Kansas

We enjoyed our time with family and sightseeing in Kansas. Thanks Cousins for a great time - you're right, we have to stay longer next time!

If you've never been to Kansas, you have to visit. This trip we did a lot of quirky stuff that I'd never seen and we really enjoyed it. So here goes!

We went to dinner in Minneapolis, Kansas at the Blue Moon. It's only open on weekends and is in the basement of an old building - reminds me of a speakeasy. Upon walking into the Blue Moon, we were greeted by a cousin I hadn't seen in years - it was great seeing you again, Martha. Here's what you'll see if you go to the Blue Moon - and you'll enjoy the steaks, salmon, pork chops or anything they fix.

Lucas

The next day we really explored. We started out in Lucas and the Garden of Eden. Now this place you have to visit. It was built by a Confederate War veteran - S.P. Dinsmoor - who was also a retired school teacher from Ohio. He built all of this himself out of concrete and stone. The house is stone and the sculptures and some of the out buildings are all concrete. I loved his philosophies - in fact I think we should run him as a candidate for President. He's even buried in a mausoleum he built and you can see him though the glass - mostly bones but he still has his beard - Amy refers to him as the "Old dead guy." I had to text her to see if she'd been there - she had. So here are a couple of my favorite shots - there are more to show you when I get home along with the book with Mr. Dinsmoor's explanations.

Labor Crucified - the laborer is in the center being crucified by the "Leaders" - Lawyer, Doctor, Preacher and Banker. The clouds are compliments by Mother Nature.

Here's the Stone Cabin. It's built from cement logs, of course.

This is the back side of
the piece called Trust - yes,
the flag is concrete.

And this is the is the
Garden of Eden sign with
Adam and Eve.

The Big Flush

We're still in Lucas! Next we visited the Big Flush in Lucas. We didn't realize that it was the day of the event - we just came to see the new public restroom decorated in mosaic. But it was the day of the event - there was an auction and highest bidders won the right for the first flush. This town is very into Outsider Art - also called Visionary Art - it reminded me of Volis Simpson and his mobile sculptures in Wilson, NC. I was interviewed by a reporter with the Salina Journal but he didn't include any of my witticisms - I was quoted but they weren't any of my words. Oh well, fame is fleeting. Enjoy the new Lucas Public Restroom:

 The entrance...

The ladies room mirror...


















Here's the article from the Salina Journal - I was misquoted....  I have the complete article for you to see.

The Mushroom Rock State Park

 The glaciers dropped their loads here near Salina Kansas. There are about 5 mushrooms. What fun!
 

Fort Harkness

Here's a picture of Fort Harkness - Geronamo was held here but went on a hunger strike and climbed through the bars and escaped from his second floor cell:

Coronado Heights

Coronado and his guys came into Kansas and it's believed they stood at this highest point in Saline County. People say Kansas is flat, but I'm here to tell you it's not! This building was built during the Depression by the WPA and it's wonderful. I've also included a picture of the view from the top of the monument - the scene below is of the Spring wheat crop - it was being harvested while we were there:

Cozy Inn Hamburgers

If you go to Salina, you must include a visit to Cozy Inn for it's onion hamburgers. A clerk in the antique store around the corner (I got some great stuff - go there) was giving information to visitors and here it is:

1. Don't go inside - order from the window outside - you will smell like Cozy Inn for weeks.
2. Make sure you stand up-wind at the window (see above)
3. The grease is part of the charm of the place

Cozy Inn was my Dad's favorite so it has to be good. It's Kansas's 8th wonder.

Now, if onion burgers aren't your forte, try Scene across the street. It has the best Pizza I've ever eaten - try the Buffalo Pizza.

Another great place to visit is the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson. You need to go. They have WWII rocketry from Germany, and Apollo and the space capsules. It was like watching the moon walk all over again. It's fabulous. We didn't have time to do the Salt Mines, but will next time.The day ended with a sail on Milford Lake - how cool was that.

Thanks Cuzes (Kevin, Lynn and Kip) and Uncle Pete and Aunt Audrey. It's always wonderful seeing you. There's so much more to see!

We're in Columbia Missouri tonight and on to Casey Illinois tomorrow - visiting friends Friday. No new pictures and I don't know what's coming up next. We are on our way home.I still have some interesting blogs once we get home - the desert flowers, the Texas bathroom murals, favorite food places, etc.
The more we use our travel trailer, the more I love it! And this has been a great adventure. I hope you're planning your next adventure.

Now, this isn't the end of the blog - just near the end of this trip. Remember, we're going to Minnesota soon. And there's lots of life in between. Visit often.

California to Kansas

We left Anaheim with mixed emotions - great seeing family but California changed so much it didn't feel like home anymore. Guess Thomas Wolfe is right - "You can't go home again." Oh well guess we moved on too. We spent several nights near Barstow, California so we could visit Calico - an old mining ghost town. It's grown but it sill brought back great memories.


