Interesting things in western Kansas other than farms and ranches?

[Mattks]

Originally Posted by empires228

Most of us don't consider the Wilson Lake area to be in Western Kansas . Highway 283 is a popular cutoff, but for some they cut it off at 183.

I do. . But, I won’t argue if someone says it’s central Kansas. West of Salina is western Kansas and east is Eastern Kansas. That’s how I’ve always viewed it. Wichita and McPherson are also more or less straddling the line. But I’ve never cared to be too detailed on those views.

[empires228]

Originally Posted by Mattks

I do. . But, I won’t argue if someone says it’s central Kansas. West of Salina is western Kansas and east is Eastern Kansas. That’s how I’ve always viewed it. Wichita and McPherson are also more or less straddling the line. But I’ve never cared to be too detailed on those views.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wichita/com...entral_kansas/ I think this the most accurate map I have found. Us Western Kansans hardly interact with Salina for anything, so besides it being a shopping destination for Hays, we really don't have a connection to them. They don't even send that many students to FHSU. Most of the Salina students I knew growing up went further east or to WSU.

[Mattks]

Originally Posted by empires228

https://www.reddit.com/r/wichita/com...entral_kansas/ I think this the most accurate map I have found. Us Western Kansans hardly interact with Salina for anything, so besides it being a shopping destination for Hays, we really don't have a connection to them. They don't even send that many students to FHSU. Most of the Salina students I knew growing up went further east or to WSU.

I was worried that link might get deleted since its possibly a competing forum, so I stole the map out of the conversation.

http://atk.ku.edu/sites/atk.drupal.k...kansas_map.jpg

I'm not natively from out west, but in the short time period I lived in Hays, I would travel to Salina quite a bit. Mostly for shopping or entertainment. But honestly, anymore, Hays has almost everything Salina has.

I didn't go to school at FHSU, my wife did, and at least some of her friends now live in Salina. I do think many regional businesses likely have branches in both Hays and Salina. Nextech for example, a friend of mine owns a few of their stores and travels to Salina quite frequently. Another friend of mine has some video game/board game retail stores and also does the same thing, but he doesn't actually have a location in Hays itself.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by springfieldcollegealum

Monument Rocks near Oakley, The Garden of Eden near Lucas, Giant Van Gogh painting near Goodland, Mount Sunflower, Arikaree Breaks, Cheyenne County. There is a different kind of beauty if you are open to it.

When I was in Oakley for our Jericho conventions (the series as described would have been set in Oakley) we all took the tour out to the Monument Rocks. It was miserably cold, windy, and about to rain, but especially if you are one of those of us who love looking at the fossels and layers of seas and just amazing record these cliffs hold, what's a little cold wind?

When we were there for the second convention, we had a tornado alert, with a bunch of chasers looking at the tv and debating if it would miss Oakley or not, and those of us on the committee waiting to see if they were going to evacuate the area. It just missed the city. But the thing we all loved was how nice and friendly the local residents were.

The museum with rocks and other natural stuff also was cool, with small fossels you could buy for your collection.

My major excitement was when those interested got to go horseback riding. As I had ridden before, I got the fisty horse. It took a few but once we were heading away she settled down and I just had a blast. (adding going riding again on my list of things to do again someday).

Not in Kansas entirely but I had taken the train. The most awesome part is when the train slowly climbs up the steep sides of a mountain to this little town at the top. If you choose to stay overnight there they honor your train ticket for the next day. If only...

I want a do over.......

[empires228]

Originally Posted by Mattks

I was worried that link might get deleted since its possibly a competing forum, so I stole the map out of the conversation.

http://atk.ku.edu/sites/atk.drupal.k...kansas_map.jpg

I'm not natively from out west, but in the short time period I lived in Hays, I would travel to Salina quite a bit. Mostly for shopping or entertainment. But honestly, anymore, Hays has almost everything Salina has.

I didn't go to school at FHSU, my wife did, and at least some of her friends now live in Salina. I do think many regional businesses likely have branches in both Hays and Salina. Nextech for example, a friend of mine owns a few of their stores and travels to Salina quite frequently. Another friend of mine has some video game/board game retail stores and also does the same thing, but he doesn't actually have a location in Hays itself.

