83,000 Square Miles, No Lines, No Waiting--: Kansas Day Trips [Paperback]

Wichita Eagle and Beacon Pub (Author), Steve Harper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1998

No bare-bones travel guide, this fun book details 27 day trips across Kansas. Each trip is to a place of historic or natural interest in the state and is complemented by full-color photography. For those interested in hitting the backroads and doing some exploring, this is the perfect travel companion. Information on state recreation areas and hiking, biking and walking trails is also included, as is Kansas trivia that will boggle the mind.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

There's fun for the whole family to be found on the highways and byways of Kansas, especially with 83,000 Square Miles, No Lines, No Waiting as your guide. Twenty-seven fun-filled day trips are detailed here to help make the most of your vacation. Inside you'll also find Kansas trivia, information on hiking and nature trails, state parks, and fun facts on every county in the state. You can get away from it all in 24 hours or less - and 83,000 Square Miles will show you how.

About the Author

Steve Harper is a third-generation Kansan living in Newton on land owned by his family for generations. After serving as an instructor in graphic design and journalism at Wichita State University, Steve joined The Wichita Eagle newspaper as director of photography. He later became the newspaper's outdoors editor, a position he still holds today. A series of successful day trip columns inspired Harper to write more about the state he loves so that others could enjoy the beauty of its roads less traveled. Steve also serves as a guide on his own Kansas bus trips.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Wichita Eagle and Beacon Publishing Co. Inc. (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880652943
• ISBN-13: 978-1880652947
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,327,780 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Kansas

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Written by my dad, Steve., December 21, 2004

By 

Audrey (Wichita, Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 83,000 Square Miles, No Lines, No Waiting--: Kansas Day Trips (Paperback)

I have only now become aware that my dad's book is available on amazon, as I haven't seen it in any bookstores for some years now. For those who don't know, my father passed away in 2000. I miss him dearly, and personally, this book helps me keep him alive in spirit. To steal an excerpt from one of my own poems, "Great American Desert," "I walk in his trail to keep him alive; in this great land, I will survive." You see, my dad instilled in me a love and appreciation for Kansas that too few Kansans or non-natives lack. Most see Kansas as a desolate, dull, flat state lacking in the "typical beauty" that one would find in a lush, or mountainous region. Although Kansas is not entirely flat as anyone who has lived in Manhattan in the Flint Hills would know, I do not believe that "flat" should be used pejoratively. I find the openess to be a tranquil, sweetly vulnerable place providing much needed solitude. The prairie is a wonderfully mysterious but simple place, where I go to be with my father. This book is a door to all of those wonderful places that many people don't even know exist! Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, and perhaps people are becoming numb to the overstimulation of places of "typical beauty", but no matter who you are, I believe that everyone has the potential to see and recognize the bountiful beauty that is Kansas.