Fun on the farm

Here are a few of the fun activities that I did during my last days on the farm when I wasn't busy writing this blog.



I heard it through the grapevine that there was a party going on.

I played football with some of my little friends.

I went to a rodeo with this cowgirl and cowboy.

There are lots of small vehicles that I could drive.........if I knew how. Awin used to have a red truck.

1912 and a 1935 cars

A 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air

These are very old.

I did lots of farm work.

This is my pay for my hard work I did on the farm.


This ends my 2-month visit with Papa Ken and Mama Bev. What memories! I will be traveling back to Lawrence soon. I am planning to come back for a visit at Thanksgiving.

Dinner parties

I attended the Sedan Business Women's Recognition Banquet.

I thought this looked good enough to eat, but was told it was only for decorations.

I attended the Pretty in Pink dinner in recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Brown Mansion in Coffeyville

I was invited to attend a Red Hat luncheon at the Brown Mansion in Coffeyville so I had to go shopping for a suitable hat. Finally found one my size.

Here I am at the Brown Mansion which was completed in 1906 for W. P. Brown at the cost of $125,000. They tell me that was a lot of money in those days. It has 20-inch brick and concrete walls. Better get my hat on and go inside. http://www.kansastravel.org/brownmansion.htm

This is a scale model of the home. The three-story, 16-room home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and sits atop a hill.

The ladies just loved having a man in attendance.

There were lots of beautiful ladies wearing purple clothes and red hats.

I couldn't decide which dessert to take, so I took one of each.

Trip to Sedan

The St. Charles School was moved from the country to the Hollow Park, and it is now the home of the Chamber of Commerce and a museum. There is an album of former Chautauqua County teachers with their pictures and stories. This is the school that Awin's grandmother taught her first year of seven back in 1928. http://www.kansasphototour.com/sedan.htm




This big rock once was the top of a well.

This carved statue of Emmett Kelly Sr. was hewn from a tree stump

http://www.emmettkellymuseum.com/

Behind me is a water fall but it is dry now. This area used to be a trash dump and with hard work the community turned it into a beautiful park. Awin and his sister helped pick some of the trash as a 4-H community project back in the early 90s.

This is the mascot for the school where Awin and his sisters attended. I didn't know he was a devil.

Trip to Independence

I toured Independence and saw all the great statues.

The Statue of Liberty is in front of Memorial Hall. Can you see me? I am in standing in front of the flowers.

Field of Blue designed by George Lundee.

This is in front of the Civic Center which is the lower level of Memorial Hall. I helped the Boy Scout hold the flag.

'Family Outing' designed by Lucy Gibson Thompson

'KI - AI' designed by Mark O. Taylor

'Bookworms'

I am stuck in the shoe.

'Wings' designed by Gary Lee Price

The Independence school mascot is a Bulldog. This was presented from 'The Class of Champions' Class of 1958.

'Secret Garden' designed by Mark Lundee

This statue is in front of the library.

Close up of 'Secret Garden'

Home again * Day Twenty-five 09-12-08

We stopped to read the information board which is between Montezuma and Ensign. There are 170 towers that cover nearly 20 sq miles and is the first to be built in Kansas. Each tower is 207' high and weighs 147,000 lbs.

Papa Ken helped build these wind towers seven years ago. Each turbine consists of 3-blades, 77' each, 154' in diameter and each blade weighing 3,300 lbs.

We stopped in Greensburg to view what was left of the city after the terrible massive EF5 tornado on May 4, 2007 that was nearly 2 miles wide. The city was 95% destroyed, but they are rebuilding and life will go on.

The tornado destroyed the Big Well Museum & Gift shop and the water tower. A new water tower has been constructed and plans are for a new museum/gift shop. Notice the bent flag pole.

This has been constructed since the tornado.

This is the World's Largest Hand-Dug Well which was built in the 1880s. The Santa Fe and Rock Island Railroads were laying tracks across the plains of Kansas and needed a reliable water source. The cost was about $45,000 which was a hugh sum of money in those days. The well served as a source of water for the city until 1932. In 1888 the well was completed and it is 109' deep and 32' in diameter.

