiny dot right in the middle at the base of the Monument Rocks.

At the very top of one of those towers was one of the birds we saw described on the state park's sign post. This is a Lark Sparrow, posing for a picture after just catching a sizable bug.

Just a stone's throw away is another chalk outcropping that features a tall arch that Denisa is standing under. The fluffy clouds are adding another dimension of God's wonders today.

Several other car-loads of people were visiting the rocks at this very remote location. One of them was a professional photographer that takes pictures for clients several times each week in this lovely location. While her model was making a clothing change, she offered to take our picture together under the arch.

While we are surrounded by flat prairie, the Monument Rock formation extends over ten acres on this private property that the landowner shares with others. In 1968, it was the first Kansas landmark designated as a National Natural Landmark.

In 2006 it was voted as one of the "8 Wonders of Kansas." We would vote it as another of God's wonders. Have we mentioned that it's good to be back traveling, enjoying the birds and flowers and lizards and unique landscapes?!? We completed this 33-mile loop drive as we headed the pickup back to the roadside park where we left the motor home. On this first day back on the road, we would have to say that this doesn't look like Kansas!