What? Salina has quite a bit more. They have Target, Kohl's, Big Lots, Ross, Marshalls, Dicks, PetCo, Old Navy, Office Max, Dress Barn, Shoe Carnival, Ulta, Five Below, Sam's Club, Lowe's, Menards, Kmart (lol), and used to have even more options before Dillard's, Sears, and Tuesday Morning closed. In Hays if you don't shop at Walmart or JCPenney, then you're not going to shop.

[Mattks]

Originally Posted by empires228

What? Salina has quite a bit more. They have Target, Kohl's, Big Lots, Ross, Marshalls, Dicks, PetCo, Old Navy, Office Max, Dress Barn, Shoe Carnival, Ulta, Five Below, Sam's Club, Lowe's, Menards, Kmart (lol), and used to have even more options before Dillard's, Sears, and Tuesday Morning closed. In Hays if you don't shop at Walmart or JCPenney, then you're not going to shop.

Yes, but most of those companies are simply competitors of existing businesses in Hays. There is a better brand selection in Salina, since it’s a bigger city, but there isn’t a whole lot in Salina that Hays doesn’t have. That’s what I meant by people don’t have as much as a reason to go to Salina like they did 5-10 years ago. If someone has a specific brand they are looking for, then yeah, Hays will probably disappoint. Hays has quite a few small mom and pop shops. The market is different then many places since it’s not very big and it’s isolated, so that gives rise to many small speciality shops.

I didn’t think there was a pet store in Hays, but actually there is. I wasn’t sure about an office supplies store either, but you guys have 2 after a quick search.

I remember a while back I was working in a little Chinese restaurant there and a commercial faucet broke and we needed to replace it. I thought for sure we’d have to order one, but we actually found one in a store in Hays. It was a very unique faucet on a Chinese wok, not some typical hand washing faucet. But there was a little store that sold all sorts of brass things, bolts, nuts, and they randomly had it. It was across the street and railroad tracks from that Asian Market, not sure if that is still open.

[empires228]

Originally Posted by Mattks

Yes, but most of those companies are simply competitors of existing businesses in Hays. There is a better brand selection in Salina, since it’s a bigger city, but there isn’t a whole lot in Salina that Hays doesn’t have. That’s what I meant by people don’t have as much as a reason to go to Salina like they did 5-10 years ago. If someone has a specific brand they are looking for, then yeah, Hays will probably disappoint. Hays has quite a few small mom and pop shops. The market is different then many places since it’s not very big and it’s isolated, so that gives rise to many small speciality shops.

I didn’t think there was a pet store in Hays, but actually there is. I wasn’t sure about an office supplies store either, but you guys have 2 after a quick search.

I remember a while back I was working in a little Chinese restaurant there and a commercial faucet broke and we needed to replace it. I thought for sure we’d have to order one, but we actually found one in a store in Hays. It was a very unique faucet on a Chinese wok, not some typical hand washing faucet. But there was a little store that sold all sorts of brass things, bolts, nuts, and they randomly had it. It was across the street and railroad tracks from that Asian Market, not sure if that is still open.

The Asian Market came and went very quickly. They were booted out of the True Value building, moved into the former music store, and never re-opened. We don't have a legitimate pet store, PetSense is small and doesn't compete with PetCo or Petsmart. It competes more with the animal section at Orschelns. We have "office supply stores" downtown, but believe me, everyone gets office supplies at Walmart or in Salina. These stores don't offer anything comparable to the likes of an Office Depot, Office Max, or Staples. We did have a wide variety of specialty stores, but Big Creek crossing gave the ones we had up there the boot and Centennial Plaza is now empty besides the Catholic Book store. When it comes down to it, we have Walmart, Home Depot, and JCPenney. We were supposed to get a PetCo, Dick's, and TJMaxx up by home depot and a new travel plaza off the bypass, but developer greed and an overly conservative city commission who wants development, but doesn't want anything to change in the community chased it off.