A Few Eventful Days

It has been a very eventful few days. We left Topeka to move over to Kansas City, just a short hop. That part is nice. I like short days on the road. As soon as we got into KC we contacted some of our friends and relatives of Erma. One of our friends from Mission was close to where we were parked and came by out site. That was a big surprise. We even got to meet a couple of her grand children. They seemed to be nice kids. Late both friends, Donna and Arlie, were available to go out to supper with us, so we met them at The Olive Garden. I had said something to Erma about a day before that we would have to go to an Olive Garden somewhere soon. We had a great time with them during supper. We invited them to the Vectra to spend and evening play the game of Wizard. If you don't know what it is let it be said that it is a simple card game that seems to appeal to anybody that learns to play it. Again we had a enjoyable evening.


HAVING SUPPER AT OLIVE GARDEN

In between dinner time and supper time we were able to see one of Erma's Uncle and one of her cousin. Due to several circumstances our time in KC had to be limited so we spent just a couple hours visiting and then had to move on to the next meeting. You would think that being retired would allow us to spend more time in one place, and sometimes that is true, but not at this time.

The next day we met with another couple, Ricardo and JoAnn from Mission. It really is strange to see people that we know from Mission here in Kansas City, but it is also nice to meet them in their summer home. Our summer home is a whole lot like our winter home. It is only the yard outside that changes. While we were there we were treated to a organ recital by JoAnn. I would have to say that it was too short but it was sweet while it lasted. We shared dinner with them at a Chinese restaurant that was good. They really had a deal. During certain hours seniors eat for 1/2 price. You cannot beat a deal like that. Especially when the food is good.


A SPECIAL ORGAN CONCERT

There was one thing that we had to do before leaving KC and I guarantee you that the job that should have taken an hour or two at most took eight hours plus overnight. Too many details to describe but let it be known that it was almost noon before we got back on the road.

I had wanted to stop in St. Joseph to see the Tiffany stained glass windows in the Presbyterian church. As some of you know I am a great fan of Tiffany windows. I discovered them in the Presbyterian church in Topeka a couple years ago and basically fell in love with them. When we were in Topeka we revisited the windows and learned about others in two places west of the Mississippi. There are some web sites that say Topeka is the only place they exist west of the Mississippi. The ones in St Joseph are from early in Tiffany's career and the ones in St Joseph are from late in his career. There are some windows in Dubuque, Iowa that show a transition of his style. Some day I will see them also.

The other thing I wanted to do in St Joseph was to go to the Pony Express Museum. It is the eastern terminus of the Pony Express route. I was in Sacramento last summer where the western terminus was located. Now someday I have to stop at a few of the way stations. But that can wait.

We made better time on the road out of KC than I would have guessed. So we decided that we would stop in St. Joseph in spite of the fact that we had decided that we would not have time. We saw the windows, beautiful, but the ones in Topeka are even better. The Pony Express Museum was everything that I hoped for and even more. It is a very educational place and worthwhile for anybody to visit.


A LIFE SIZED REPLICA OF THE FIRST PONY EXPRESS RIDE

After we left there we were hungry and saw a Ground Round restaurant. We have not seen one of those for years out in Denver, Colorado. We enjoyed them a lot out there. They are still good in St. Joseph. From there we drove to Troy, Kansas to see some more relatives of Erma. As we go from here tomorrow we should not have any more relatives to see. The worst part of seeing relatives is not being able to see them enough when we just "pop" in for a quick visit. One thing though was good. There was an Indian carver by the name of Peter Toth that carved a tree in every one of the states into the shape of an American Indian. I have seen one of them in Colorado I think. I knew there was one near Troy but I did not know where it was exactly. It is right by the courthouse entrance. I really should seek out the statues and photograph them all, or at least the forty-eight.


A PETER TOTH STATUE IN TROY KANSAS

Tomorrow, Friday, May 29, we have to get on the road early and will head on up to Sioux Falls and get the necessary business done there.

Till Later This is Uncle Duck

Class Reunion

The purpose for coming to Topeka, Kansas was primarily for Erma to attend her class/school reunion. That has been accomplished. It does not seem possible that she could have been out of high school for fifty years but that is what she claim and in another year I will figure to attend the sme one of my school. Schools that I hear about today are so different. Today there may well be several hundred that graduate every year. When the two of us graduated there would not be a hundred in the whole high school and maybe not even that many in all twelve grades.

