Ted T. Cable, who teaches conservation and park management at Kansas
State University, is a man who likes a challenge. He's written guidebooks describing the fun to be had taking
the interstate across Kansas (bleak) and Missouri (cluttered).
Cable's book about I-70 in Kansas (co-written with Wayne A. Maley) came out in 2003. He and co-author Luann M. Cadden have just released a book about the journey's eastern continuation, Driving Across Missouri: A Guide To I-70 (University Press of Kansas; $15.95).
Cable began each project with the knowledge that his subject does not inspire fondness. When Cable worked on the Kansas book, friends who live in Missouri described their preference to drive through Kansas under the cover of darkness in order to blot out the tediousness of the landscape. I-70 in Missouri is unloved for different reasons. "The challenge there is to help people see beyond the billboards," he says.
Driving Across Missouri's chapters are numbered by mile marker. The book explains how towns and creeks got their names, notes the uses of smooth sumac, and places the origin of the phrase "man's best friend" to a trial in Warrensburg in 1870.
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We communted for 10 years across Mo from St. Louis to Omaha, Ne (Air force). We were grateful for the landmarks (yes some were billboards) that clocked our journey. We could count on stopping for BBQ & wine tastings and the Stephensons Apple Farm. Excitement abounded when we made the turn towards St. Joe. Entering into Iowa meant leaving the more interesting landscape that Missouri truly is!
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