what is there to do at topeka
 

is there anything to see around topeka trying to go to the nationals but wife likes to sight see

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Nothing I ever found. It ain't that big.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Reminds me of a business trip to Wichita one time...it got extended thru the weekend so I asked a local person about things to do and see there, after thinking a while he said "most folks go to Okalahoma City".

Nuff said..

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Hope your rig has Satellite TV. Kansas City isn't that far, or there is alway the Indian Casino's.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

any civil war??
old west????
shopping malls???
something to tell the wife

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

If you like sight seeing there are several nice drives through the Flint Hills.
We ride the Harley each year we are there.
There are many small towns in the drives with some really neat old houses and court houses.
In part of the area there are still the old rock fences and stone fence posts with barb wire in place which would make you think you were back in the 1800's.
If you ride the back roads there is a lot of wildlife to see also.
There are nice places anywhere you go you just have to look.
Just My 2 Cents
Rick Cates

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

And Topeka is smaller. lol

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Ed, save your one$, send the wife shopping, and plan at least one night at Baby Dolls. JB.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Jim, I would just get in trouble at Baby Dolls.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

if it's tornado season, yo can watch houses and things fly by...

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

If you wanted to go shopping, you could take her to the Country Club Plaza.
http://www.countryclubplaza.com/

There isn't a whole lot there: http://www.topeka.org/thingstodo.shtml.
Our next door neighbor is from Topeka. She doesnt talk about Topeka.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Topeka Notebook -- In 1996, at the Topeka national event in September, it rained so hard on Thursday that class eliminations were scrubbed. Thanks be to God, it didn't freeze although it tried!! We ran the first and second round on Saturday night in the dark under cold and foggy conditions. A Super Class racer in a motorhome a couple of rows over had a heart attack (I only heard about that, didn't actually see it) and may have died during the night. Dozens of rigs had to be winched out of the mud on level ground in the Sportsman pits on Monday morning. It had been dry and warm the day I got there but the trailer sank to the axles just sitting in the pits! Highlights? Met some nice people, felt bad about the Super Class racer, had a decent BBQ dinner at Pat's Pig on SW Topeka Boulevard north of the track. The guys doing the winching were really good with their equipment and got my rig out without damaging anything.

In 1999, at the Topeka national event on the first weekend of October, all pit parking was restricted to hard surface roads along the road race course because it had rained for two days before we got there. The race was postponed after the third round on Sunday. That's the first time I'd seen T/F racers at a national event refuse to go down the track due to dangerous conditions. It was 35 degrees with a 20+ wind from the north! I've never been that cold at any time in my adult life! Rob Youngblood's helper crashed his scooter into my car in the pits but luckily the scooter got the worst of that. That evening, Bill Rink, Youngblood, the helper and I went to Pat's Pig. Highlights? Met some more good people. Dinner was decent again. Rink's conversational style kept things interesting. We finished the race on Monday morning.

Personal evaluation? If I thoughts of going to Topeka entered my mind again, I'd leave the rig at home, fly in, take several sets of thermal underwear (wearing two layers isn't out of the question), and take a taxi to Pat's Pig. The decision to actually go to the track would not be made until the day of the event.

c

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

There is a military airplane museum up there!

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Chuck, you`be surprised if go back to Topeka, paved pits, new tear-down and indoor scales and air conditioned bathroom and shower`s. Tom

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

That applies to here in Tulsa too.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Tom, no offense, but no one would be more surprised to see me in Topeka than I. Once is enough and twice would be adequate cause for scheduling a CAT scan of my brain functions. For the record, I can handle rain and even rain-outs. We have our share of those and it's rained seven inches at my house just in the past few days. But, being cold is another thing altogether. I grew up on a farm in north central Missouri and bailed out for year-round sunshine before my 22nd birthday. Any time I expose my ancient carcass to temperatures colder than 50 degrees, I have flashbacks to feeding cattle and slopping hogs in sub-zero, blizzard conditions. I wish those of you who choose to live on the Great Plains the greatest of success and happiness. You deserve it! I admit it; I'm a candy-*** (but, I'm a warm candy-***)!

Ed, is that reference to fully paved pits in Tulsa or Jim's airplane museum?

Cheers and Happy Holidays,

c

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

what the hell is baby doll

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Come on Vic.$1 bills+Baby Dolls?It ain't Babies R Us.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Chuck,

Your post reminds me of how much we miss your reports from years past, do I sense you are coming out of posting retirement ? Good to read your info and have a Merry Christmas

Vic,
Go for it, there must be enough to do there and going to a new track is always a good thing. Have a Merry Christmas

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

I've never been to Topeka when it was cold. I usually come away sun burned. Last time I had to have help bending the awning back into alignment on the motorhome, so it would roll back up from the constant 20 mph head wind we had all weekend.

The starting line is always a suprise. Usually bald spot city. Never know what your gonna find up there.