Nine members of her class along with some of their spouses got together for a private lunch at a restaurant in Hiawatha. A lot of time was spent discussing the changes in family and lifestyle and a number of other things. One of her classmates has spent part of the last two winters about fifteen miles from where were staying in Texas. He is planning to be there next year so maybe we can do something with him sometime. I have not been on the farm since 1960 and listening to some of them that are still in farming was very interesting. I think that I learned more about modern farming in the last few days than I have in the last twenty years. There were so many conversations going on at once that I would have liked to listen to that I really had to pick and choose. So most of the time I listened to farming talk and to those who were telling about the ornery things that were done in high school. There is no question that a lot of that is done in every school, but I almost think they had more fun than most places. It was interesting too that some of the things that I heard about the girl that would become my wife were quite complimentary. It was evident from what was said that she was both a fun person to tease and a person that was respected. We had a great time at the reunion. There was even one of the teachers from her classes. He had taught in the school for forty years.

On Sunday afternoon while I was working on the computer and about to fall asleep we got a phone call with an offer. The granddaughter of some of our friends wanted to go to the zoo. They remembered that I had said I would like to go to the Tropical Rain Forest at the zoo. So we were asked if we would like to go also. I recommend that if you ever go to the zoo make sure that you take a couple first graders. It will put a whole different twist to the experience. It will be a lot more fun and you will remember more things about what you see at the zoo. They can think of things that a adult would never think about. Some of the things that they say may be so funny. There is an advantage in the fact that first graders are ready to go home earlier than an older child would be. You don't have to spend too long at the zoo. I had never thought about mice in a zoo. In the Tropical Rain Forest there were a bunch of little mice that were very evident in one of the displays. They would run out to the trays of food that were set out for the display animals and have a feast. There were also several fruit bats inside. This is the only place that I have seen bats on display. There was several birds that were very colorful too. We had a great time.

ONE OF THE MORE COLORFUL AND FANCIER BIRDS


THERE WERE SEVERAL FRUIT BATS

We went down to see my sister and had a enjoyable time with her. While she took care of some things we went on down to Ottawa and saw some friends there for a couple hours. And then we drove on south to Princeton where I grew up. I always enjoy driving by on the highway near my folks home. I have not been up to the house since they left the farm and really don't have a desire to get any closer. We always said it was a quarter from the highway to the house. The last time I was by there the fields were planted to soy beans that were ready to harvest and now the fields are wheat that will be ready to harvest in about a month I would guess. The pasture where we ran our cattle were changed over to crop fields some time in the past so it looks rather strange to me. A bit further up the road there is a farm where I worked several times. There was a large (to a small boy) barn where I had helped with the haying several times. I photographed the barn a couple years ago. At the time it was falling down and I figured in another five years there would be nothing left that even looked like a barn. How wrong I was. The owner has done extensive repairs and the barn now looks like a new barn. There are several things about it that is too much like the old barn to be a totally new barn. I hate to see old barns fall to neglect and most of them do exactly that. It was great to know that this old barn has a new lease on life, so to speak. When you look at the how bad the barn had become it is very hard to believe that anyone would restore it. But they did.


THIS BARN HAS BEEN TOTALLY RESTORED

Till Later This is Uncle Duck

Topeka Kansas

When we stopped in Thackerville, OK we did not expect any problems. While it was not a big problem it was a surprise. I had my camera bag setting by the drivers seat in the motor home while we drove to Thackerville and I picked it up to take the pictures of the killdeer. Apparently I bumped the turn signal handle on the steering column and activated the lights. I was not aware that the turn signals would work when the ignition switch was off. Every car I have ever had needed the switch on for the directional lights to work. That is not the case with the motorhome. When we got up in the morning and had every thing ready to move as soon as the engine started, the engine would not start. The battery was not completely dead but it was too weak to start the engine. It would not start even with the battery boost from the house batteries. I figured that we were going to spend another day in Thackerville. I have not had luck in the past with jumping from another battery like on the Jeep. I got the battery charger out and hooked it to the battery and started charging. After about an hour and a half Erma asked me if I thought it would start yet. I said "I don't think so." "Stranger things have happened." It may not be strange, but the engine started and we were on the road within fifteen or twenty minutes with the engine putting a full charge in the battery.

