Having lived in Kansas for half of my life, I'll try to answer your questions:
For the record, in $US, how much would such an atlas (of Kansas only) cost? I mean an atlas that would also include major city maps, and of course highways and such.
I haven't picked one up in a few years, but the last time I needed a map of Kansas, I just pulled into a gas station and got one for free. It was the foldup kind. The state of Kansas gives them out to places so they can give them out to people.
If you want a book, with only a Kansas map, I don't know that I've ever seen one of those. An atlas of the whole US isn't that big - as Wendy said. You can actually get them smaller at the dreaded Wal-Mart. I've never priced one, but I'd imagine around $6-$10 should more than cover it.
1. Are there gas stations on interstates? (Silly, but I wouldn't know.)
There are service centers along all the interstates in Kansas - and they have a fast food place, a gas station, and some have a place for truckers to take a shower, etc... All of them have a gas station I believe. I've been to all of them in the last couple years or so.
2. Can there be a snowstorm in Kansas in say, November? I know they have some rough winters.
Yes - the year my wife and I found out we were going to have our first child, Kansas got buried in about 30 inches of snow - preventing us from going home for Thanksgiving and telling everyone in person.
3. How much education in medicine would you need to have to be able to handle a cow's broken hind leg?
Quite a bit, I would think. You are talking about an animal that *has* to walk on all four legs because they are so darn big. How big? 500 pounds easily (probabaly closer to 1000 pounds depending on the breed/sex/age of the animal - or more). [227 to 454 kilograms?]
4. How well can you take care of that cow with a regular (human) first aid kit?
For a broken leg? Not very well at all I would think. Cows have such a different shape that even if the first aid kit had an air cast, it wouldn't fit. If you just want to treat cuts, etc... I guess it would work - assuming you can get the cow to stay still.
Cows have a tendency to do what ever they want, and you kind of have to let them since they are so much bigger than you are.
Side trip - My grandfather raised cattle for a living (along with being a farmer). One time, we went out to visit them. It was at night, so it was dark. We had a pickup with a "topper" on it. Sort of a shell that covers the bed of the pickup truck. There was a bed in it, with a little intercom between the cab and the back of the truck. I've probably lost most of you by now...
Anyway - this was before the whole seatbelt craze so my brother and I were riding in the back, layed out on the bed. We were both under 10. All of the sudden - WHAM! It felt like we hit a brick wall. We hit the intercom. "What happened?" Reply - "We hit a cow."
A black cow had gotten out and was on the roadway. We topped a hill, it was on the blind side - we blind sided a side of beef. We bailed out the back of the truck to see this cow laying there on the road - it's tongue hanging out, blood coming from it's nose, and it's eyeballs hanging out of it's head (I kid you not. It sounds horrible, but to a kid, it was cool in a gross sort of way....)
We all thought Dad had killed it for sure. Dad was worried about his truck. Mom was afraid we would all get creamed on the road next. My brother and I was checking out the cow. Dad noticed it had Grandpa's brand on it, which got him worried about the cow instead of the truck. Cows cost a lot of money to raise, and they were destined for the sale barn - so basically, he was costing Grandpa a lot of money.
We were trying to decide what to do when the darn thing lets out a bellow, flops around on the ground, and stumbles to it's feet - it's eyeballs popping back into its head in the processes. It was cross-eyed and stumbling around like it was drunk.
Now, Mom really wanted us to get back in the truck. She didn't so much care about traffic anymore, she just didn't want to be stampeded by a mad cow that couldn't see straight. Of course, my brother and I ran for the truck as well - we didn't want to get stomped on either.
We left it there, went and got Grandpa and he managed to get it home somehow. It stumbled around the corral for a few days then went on it's merry way to becoming hamburger.
I've watched my Grandpa "doctor" many cows, but I think if one had gotten a broken leg, he would have either taken it to a vet (or had a vet come get it) or had it put down and taken to the butcher. Reason being, it's too expensive to pay a vet, when you could eat it.
Hoped this all helped.