Kansas Girls on the Road

I am a Kansas girl. My sister and I were raised on a farm in Osborne County Kansas. Now that our parents are gone, I'm sorry to say that I probably won't get back there as often as I used to. But this past weekend, we had to finish up some business with our mother's estate, so a road trip was in order. My sister lives in Oklahoma, so she picked me up at the OKC airport and the next morning we headed "back home". We stopped along the way at the "World's Largest Ball of Twine". As many times as we've passed by here, this is the first time we've actually stopped and taken a picture in front of it. I'm sure the ball of twine was much, much smaller the first time we were here many decades ago on a school trip with our classmates of Green Valley School.

It was nice to visit family and friends back in Osborne. Our aunt and uncle were proud of their upside down tomato plant! Isn't this a strange way to grow tomatoes! But they certainly were delicious. I just might have to try growing one of these next year even though my vegetable gardening skills are slim.
We always try to make a trip out to the farm, but it gets sadder every time. This is the old family farmstead. It is hard to see with the weeds and trees growing up around the house and somehow it doesn't look near as big as it used to.

Several years ago, our mother moved to town and lived in this nice brick house across from the a city park. We now have it listed for sale. Let me know if you are in the market!

August in Kansas is synonymous with hot and dry. But this year the wet summer has left the pastures and roadsides unusually green and the lakes and ponds brimming.

Rock fence posts near Wilson Lake. These are just decorative here, but not that long ago the farmers and ranchers used post rocks to hold fencing around their properties.

On the way back to Oklahoma, we made a short side trip to have Sunday "dinner" at The Hickory Tree in the old Smolan High School Building. This is an interesting use for one of the many old school buildings that sit in small towns across the country. We enjoyed the buffet in the auditorium and then wandered around the old classrooms and displays.

Our next stop on the road to OK was along the Historic Route 66. The round barn is just one of the many interesting sights along this famous road. I can see possibilities of a motorcycle road trip here ! Think this is a photo of the bottom of a basket? Wrong. This is the view looking up at the inside of the roof of the round barn. Wonder how they did that!One more stop was Pop's. Check out their website. Lots and lots of soda pop!My posts are not complete without a picture of an animal or food. So here are today's selections.

Isn't Marnie a happy dog! She's my dog-niece.Mean Kitty. She's really not that mean, just mis-understood (and sometimes prefers her food to have four tiny feet!) Food photo of the week. After a quick trip to Kansas, the sisters were treated to grilled pork chops with mango chutney. Thank you brother-in-law J!

Thanks for a great road trip Sis! ( Plus everything else you've done)

Next time, we'll take a better photo.