Since the tornado no one is permitted to walk down the steps to the bottom of the Big Well, but plans are to open it again soon.

This is the big Gem Stone Rock between Cedar Vale and Sedan. It was found in the ground when the new 169 highway was built. It was stood up and half is buried in the ground.

WE ARE HOME! We drove 408 miles today making a total of 5,425 miles by car plus the 4,100 traveled on our Alaska/Yukon trip making a grand total of 9,525 through 15 states, British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada. This is the most I have traveled on any trip. I will be spending some time on the farm before I go back to Lawrence next month to live with Awin again. I must go help him plan for his wedding next July. Wonder what else is in store for me.

Emily jumped into the car as soon as the door was opened. She was so happy to see me.

I hope you have enjoyed my trip and perhaps learned a few things about our wonderful world that we live in.

Traveling west through Kansas * Day One 08-19-08

This is the first time I have seen wind towers and these are located at Beaumont, KS. just east of Wichita.

Sign at St. Fidelis Church in Victoria, KS. http://www.stfidelischurch.com/

St. Fidelis was the largest church west of the Mississippi when it was completed in 1911 with a seating capacity of 1,100.

The stone for this massive Romanesque structure was hauled in from a quarry seven miles south, and its granite pillars were shipped in from Vermont. The twin bell towers rise majestically above the plains and the church was named "Cathedral of the Plains."

The tower at Hays advertising the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.

We drove on K-247, which is Kansas’ shortest state highway running a little over 417 feet. After arriving in town we found a huge sunflower painted in the middle of every brick-street intersection.

Yes, these are in Kansas. These Monument Rocks are in Gove County just south of Oakley on I-70. These vertical rock sentinels appear suddenly on the broad, flat plains. "The Kansas Guidebook for explorers" written by Marci Penner, says they are A National Natural Landmark that stands along the old Butterfield Overland Despatch route (Smoky Hill Trail) and travelers once passed by here on their way to the Colorado gold fields.. These rock formations, buried for millions of years, are part of the amazing geological diversity of Kansas. They continue to gradually crumble and have a flaky texture. http://www.naturalkansas.org/castle.htm

These rocks are also known as the Chalk Pyramids. Is this where chalk rock comes from that became the famous ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK chant?

Bet you didn’t know Kansas had these! Do you see me?

I climbed on this one. See me?

This are on the west side of the road.

The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas.

We stopped in Oakley to see Buffalo Bill Cody shoot a buffalo. This Charlie Norton sculpture is a double-life sized bronze of this famous western scout, hunter, and showman. Legend has it that in 1886 Cody was hunting buffalo to feed the Kansas Pacific Railroad construction crew. Ironically, Fort Wallace soldiers had commissioned army scout Bill Comstock to do the same thing. A contest between the two men (both nicknamed "Buffalo Bill") was staged near today’s town of Monument to see who could shoot the most buffalo in one day. Cody won, 69 to 46. On that spring day in 1886 the legend of Buffalo Bill Cody was born! (Information from "The Kansas Guidebook for explorers." By Marci Penner.

Thought I would ride along with my friend Buffalo Bill.

I hope the buffalo doesn’t put his foot down.

Oh no! How did I get here?

Rotary sign telling about Van Gogh Painting in Goodland, KS. We are now in the Mountain Time Zone.

Canadian artist Cameron Cross painted an enlarged reproduction of one of Vincent Van Gogh’s seven sunflower paintings and has displayed them in seven countries. The 24 X 32-foot painting, completed in 2001, rest on an 80-foot-high easel and weighs 40,000 pounds. Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, Japan, South Africa, and Argentina are the other countries with the giant easels and paints. (Thanks Marci for the info.)

I had to get a closer look.

Eating picnic supper with Papa Ken. I am in heaven. Look at these delicious peanut butter cookies that Mama Bev made.

Leaving Kansas and it will be many, many days before we return.

Entering Colorado on I-70. Colorado is the Centennial State and ranks 8th in land area and 22nd in population with Denver being the capital and largest city.

The United State and Colorado flags.

A Colorado license plate.

Finally, after such an educational day I am ready for bed in my special bed that Mama Bev made just for me. We had driven 538 miles and stayed in Burlington, CO.