The bottle house  is a new building but rather cool - made out of bottles. The buildings and mountains are rather fun.









And the sheriff uses modern transportation






We also went rock hunting in the Calico Mountains and I found a couple pieces of Jasper. Wonderful evidence of the Calico Fault upheaval was in the parking lot. That's a prime example of what earthquakes can do.

We stopped at Kingman, Arizona for a night - home of Andy Devine - "Jingles" in the TV series Wild Bill Hickcock and an actor in many other westerns. It's also home of some Turquoise Mines.

From Kingman, we traveled on the Flagstaff, Arizona for a couple of nights. We met friends Amy and Jason for dinner at Cafe Ole and had a wonderful meal. I really miss working with Amy. Jason is a potter who spent some time at Penland and The Exhange near Spruce Pine, NC. Flagstaff is delightful with wonderful temperatures despite it being near 100 degrees everywhere else in Arizona.Flagstaff is almost at the Grand Canyon which we missed this trip. Another reason to return to the area.

And our next area to explore was in the Holbrook, Arizona area. We went to Ganado to the Hubble Trading Post - it's still active. While we were there, a Navajo Native American woman came in to sell a pictoral weaving. I enjoyed watching the exchange - didn't understand the conversation since it was in Navajo - but I ended up buying the piece. I'll show you all when we get home. It's very special. This is a reputable trading post not like the ones on the Interstate. Then we went on to the Painted Desert, the Petroglyphs, and the Petrified Forest. They were fabulous and here are pictures for you to enjoy:




















We spent Memorial Day weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We visited Santa Fe and old town Albuquerque. We saw statues of Coronado - he visited New Mexico on his way to Salina, Kansas. And so are we. That's our next stop and my next blog. I'll see you in a little bit to let you in on all the fun in Kansas.

The Adventure from NM to California

I haven't meant to neglect you all - just been busy having fun living the retired life. We spent 2 nights in Benson, Arizona - that's in the southeastern part of the state. The family spent several months at Fort Huachuca just north of Benson, so we had to visit again. Sierra Vista has certainly grown and Bisbee is still there - a bit more gentrified than when we lived there, but so beautiful. We also visited the Coronado National Monument - yes, that Coronado visited the area. The funny part is that we'll be visiting Salina, Kansas in a few weeks and that's the northern most place he visited and we'll have pictures for you then. So, here are the pictures I took in Arizona:

Big B for Bisbee

Here's a great example of Bisbee architecture and it's for lease/sale. There were great antique shops and I bought lots of books to deface and rebuild - don't worry Librarian friends, they aren't value.

 And once you finish shopping, visit the Bisbee Breakfast Club for lunch (it's not open for dinner.) I read about it on roadfoodblog.com.




We left Benson, Bisbee, Sierra Vista Arizona and moved on to Blythe, California. We camped on the Colorado River - the shore on the left is Arizona and California is the right shore - Southern California exists because of water from the Colorado River but I think Arizona won a big suit getting "custody" of its water but don't quote me on that:

We traveled through a big wind farm at Palm Springs. Haven't been there since I was a little kid and perhaps we can go back. Next, we landed in Banning, CA. What a great campgound - a KOA. Larry and I both  want to spend a lot more time there. We could see Idyllwild - a mountain community and you can see it still has snow on the mountain. We're looking at it from the high desert - I love the fact that you can be in the snow one minute and the desert an hour later. Enjoy Idyllwild:

And we arrived in Anaheim CA home of Disneyland. We were fight behind Disneyland and could see The Matterhorn Mountain and the fireworks each evening



We visited family and they visited it - great seeing all the Harpers and Aunt Mary. Lora and I antiqued in Orange and Scott, Pam and Greg joined us at Disneyland. We rode some of our favorites - Pirates of the Caribbean, Mark Twain Paddle Steamer among others - and 2 new ones - Star Tours (Star Wars and wasn't it fun) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (another one that I'll do again.). Thought you'd like to join us too:

Entrance to Disneyland

It's a Small World - didn't go on this one because we didn't want the song in our heads for the rest of the trip

R2D2 and C3PO

Well, we found California had changed a lot - like we have. Nothing we remembered still existed as we remembered it. But then we've changed, too. We ate at favorite places of yore but things didn't taste the same as we remembered it. Family haven't changed and it was wonderful seeing them all. Thanks you guys!! We really had fun. We left Anaheim today and are now outside of Barstow California near Daggett. Both Larry and I love the Calico Ghost Town/Mine and will visit tomorrow. Now we KNOW that will have changed since it was purchased by Walter Knott (Knott's Berry Farm) and he added lots to it. I think we'll also go rock hunting and if there's time and we feel so inclined, we'll see the Petroglyphs - or perhaps save that for another trip. It's time for me to stop now - more adventures tomorrow. Bye!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

