663. Independence, Montgomery County (KS080)

Once again, I was quite satisfied with the courthouse.  I hoped this trajectory would continue as the day progressed.  It reminded me a little of Pawhuska back in Oklahoma, which is surprising considering how dissimilar the two are, but really shouldn’t have been surprising considering how close it is to here.  I also feel as if I’ve been doing a lot of referencing back to previous courthouses in other places lately.  Maybe I’ve done this a little too much, and they’re all blending together?  Or I’ve seen enough that I’m grouping their basic styles?  Maybe I’ve gone too far?  Perhaps this is bordering on obsession?  I don’t know.  I prefer not to contemplate such things too deeply.  Besides, it misses the most important question: is the courthouse missing some kind of seal?  It looks like there was something at the top on the front that’s not there now.  I wonder why that is?

So, when I was looking for a cache to grab, I thought I would grab the closest one to the courthouse and get going. Something popped up on my radar, though, and there was no way I was going to miss it. Ladies and gentlemen (or however you identify—I don’t mean to be gender assumptive), I give you the site of the childhood home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, better known through her books and subsequent television show as the location of the Little House on the Prairie. The Virtual here was easily claimed, and there was a second cache here, but it was closed up inside the store/office. Not only was it closed for the day, but it was closed for the winter. Boo-urns. If they were open, I would most certainly have picked up a couple of postcards here (and, of course, the second cache). But, alas, such is life. And once I was done looking at the replica houses, I set disappointment behind. I ran back into town to gas up the car and then was on the road again, headed for…