Indiana to Kansas, Home Base to Home Town

Once we returned to Indiana we had a busy schedule for a few days.  Much of that was fun stuff, like Mother's Day with a wonderful meal prepared by our daughter and son-in-law, meeting their new kitten,  catching up with friends and neighbors, sleep-overs with our grand daughters, ice cream dates with two of the grandsons and picnics in the backyard with family.  But then there were the dentist, doctor and accountant appointments along with some housekeeping and every day chores.  

 

 Our only regret with this quick stop was missing our two other grandsons!  Since our next stop was for our  45 (!) year High School Class Reunion on Friday we had to get on the road before they arrived at their Dad's.  Sometimes schedules just don't work out, but we've promised to see them when we are back at the end of August.  

So on May 25 we headed West!  With a quick night at the Cabela's parking lot in Kansas City, we made it to our destination of Alton and Osborne, Kansas.  Our parking stop for the next few days was on a farm driveway courtesy of good friends Greg and Sherri.  Many, many years ago, we were young parents together in this small community.  Sherri and I were having babies and Greg was helping  Dennis  on his construction  jobs. Now those kids are all grown up and having babies themselves.  Though G & S are ahead of us on the grandchild count!  

Sherri is currently facing some health challenges so it was good to see her  looking so good!  Prayers are still needed but she is a strong woman!

Friday night we made it to our High School Reunion.  It was great to see all the other "old" folks and catch up on the last few years since our last get together.  It really doesn't seem like it was 45 years ago that we graduated from high school.  Our class only numbered 66 (I think?) and we have sadly lost six.  We took a  fun photo of three of the original four Methodist Girls, who attended Sunday School, choir and youth group together for most of our early years!  Missing our 4th member who still was teaching school in Minnesota. It is a tradition to hold class reunions on Memorial Day weekend in our home town.  It's unfortunate that many who live out of the state cannot attend because they are still involved in school and grandchildren's activities until the first part of June.  Dennis attended grade school and the first two years of high school in the even smaller town of Alton until our two schools were unified.  We also were able to attend a short reunion hosted by one of his grade school classmates on Sunday.

Sadly most of my close family relatives in town have past, but Dennis still has several and we were lucky enough to visit with most of them.  That included a trip out to North 40 Alpacas owned by his cousin.  Aren't these guys cute?  Just stay out of spitting range!

Of course we made a visit to two cemeteries to "decorate" the graves of some of our deceased relatives.  I have many fond childhood memories of this tradition.  It was almost like a family reunion and it seems there was always a photo of the cousins lined up near our Grandparents grave sites.  

It's hard to imagine that this was Saturday night on Main Street.  Forty-five years ago, it would've been busy with kids dragging Main in their cars.  Maybe these old folks were just too early this evening!  

Can You Go Home Again?

Is there truth to the saying "you can't go home again"?  We found that there are two answers to that question when we recently traveled back to Kansas for an aunt and uncle's 60th wedding anniversary party.   

It had been several years since our last visit to the county where my husband and I both grew up.  In the early seventies, the small high school that D attended was closed  and combined with my "larger" high school in the county seat, twelve miles down the road.  When Mr. B assigned desks in Journalism class, our lives were forever changed when the handsome new boy in class was seated next to me.  We've been together ever since!  

After attending college (Kansas State, together of course!) and a couple of years in the mountains of Colorado (perhaps another blog post someday) we returned to start a small business and our family in that same small community.  Times, careers and lives change and now we find ourselves and our family spread across the Midwest.  So after an absence of several  years, we made a trip "home" again.

This is such a sad photo. I have to admit a few tears were shed when we drove out to the farm.  The house on the family farm homestead where I grew up is no longer standing.  It was bulldozed and burned last year to avoid it's inevitable collapse and ruin.  This was the view looking out the front door to the west.  The scorched trees are evidence of the heat from the century old walls, hardwood floors and white  porch posts that are only a memory now.  The white lilacs, irises and tree swing were gone long before that.

The lonely frame of the big old swing set still stands, giving a reference point to where the back porch door opened to the yard and garden behind the house.  Most everything else, the barn, chicken houses, grain bins and garage, are all gone.  So, nope.  Can't go home.

We drove up to the little town where D grew up.  Another sad sight.  The last time we were here, someone was living in the house that his dad had built back in the late sixties or early seventies.  But now it looks to be completely abandoned and in pretty bad shape.  Hopefully, it is only temporary.

A few miles outside of town was D's grandparents farm.  All that is left here is the skeleton of the windmill.  It was getting dark but we took a few minutes to walk around and take some photos.  D spent a lot of time on this farm as a boy while his mom battled cancer in a hospital in Kansas City. He sometimes would drive the lawnmower from his other grandparents home in town out to here. Not a speedy trip, I'm sure! 

 Another stop on the tour of homes that were.  This is the house that we built back in 1980 and where we lived when our two youngest children were born.  I'm not sure who lives here now, but it was satisfying to know that they are taking very good care of it.  The workshop now seems to be a barn and home to some goats and a horse.  Something our kids(at least one of the girls anyway!) would probably have loved to have done if we'd stayed here.  

But, even though those houses are either gone or occupied, that doesn't mean we couldn't go "home" again.  After all, these last photos are part of what we think of as home!

Thanks for riding along on this trip down memory lane!

Kansas Crops and Sunny Skies

We were truly on the road this past week for a quick trip to Kansas. But we were blessed with beautiful weather for the flight(s) then the remaining highway travel on Friday morning. We have traveled across I-70 many, many times over the years but this trip we came by a sight that was new to us. For several miles we saw these wind generators sprouting up in the pastures. I guess the price of oil has this Kansas farmer looking for alternative "crops" ! If you look closely in the center of the photo, you can make out the original windmill. What a great contrast for the changing times! I didn't even see it (we were traveling about 70 mph at the time) until I downloaded to my computer. After a wonderful tribute to one of our favorite aunts, many of us gathered at the Circle Inn Restaurant for a family meal. Though our spirits were saddened by our loss, we enjoyed an rare occasion to visit with family we hadn't seen in awhile. It's unfortunate that it takes a funeral to bring us all together. Perhaps we'll be able to get that family reunion planned that we keep talking about so we have a happier event to bring us together. Thank you, Aunt E and Aunt F and cousin Jo for reading this! I really appreciate your kind comments. I know some of the other folks in this room are readers too - just lurking in the shadows - right? I would get a thrill out of hearing from some of you or better yet, those of you who couldn't be with us. There's a comment button at the end of this post. How many will put it to use?
The Circle Inn is one of the few restaurants in my little hometown. They have faced many challenges in the past few years. First a devastating fire destroyed the original building. But after a cooperative effort with many local residents, they were able to re-build, but bigger and better. When our mother was a resident at the local nursing home, we would wheel her across the highway in the wheelchair for dinner out. It was a real adventure for her that she always enjoyed. Then last summer, a tornado severely damaged the Circle Inn. Luckily, no one was severely injured in either event, but it took them awhile to get the restaurant back up and running again. One of their signature meals is the Chicken Fried Steak. Presentation is not their thing - just good old home cooking with all the calories included! Maybe motorcycle riding days are on the way again. We were able to get out this afternoon for a cruise up to Mann's Harley-Davidson near Columbus, Indiana. It was so nice out! Bright blue skies and temps in the low 60's made an ideal day. We even had to to turn off the seat heaters, as our buns were quite toasty!
I'll be gone for a few days as the girls and I take off for a little beach time! So this is all for tonight but be prepared for plenty of vacation photos on the next post. Back to packing for me - just got to make sure that nosey cat stays out of the suitcase!

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.