See our Super Bowl road trip photo album with Flat Pat, Trav & Taylor Swift

Emily Curiel, Alison Booth, Irvin Zhang, Hannah Wise

Editor’s Note: This is a dispatch from our Red Kingdom Road Trip. We’re connecting with Chiefs fans across the country ahead of the Super Bowl — share your story with us using this form. Read more from our journey to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl here on KansasCity.com, in our newsletters, or on The Star’s Instagram.

No road trip is complete without a photo album. And The Star’s Red Kingdom Road Trip is no different.

We sent Star journalists Alison Booth, Emily Curiel and Irvin Zhang on the road to meet Chiefs fans along the way to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. Also in the car: life-size cutouts of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Chiefs’ most famous fan, Taylor Swift.

Inspired by the beloved children’s book and project Flat Stanley, we thought that Flat Pat and crew would make for fun photo opportunities for fans our team met along the way. We’ll keep updating this with more photos from the trip.

Journalists Alison Booth, left, Emily Curiel and Irvin Zhang pose for a photo in front of Union Station next to cutouts featuring pop star Taylor Swift, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City.
Journalists Alison Booth, left, Emily Curiel and Irvin Zhang pose for a photo in front of Union Station next to cutouts featuring pop star Taylor Swift, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City.

Kansas

At our first stop in Sedgwick, Kansas, we met Dennis Basye, a superfan whose house and yard are decked out with Chiefs memorabilia. Dennis’ son, friends and neighbors came out to join the fun, and it was incredibly sweet to see how excited everyone was about Dennis, our trip and the big game.

Dennis Basye, a dedicated Kansas City Chiefs super fan in Sedgwick, Kansas, has been collecting Chiefs merchandise for five years, annually enhances his house display with new additions.
Dennis Basye, a dedicated Kansas City Chiefs super fan in Sedgwick, Kansas, has been collecting Chiefs merchandise for five years, annually enhances his house display with new additions.

Oklahoma

After our team crossed into Oklahoma, where we stopped for a photo shoot with Pat, Trav and Taylor in front of the “Welcome to Oklahoma” sign.

Journalists Alison Booth, left, Irvin Zhang and Emily Curiel pose for a photo in front of an Oklahoma welcome sign.
Journalists Alison Booth, left, Irvin Zhang and Emily Curiel pose for a photo in front of an Oklahoma welcome sign.

Then cruised on to Guymon, Oklahoma, where we met Philip Rineberg and Elizabeth Brown who shared stories of resilience in the face of Broncos and Cowboys fans.

Philip Rineberg, a Kansas City Chiefs fan, proudly displays his Len Dawson jersey as he poses for a photo in Guymon, Okla.
Philip Rineberg, a Kansas City Chiefs fan, proudly displays his Len Dawson jersey as he poses for a photo in Guymon, Okla.
Elizabeth Brown, a Kansas City Chiefs fan, poses for a photo with a life-size cutout of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Guymon, Okla. Kelce is Brown’s favorite player.
Elizabeth Brown, a Kansas City Chiefs fan, poses for a photo with a life-size cutout of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Guymon, Okla. Kelce is Brown’s favorite player.

Texas

We made it to Patrick Mahomes’ home state of Texas so we of course had to stop for a photo to celebrate Flat Pat’s return.

A life-size cutout featuring Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes stands next to a Texas welcome sign on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Goodwell, Texas.
A life-size cutout featuring Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes stands next to a Texas welcome sign on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Goodwell, Texas.

A stop at Whataburger was a must. We took Flat Pat to this location in Amarillo. He loves the Texas burger chain so much that he is part of the ownership group that brought Whataburger to the Kansas City area.

A life-size cutout featuring Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes stands next to a Whataburger restaurant on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Amarillo, Texas.
A life-size cutout featuring Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes stands next to a Whataburger restaurant on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Amarillo, Texas.

In case you’re wondering... he has shared his two favorite orders, plus his wife Brittany Mahomes’ order:

“It kind of depends. There are several different things I get. I’ve gone there a lot in my life,” Mahomes said. “So obviously I get just the No. 1 with cheese, ketchup, pickles only, with a large fry and large Coke. But they also have this thing on Texas toast, a barbecue chicken strip sandwich which I like a lot, and Brittany always makes us get the honey butter chicken biscuits in the morning.”

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