Not my favorite place. I'll likely be there this summer again, however. Don't claim to be real bright.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Tornados. Trailers blowing past, etc. LOL

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

i still do not know what baby doll is???????????????????????????

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

It is a fully licensed, adult entertainment establishment...ie. strip club.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Chuck Norton, "seven inches of rain in the past few days" doesn't exactly sound like "year-round sunshine" to me. JK. Hope everyone still has the same real estate they started with before the rains came. Good Luck.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

According to the news, some of it's begining to move. Scary.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

The air museum is right next to the track, Kanas museum of history. Or just goggle Topeka things to do. Boss Hogs is a great place to eat. Stinnets shop is just down the road it just depends what you like. Tom

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

In Kansas you can watch your dog run away for 3 days.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Vic,

It is a place where there are life size blow up dolls and manicans. But they are made to look attractive. I've seen in movies where lonly people need some friends around the house every so often and position them as if they were at a party . You put two of them together to look as if they are having a conversation, one sitting down with a drink in its hand, one waving, etc. They make them look so attractive that it would make a man say an old phrase such as "hey baby". Hence, Baby Dolls.

Hope this clears things up for you. As far as the $1 bills, I don't know, I believe they are more expensive than that, especially if you are taking it home.

At first I thought it was a place where babies can purchase dolls.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA it depends on how you "look" at it

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

ron
thanks for clearing that up
ed f. welllll
i am trying to go to great bend also
i have to give wife a reason to go
we said we going to one new track this year

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Baby Dolls must have something of interest in there. One night a guy rode with us to the motel and told me to just let him out at Baby Dolls and he would find his own way back to the room! He finally did come dragging in at almost daylight.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Also very typical of Topeka is a head wind at least 15 mph stronger than anything during qualifying,and it was a constant 20 mph wind then! Also,sometimes the wind will turn around for 1st round and be a 15 mph tail wind. Baby Dolls is good entertainment,and Pat`s Pig is awesome BBQ! Enjoy!

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

they've got a pretty cool zoo, went there few times as kid.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

I've heard that "late night pit gate security" is pretty tight at the track...you know anything about that, Clark? :cool:

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

The wind has been like that every time I've been there.
We have better barbecue here in Tulsa.
No problem getting in & out at night, just show your wrist bands.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

At least I have never been escorted back to the camper by the MPs from the air base next door.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Ken,

When I was a kid, back on the farm, we got seven inches of rain while I was at a double-feature movie one Saturday night. We had to wait until morning for the water to go down far enough so that we could cross the creek to get home. This wasn't quite that dramatic except in the high-risk areas.

Looks as if this system has moved on as of this morning, thanks for the concern. I doubt that we dried the storm out completely but I think we wrung most of the moisture out of it out between here and Barstow. Today we should have 60°+ with sunshine and most of the rest of the winter will be a carbon copy. We'll be working on the race cars in tee-shirts. Except for the unfortunate souls who have consciously chosen to live in those high-risk areas for the purpose of seeking seclusion or affirming their elevated economic status, we are relatively unscathed.

My granddad imparted a few bits of wisdom to us a couple of generations back. They're merely common-sense things that farm boys need to know like, "Always drink upstream from the herd," but one of the most important was the reminder to always look around before choosing a place to live. For the most part, basic geologic truths serve us well, i.e., canyons have become canyons because water naturally follows that path until it reaches sea level. If you choose to live in a canyon, you will eventually be subjected to more water than you can deal with. This is only one example and it does nothing to address the basic question that faces Californians, "What will you do when the "Big One" hits? But then, life anywhere carries certain risks. You pay your money and take your chances.

For the time being, we're fine. Thanks for asking.

c

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

It good to hear you are OK....Merry Christmas Chuck.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

Glad Chuck broke internet silence.He's the best writer with the most intellegent posts in this whole Forum.

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

For sure!

Re: what is there to do at topeka
 

It's devastating to see the destruction and loss of homes and property that occurs each time one of these storms hits. Whether it's California, Nevada, Arizona like is happening now, or the Gulf and East Coasts during hurricanes. Or floods in the heartland,etc.

I was visiting family in Agnew,Nebraska (Eddie Rezac would know where that is) in 1963.The area was experiencing a drought at that time. As we were returning to Agnew from Lincoln, you could see a large thunderstorm looming in the West. That is the most impressive lightning display I've ever seen. Well, it rained 5.5 inches on the rain gauge at the farm house, but it was reported to have rained nearly 14" at David City several miles to the NW. The resulting flash flood caused much devastation. In Valparaiso a mother and child were swept away and perished. Salt Creek, which ran through the middle of my relatives farmland spilled over it's banks and flooded the low-lying fields and my one Aunt's home. The day before you could easily have stepped across that nearly dry creek. There were numerous drowned cattle caught in the branches of the trees along the creek. It was an event I'll never forget.

Sorry about the verbosity, but I guess we're a little closer to Topeka now. Geograpically speaking, that is.