Kansas

Part 2 of 3.

Spending the week here visiting my parents has been very important to me. My Dad has just been given a pretty ominous diagnosis- so no one really knows just how long he has, so I am glad we are here. I’ve been looking around, looking for things that might need fixing, we’ve been playing games together and visiting local friends.

One of the first things that I did with Dad was to go play cards with his friends at city hall!

You couldn’t meet a nicer group of guys. Ages ranged from 70 to 95! (I was the youngest at 55…) They play pitch for 3 or so hours every Monday. While we were playing I looked around the room and realized that we were actually playing in the courthouse! Next time that I visit I will have to go back again…

The next day, I took Daphne and Zack on a little hike to Alcove springs. The springs were an important stop on the Oregon trail for the wagon trains heading west into uncertainty! The famous Donner-Reed party stopped here and one of Reed’s men even gave the springs their name.

There are names and dates carved all over the rocks by the travellers- even the initials JF which is believed to be John Fremont

Such a beautiful area. But if you hike out here in the brush be sure to make preparations against insects. I wore long pants, socks and tennis shoes and really sprayed my legs down with insect repellent just to be safe! Later in the day I told one of my friends where I went and how I prepared. He just smiled and said Yep, you got chiggers. And he was right! I now have about 20 bites on my right leg! If you do ever get chigger bites, I recommend applying a dab of bleach on each bite with a q-tip. It’ll stop the itch. Obviously you had to be tough to be a pioneer!

When Dad’s birthday came, we headed down to Manhattan KS to have a nice dinner at the Longhorn Steakhouse. Five of our California expatriate friends met us there and we had a great time! I took the waitresses recommendation and ordered the flat iron steak which was perfect.

I’m glad that we were able to be here for this!

One thing that I always like seeing when I’m in the Midwest is fireflies!

It’s too hard to get a picture of one lit up, so here’s what they look like unlit! Whenever I do see them- they remind me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland…

Time moves too fast and it’s now time to head home and return to work. We ate breakfast in nearby Marysville, said our sad goodbyes and drove westward!