502. Leoti, Wichita County (KS024)

Admittedly, this is a nice little courthouse, but I got something extra that I didn’t expect. Since I’m uncharacteristically doing this on a weekday, I actually got a chance to go inside and take a look at the place myself! And by “take a look at the place myself,” I mean I took the opportunity to use the bathroom. They keep it in the basement next to the wheelchair lift for the stairs. I don’t think that really helps you with the visualization or anything, but now you know and knowing, I’ve been told by G.I. Joe, is half the battle. I’ve also begun to notice that every county seat of less than a certain size seems to have mostly the same layout: a central grain silo with a gas station nearby. There’s a civic center within ten blocks and the courthouse is within sight of the silos, but there is a little give-and-take on that because they may be be a block back from the main street, behind a substantial enough building. Now that I think about, a number of towns in the Texas Panhandle are similar. May I also note that it’s beginning to blow my mind that I have to specify the Texas Panhandle as opposed to the Oklahoma Panhandle now. Oh, and don’t tell anyone, but I’m in the early, early planning stages to maybe hit the Florida Panhandle later this year, but that’s a little pie in the sky at the moment…

The cache was an ammo can on the back of a sign at a restaurant. The sign itself is beginning to fall apart and, thanks to the rain, was surrounded in ankle deep water in places. Luckily enough, I was able to find a dry-ish way to get to it and do what I came to do. When I was looking at the logs, I noticed that the last log was in September 2020 and I couldn’t imagine how it had gone all the way to May 2021 without being logged, especially being so close to Mingo Madness. Turned out it had been signed, just not logged yet. I find it a little strange how people can get so backed up on their logging, especially since I can log pretty much anything instantly thanks to the wonder of the smart phone. On the other hand, I do know a cacher who writes a poem for each and every log she posts, so I concede that will create a bit of a backlog. But that’s neither here nor there. The important thing was that my duty was done here, meaning that a hole in my county map that had been staring at me since my trip back from Colby was now filled. With that, I could continue on with more untrodden areas of the state such as…