Because We Can

Great breakfast this morning as Linda cheerfully set about baking some awesome and very healthy muffins. I don't know what all went into them, but I saw her chop nuts and add some dried fruit, plus I saw her looking at a recipe, but knowing her, she used it only as a guide, adding those special secret touches that she does so well. We ate those muffins with a little almond butter smeared on them and were they ever good. Before the above there was this. "You are not going to use a photo of me in the drawer." "But it will show how hard you worked to make the muffins." "No it won't, it will just show how messy the drawer is." Way to go Bob. Great way to start the day. Here she tries to do something nice for me and I mess it up by taking a picture of a drawer. What is it with us men anyway? We men go and pull so many dumb stunts like this it's a wonder any of us ever got the opportunity to become father's. Oh well, at least I must ha...

Today we were off to visit the Museum of World Treasures in Wichita, the main reason being the above. What made it even more special was the fact this is a real Triceratops skull, not a cast, and the docent took down the little barrier and let Linda get very up close and personal with it. She may no longer look exactly like the little girl walking around picking up fossils on the farm, but I have to believe the smile is the same. Linda wasn't the only one who found something to smile about. For years I had a Smiling Buddha on a high shelf that smiled down on me every morning when I first got up. Today for me it wasn't only kneeling down beside these marble carvings to pose for a picture, it was also seeing the deep luster, the softness and the smooth lines of their forms. It brings a certain contentment, and it reminded me of the special glaze I applied to my Buddha when I made it. The museum has an Egyptian section. I found the hieroglyphics interesting. I looked ...

It had been too hot in the afternoon and evening both days we have been in Lindsborg to visit the nearby town cemetery, but not this morning. Linda was specially drawn to this larger monument decorated with several brightly colored bouquets. Yes, they were artificial flowers, but that in no way detracted from the beauty of it. Major rain last night, like in inches of rain. Major water this morning. This jack had sunk several inches into the ground. Now this is a problem. It's never happened before, but it has now. Use the coach jacks to raise the wheels, more boards and more boards. When the best you can do just isn't good enough, there is always someone else who can do more. That's why we have Coach Net. A slow steady pull with the winch and it wasn't long before we were on terra firma that was actually firm. It delayed us a few hours, and it confirmed our dislike of parking on grass sites. Other than that, it makes for a good story. C'e...

We spent much of the afternoon in the local history museum. As you can guess, Linda sure got to do her thing, including looking at all the indian artifacts that had been collected in the local area. What caught my eye was a display of life like figures created by a local man out of cement. No wood carving here, those likenesses, including Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, are cement. The one in the center was supposed to President Franklin Roosevelt, but I just wasn't seeing the likeness that was so apparent in the other two. Still it made for another of those fascinating finds while traveling off the beaten track. Either that, or we are easily impressed. Yesterday's Daily Journal had a photo of a small hole in the ground which was all that remained of a pioneer dugout. Here is a photo of what a much larger one looked like. We have the saying that home is where park it. I wonder if on the Kansas prairie back then the saying was home is where you dig it. Guess we could ...

We had a short drive from Concordia down to Lindsborg this morning, then spent the afternoon enjoying this small town with a huge Swedish influence. The 70 miles we traveled and the large luxurious space our 38' triple slide motorhome provides can be contrasted to the journey and dwelling of Gustaf Höglund who left Sweden in 1868, journeyed to Lindsborg and lived in the 12' by 6' hole you see, for two years while he built a stone house. We live in our coach, he used the wagon that brought him on the last part of his journey to cover the top of this rock lined pit. History. It's not just dates, it's people, places and the things that they did. Later we walked around the downtown area, window shopping (me), doing some real shopping (Linda) and just enjoying small town America. When we saw the sign in a window saying there was seasonal lingonberry lemonade available, that stopped my window shopping and I became a buyer. Lingonberries are a popular Scandinavian ...

Concordia, Kansas,is not too far south of the Nebraska border. The heart of what the MSM call the flyover country. This is the real America, not the worthless pieces of S&%#t that inhabit the East and West Coast of what was once a great country. We spy a beautiful building, though now it is merely a shadow of what it once was. Glass pieces in the iron grates along the sidewalk. What beauty, what history. Imagine my surprise when I noted the beautiful purple glass pieces set into the cast iron covers along the sidewalk on the side of this strikingly awesome building. I noted the sparkling purple, but I also saw a poor street person down in one of the passageways. She stood among the trash that littered the passage. What horrors had she faced in her difficult life? How long would she survive under these intolerable conditions. Wait!! That is not a destitute street person. That is my wife!! How lucky I am, that where others only see trash, my wonderful wife sees jewels. ...

Linda had sold several more things on Ebay over the weekend, so she wanted to get them mailed before we left Ellis. Interestingly enough, when she walked up to the counter in the post office, the clerk asked her if she enjoyed her walk over from the campground. We're not sure how the clerk knew that, but it's exactly why we love staying in small towns. Some hours later we were in another small town in Kansas. We had selected a route that had us driving on roads we don't normally like to take, I-70 and a four lane state highway, but it really did make for an easier drive, especially with the wind blowing like it was. We have a number of things we want to see and do while we are in Concordia, so we are not sure whether we will be here for two or three nights. When we started out on our Kansas travels we were planning on only seeing the southern part of the state, but we keep reading about all these interesting places, so plans just keep changing. But we are not wander...

Ellis is about 15 minutes from Hays, Hays being where the museum Linda wanted to visit was located. So early afternoon found us in Hay's wandering around the downtown area as we waited for the museum to open. On one corner we found a plaque that said Wild Bill Hickok had killed a man in a gunfight at that location. Later we stumbled upon this statue of Wild Bill, and Linda just had to have her picture taken next to him. One hundred forty years apart, yet kindred spirits. Linda sure did enjoy those TV programs when she was a little girl. I enjoy walking around small town downtowns and looking at old buildings. Linda has other ideas as to what constitutes a good time. Imagine my surprise as I was walking down one street and look over to see a little old street person hunkered down in the shade behind an old building. On the other hand, it just goes to show how smart I was to marry a girl who has enough sense to get out of the sun when it is really hot. A smart Bob is a Good Bo...

At ten o'clock this morning the streets were lined with kids watching the Riverfest parade, and the coach's kid was right out there among them. Deprived of parade watching due to a country upbringing, she as more than made up for during our 45 years together. She was definitely on her best behavior and didn't dart out in front of the little girl sitting on the nearby curb with her mother. I could just imagine what was going through Linda's mind as all the candy was thrown just a few feet away and she resisted the temptation to jump out and pick it up. I think this is called watching so the mean old lady that keeps looking at my pile of candy doesn't come over and steal it while my mommy picks it up. Well not really, but that look does suggest she might have some second thoughts about exactly what Linda's intentions were. Fire trucks, race cars, politicians, horses and even a queen. It just doesn't get better than this. As we learned, out here it...