Select a photo to see the larger version    

ABILENE, KANSAS, DICKINSON COUNTY, is an historical Cow Town and the home of Dwight D. Eisenhower. C.W. Parker manufactured carousels there at the turn of the 20th century. C.L. Brown established an independent telephone company in Abilene in the 1880s. That business has now become Sprint Telecommunications. THE HERITAGE CENTER in Abilene tells of local history and business accomplishments.

Traveling west from Topeka along Interstate 70 to Abilene is a beautiful drive--a great deal of it runs through the Flint Hills of Kansas with its wide vistas of rolling hills, prairie grasses and very few trees.

This trip to Abilene was on the third day of Spring, March 22, 2006. Kansas had one if its few snows of the winter two days before -- Vernal Equinox 2006. The snow defined the rolling Flint Hills terrain to great advantage.