This next leg of our eclipse trip took us northeast. We left Oklahoma behind and made it to Kansas.
During our drive from Oklahoma City to Kansas City, we had two “Welcome to Kansas” moments before we even got to the campground. The first was getting stuck behind farm equipment.
Later on the drive, we were on a long, straight, quiet road when we noted something going on up ahead. There were cars parked along the side of the road and people gathered in a field. As we got closer, we saw signs for a farm equipment auction. That felt very much like a “Welcome to Kansas” moment.
I don’t know about the state highway signs where you live, but the ones in North Carolina are kind of boring. Kansas however, uses a sunflower.
Where We Stayed
The Kansas City KOA is right next to what we think is a sod farm. That might be the most interesting campground neighbor we’ve found.
Site 11B was a very nice site. There’s plenty of space on the passenger side. There’s also a small table and 4 chairs, a stone fire pit, and a gliding bench.
The site is right next to the dog park. I imagine that’s desirable for some and undesirable for others.
There is pretty decent road noise at the campground, though you don’t really hear it from inside the RV. There’s a train that passes nearby, which you can hear from inside the RV, but it wasn’t enough to wake us up at night.
Otherwise, I have no real complaints. There’s nothing fancy about this campground, but there’s nothing wrong with it.
| Campground Name | Kansas City West KOA |
| Location | Lawrence, KS |
| Dates | April 13-15, 2024 |
| Site Number | Site 11B |
| Site Surface | Gravel |
| Hook-ups | Full hookups + 50-amp electric |
| Cost | $79.25 per night |
| Water Pressure | (Oops, forgot to write it down!) |
| Voltage | (Oops, forgot to write it down!) |
| AT&T Speed Test | 9 Mbps down; 9 Mbps up |
| Verizon Speed Test | 73 Mbps down; 8 Mbps up |
| T-Mobile Speed Test | 114 Mbps down; 6 Mbps up |
| Campground WiFi | 10 Mbps down; 4 Mbps up |
What We Did
Burcham Park
Burcham Park runs along the Kansas River. There was a paved trail that we took south toward the dam. Unfortunately, most of it was blocked off, so we couldn’t get a good view of the dam.
The best part was that I believe we saw an eagle! I wasn’t able to get a good photo, but it had a dark body with a white head and tail.
We ended up making it a quick trip. A set of train tracks run along that side of the river. While we were near the dam, we were passed by someone riding a bicycle and carrying an axe. We turned around and went back to the car.
Riverfront Park
My favorite part about the area turned out to be this park that is just minutes from the campground. There are parts where dogs are allowed to walk off-leash. We took the trail up on the levee that separates the river from the train tracks. We saw several dog and human pairs exploring the grassy area below.
This seems like a kid-friendly option as well, because the dirt road to the parking lot is lined with really large rocks. Boulders might be a better term. Kids love climbing on things like this (at least the ones I know do). It seems like you could get your dog and your kids some exercise at the same place.
Kansas City Zoo–My New Favorite Zoo
There are so many good things about the Kansas City Zoo–so many that it gets its own blog post. As soon as I’m caught up on all of these trip blog posts, I’m going to write one just about the Kansas City Zoo. For now, I’ll leave you with two pieces of information.
First, this zoo was really kid-friendly. There was a great area near the goats. There is at least one spot where you can choose to take the stairs or take a slide. At a few of the exhibits, there was a cool activity for kids related to the animal exhibit it was closest to. Things like “an orangutan can reach 6-9 feet, can you?”
And now for my favorite part: The chimpanzee exhibit is three acres in size! And it’s full of real, mature trees that the chimps climb. It was incredible to see.
Where We Ate
Johnny’s Tavern
One night we ate at Johnny’s Tavern. It wasn’t the best burger, but it was pretty good, and the fries were delicious. And the best part was that it’s only about 5 minutes from the campground.
Happy travels!