So we went from a very relaxed day with lots of time to get to Wichita to one in which we kept our stops to short minimums and I drove ten miles an hour or more faster than I normally drive. We got to Wichita early enough to meet our friends and spend some time with them as we had planned. We don't like to travel on Sunday unless it is really necessary so we spent two nights there and saw a cousin on Sunday instead of driving on.

We are in Topeka now and relaxing a bit. We have gone back to the Presbyterian church here to see the Tiffany stained glass windows again. As I have said many times to people once you see a Tiffany stained glass window you will never look at stained glass windows the same way. We were lucky to be able to go during the time that a class of fifth graders was there for a special tour. One of the retired ministers told the kids about the windows. He was quite good. To see any picture of the windows cannot do justice to the experience. They have to be seen in person and they can even touched and people, even fifth graders are encouraged to touch them. If you ever get a chance either see the windows here or go to Dubuque, Iowa to the ones in the Saint Luke's Methodist church. We have not seen the ones in Iowa but we will. The one here is just across the street from the Kansas State Capitol building.


THIS IS THE LARGEST OF THE WINDOWS


YOU CAN SEE THE KANSAS STATE CAPITOL BUILDING ACROSS THE STREET

I have a friend here in Topeka that works at an auto salvage yard. I say works, but he goes in when he wants, goes home when he wants, does not get paid anything, but he does delivery work all over Topeka and Kansas and sometimes other states. So does he work? I don't know what else to call it. Anyway I spent some time with him a couple years ago and got to see an auto auction for the first time in my life, and also saw car crushing in person rather than on TV. This time I saw an auto auction that was going on in Kansas City over the Internet here in Topeka. To see a car sold every 15 seconds or less via the Internet was very interesting. I have heard of this sort of thing but I have never seen it before.

We are enjoying ourselves.

Till Later This is Uncle Duck

Travel Days

The day before yesterday was a travel day and today was a travel day. We left Bentsen Grove after five and a half months and started north. We did not try to get out early. In fact I was quite content to leave before noon, which we were able to do without any problem. We have taken our time as usual, made several stops to stretch or fuel or to have lunch or whatever. The weather was about as good as could be hoped to have. It was hot, about 96-98 both days. We ran the motor home generator so we could run the big AC all the time and it was nice. I needed to run the generator anyway. It needs to run once in a while just to keep in in shape.

We stopped just on the south side of San Antonio in a camp where we have stayed before. We spent a day seeing some of the area near San Antonio that we have not visited before. The town of Poteet claims to be the strawberry capital of Texas. They also claim to have the world's largest strawberry and while the town water tower is painted like a strawberry they are talking about one that is in front of the local fire department. The "world's largest" is over seven foot tall. While it is rather large I feel that there must be larger ones somewhere. Seven foot really is not very large to me. What do you think? We also thought that it was odd in the strawberry capital of Texas there was not a single strawberry field that we could find on any of the roads that we drove in the area around the town.

THIS IS THE LARGEST STRAWBERRY IN THE WORLD

We came back to the campground where we were staying and received a very nice surprise. There was at least one mated pair of Killdeers that had four small babies that were running around the vacant lots. I actually think there was another young one that was somewhat older around but I only saw it a few seconds and only that one time. The four little killdeer were so cute. They were not much more than a ball of feathers on the top of two sticks of legs. The adults have long legs, but the little ones seem to have longer legs than they should. The legs even seem to get longer when they run. The parents seem to have a hard time keeping the little ones under control. One of them was always going away and then the parents would cry constantly until it would finally come back close. There is no other way to describe them except to call them "cute." We spent a long time time watching them.


THIS IS ONE PARENT KILLDEER AND AT LEAST TWO CHICKS

We did stop by Mission San Jose on the way home. We have visited there twice before. I saw thing this time that I do not remember seeing on the other visits. It amazes me to realize that the chapel that today is plain stone was at one time covered with bright colored frescos of red and blue crosses and with yellow and orange squares to simulate great depressed stones. There is one section that still has some of the frescos that can be seen on the outside. At one time the whole building was covered with paintings that has been lost to the weathering of nature

We are now in Thackerville, Oklahoma for one night and then from here we go on to Wichita, Kansas. We still have several days yet to get to Erma's class reunion so we can still take it easy.