We spent today in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Of course we had to visit the Farmers and Crafters Market in Las Cruces.Then on to the original settlement called Mesilla where there was a Fiesta - complete with Mariachi music and dancing. Lunch was at La Posta restaurant - I highly recommend it - New Mexico Mexican food is different than the Sonora-style I'm used to but very good. Thought you might enjoy seeing pictures of Mesilla and Las Cruces:

Las Cruces Museum

Mesilla Residence

Mariachi Mesilla Fiesta

Dancers - Mesilla Fiesta

 Here are 2 more murals from Texas Rest Stop restrooms:

I like T. Boone Pickens' ideas about energy and it looks like Texas has embraced it too - take a look at the wind farms around Midland & Odessa - I added a picture of what we used to see - oil wells (Larry ways they're called "Nodding Donkeys") to show the old and new energy ideas:

The Future - Midland & Odessa Texas

Today - West Texas

Another day of rest before we move West and the cats are happy about that. Enjoy yourselves - we'll be looking for interesting things for you to see. I leave you with night view of Las Cruces from the KOA campground:

We  made it to Waco, Texas - home of the Texas Rangers Museum, Baylor University, the Brazos River, Rudy's BBQ and our friends the Weatherbys. The picture at the right is the Texas Rangers Museum (that's law enforcement rangers not the sports team) - lots of rifles, pistols and Western gear. I'd forgotten that the Texas Rangers captured Bonnie and Clyde so there was lots of stuff captured with them and their gang and I really enjoyed that.

The Weatherby's took us to Rudy's BBQ and that was a great place. We thought you might enjoy what it looks like inside we highly recommend it if you're in the area:

We spent 2 great days in Waco and will return to do much more.
 

Rest Stop on I-35W

And what can we say about the Rest Stops in Texas (at least along the routes we took). They are ready for heat and lots of fresh air, they were clean, and well decorated with colorful murals (the same picture in the 2 I visited, but so artistic.) Aren't they cool?

We're in Abilene, Texas tonight and then on to Van Horn, Texas. Man, there's a lot of Texas. Our next real rest is Las Cruces, New Mexico. Larry and I have wanted to explore it for many years and we're going to take 3 days. Nicole, we'll say HI to Las Cruces for you.

Enjoy yourselves and we'll talk to you again soon.

We made it to Hurricane Mills, home of Loretta Lynn. Loretta's home is about 5 miles north of I-40.Hmmmm - I don't this this will be a destination in the future. It's a great food stop - loved the fried chicken and catfish at Loretta's Kitchen Buffet but next time I'll stick to it and the salad bar. Desserts looked good but didn't try any since we heard that the Log Cabin restaurant down the hill has mile high pies. Trying this restaurant tonight.

If you're a Loretta Lynn or Country  Music fan, you should go up the road and see what's at her ranch. We only stopped at the free stuff outside. You might also want to check out the Lynn Family Flea Market a bout 3.5 miles from I-40. We didn't buy anything but enjoyed talking to Betty Sue; no I didn't ask if she's a Lynn relative.

Took a walk and found this wonderful street sign next to the Galilean Church - I swear I didn't manipulate this photo so I'm not sure I'd be comfortable going there for Sunday service: the trees are green, I swear - isn't that the spookies photo??

We're off to Little Rock, Arkansas tomorrow. Wonder what we'll see there!

The Adventure has begun. It took a couple of weeks to get used to not working. And now we've started heading west. We started out in Lexington, VA at Natural Bridge. Did you know that the Haunted Mansion burned recently and they don't know if it will reopen -- and I never went in, just saw it from the outside. Another landmark gone.

Tonight we're in Crossville, TN which is between Knoxville and Nashville. We saw an interesting bird that was trying out his mating dance but we didn't see a female and of course we forgot to bring a bird book so I don't know what it was. Oh well, it was fun observing Spring rituals.

Tomorrow we head west and plan to spend a couple of nights in Loretta Lynn's birthplace, Hurricane Mills, TN. My friend Alison and I had lunch there once and as I recall, it was the best fried chicken I'd eaten in years. So we'll check it out tomorrow night and buy Loretta Lynn souvenirs for family. We may try to hit the world's largest tree house as we leave the campground tomorrow. Oh so much to see and so little time. I promise to add pictures for you with the next installment of the blog.

I hope you're finding the links useful and some of these ramblings amusing or at least interesting. I'm having fun writing them. Cheers my friends. 

Google Archive

I started cleaning up my desktop today and ran across this list of Google sites from the wonderful (and now gone) Google Labs. Some of these may have been incorporated into other Google creations, some of them will stay around and some of them will of course be dead links. I archived the list before Google Labs moved into Cyberspace so I'll share them here in all their glory (all links worked today):

• http://www.googleartproject.com/
• http://correlate.googlelabs.com/
• http://www.google.com/transliterate/
• http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/#text
• http://eyes-free.blogspot.com/2010/10/walking-about-with-talking-android.html
• http://earthengine.googlelabs.com/#intro
• http://www.google.com/publicdata/home
• http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/
• https://storegadgetwizard.appspot.com/storegadgetwizard/index.html
• http://google-gruyere.appspot.com/
• http://www.google.com/mobile/shopper/
• http://www.google.com/moderator/#0
• http://www.google.com/webmasters/
• http://www.google.org/flutrends/
• http://www.google.com/mars/

I didn't list Google's Advanced Search - which is my all time favorite way to sift out "stuff" I don't want when seriously researching (like .com and .net). I can "sift"t the results by those from .edu first, then other reputable domains.To get to it I search "google advanced search" and the first result is the link - I think I'll make it one of my favorites/bookmark it to make it easier.

The body browser link (it isn't listed) was really a great site so I did some research (Hooray) and you might want to try it at this new link:
     http://www.chromeexperiments.com/detail/body-browser/

Medical Information Sites

This one is to remind me - and you - of decent places to find health/medical information. I warned you that one reason for this Blog was to give me a place to archive info I'll need.

I've always used the databases from my library's home page. However, I won't be able to do that from home once I've retired (so sad.) I'll continue to use library resources, but I'll miss the convenience of doing research at 2am or Sunday. Sigh...

I tell students to go to med schools or "experts" first - find trusted information! And remember doctors don't always agree on the "right" treatment. You need to do the research, discuss your findings with your doctor, and be a partner in your health care. I have a great doctor who approves of my method - if I come across one who doesn't, I'm running away from them as fast as I can.

Here are some decent sites (by means not all complete, so I'll continue to update) - the links will open in a new window for me & you:

Health/Medical Information Websites

www.mayoclinic.com

http://healthfinder.gov

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/

http://www.cdc.gov/

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary

http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care

http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=477

MD/Hospital Rating Sites:

http://www.patientslikeme.com

http://www.healthgrades.com/

Getting Ready to Retire

It's that time of life - retirement. And I'm looking forward to reinventing myself.. What a golden opportunity. I know many people don't consider retirement an opportunity and that's OK. I may decide to go back to work, but it'll be in a completely different field and that's what exciting. I'll play a while with gusto and then and see what comes.

I've had an advantage over many contemplating retirement - when I was in my 20s (that's age, not 1920s) I was a Social Worker for clients in Rest Homes.  That got me thinking about how I would handle things when I got "old." Well, time moved quickly, didn't it and here I am. I'm ready - complete with plans in mind for when I'm 20 years older and need help.

No one never knows what "life" throws their way, so I've enjoyed mine & continued to think about what I'd do..IF. For example, I used IF as an excuse to buy souvenirs or things that reminded me of a certain trip or event - that way should I became physically incapacitated, I could look at that object and mentally travel again. Yes, I've had to pare down collections but that's been fun too. My family will tell you that I've collected more than enough memories but I don't think so.

So I'm on the eve of retirement. I'm establishing this Blog as a way to communicate with old and new friends, to give myself an archive of things I want to remember (and would probably loose or misplace if it's paper), to let people know about new things I find or experience, and to be out there in Cyber Space.

So who am I? Besides being a Social Worker, I'm the wife of a retired Army Warrant Officer and newly retired federal employee, a Mom (2), a Grandmother (almost 6), a library technician, an Information Researcher/embedded-librarian on a research team (one of the Navy's Federally Funded Research & Development Centers), and I'll retire from being supervisor of a Community College library. I also worked in gift shops at Movieland Wax Museum/Palace of Living Arts & Disneyland Hotel, at a fast food restaurant, in my college's cafeteria, as a maid maid, as a teacher in an Army Education Center - and many numerous volunteer activities.

I have a Bachelor of Music Degree (opera performance) and did lots of singing in churches and concerts. I've done weaving and felting (I know, you can buy felt, but it's so much more fun creating it), jewelry making, photography, and sewing.  Now I have time to go back to all of them and see what happens.

I'm researching my family genealogy and will be spending lots of time proving who I am and where I came from - I'm hoping to find that I'm really related to Daniel Boone and that one of my relatives was a Lady in Waiting to Mary Queen of Scots; I'm working on my husband's too. So watch out Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and California (and that's just where I know so far.) You may see me at conferences or archives or libraries or graveyards - stop and say HI.

I love researching. And I love training (it's almost as good performing.) I love food, travel and plan to do lots of that. Oh so much to do - and if I win the lottery I can expand my horizons even further.

So here goes.... I can hardly wait. Join me if you like - I'll try to make it interesting or informative.