Till Later This is Uncle Duck

Mystery Solved

I have been putting off doing certain jobs around the motor home for quite a while. I finally got some of the work started today. I thought I would get up and do some washing of the exterior of the Vectra. I figured that I could wash one end and one side before it got into direct sunlight. I don't like to wash anything when it is in the sun. The spotting is just too fast when the sun shines on the finish. As it turned out I was able to wash the whole thing. Thanks to the trees the sun was blocked enough that I could work on all sides. I am not about to say that I got it clean, I will only say that I got a few pounds of dirt off of it. There is a film that seems to defy washing in the normal way. Also the water here (and everywhere else I have washed this motorhome) leaves lots of spots of its own. It is particularly noticeable on any glass surface, but it is all over. Once I get the soap washed off and it air dries I have to go back over it with a waterless cleaner and then I sort of figure that it is clean. At least the windshield is clean enough to see out of again. The front was about all that I got cleaned with the waterless. Maybe I can get more done in the next few days.

I really have the feeling that I am almost totally out of touch with the time of year that it is. About 9:00 we decided that we wanted to go out and get a burger. We drove to What-A-Burger and ordered. There was some kids leaving just as we were heading to a booth. The girl walked by in a dress that was the prettiest shade of purple it is possible to imagine. I would be willing to bet that she was dolled up to the T's but I never saw her face so I don't know for sure. There were two boys that were also dressed in suits that made anything I have ever owned look like hand me down. I suppose that they could have been the current equivalent to tuxedos, but again that is something that thirty years ago I knew what they looked like but styles change. At any rate after we got our food I said something to Erma like, "I wonder what they were dressed up for?" "Probably prom." Of course, ever year about this time the kids get dressed up and go to prom. Proms today are so different than they were in the school that I went to in small town Kansas back in 1959 or 1960. About the only thing the same that I see is the time of year. But as I meant to indicate I have not idea what time of year it is.

I did get a mystery solved. There is a fellow that drives around in a golf cart and pulls a small red wagon. The wagon is just about big enough to hold a lawn mower and that is frequently what he has in it. He does a lot of yard work around the park for different people. A couple weeks ago I was talking to him and he told me that for forty some years he had a lawn service company. I guess that he is simply unable to stop doing that sort of work. He is the one that put the netting around the tomato plants of my neighbor. He has been watering the plants in addition to the watering that I have been doing. Also he has fertilized the plants which I am unable to do. So when I leave I will leave the tomatoes for him to harvest for a few more weeks or hopefully months. I got permission today to do that from the fellow that owns the plants. In addition to the tomato care the fellow has been picking up any fruit that falls off the orange tree and throwing it away too. He deserves some reward for doing the work so I hope the tomatoes continue to produce.

This year there has only been one time that we went up to see the green parrots when I had a camera and was just recently. W have been up there earlier this year but I did not have the camera at those times. I about half was expected the season for the gathering to be past and to some extent I guess that is right. There was only about 10 to 15 percent of the normal number of birds and even the grackles were mostly missing. But there were enough for me to take a few pictures, well about a hundred, and there was at least one worth saving. Not a good one but kinda nice so I will include it here.

GREEN PARROTS ON THE SIDE OF A RED BRICK BUILDING

Till Later This is Uncle Duck

Good Neighbors

Today we went to have lunch at Pizza Hut. About the time that our meal came there was an older gentleman finishing his meal. By the time we had the first bite in our mouths he walked by the table and started a conversation. He was interesting to talk to and the subject was nothing of note. I would have thought nothing of it except for his comment as he left. He says, "I did not mean to interrupt your meal." To be sure what he really meant was that he would not interrupt us any more and he was trying to say it in a polite manner. I would say that he was successful. He would be welcome to stop and talk for a bit at any time. But his comment was not true at all in the fact that he fully intended to interrupt us from what we were doing so that he could talk for a few moments.

In our daily living we do that sort of thing a lot of times. Some days we must do it frequently. Whether to call them lies or something else I am unsure. This is one of those gray areas that we live with all the time. How often have we asked, "How are you?", when we really don't care to know unless the answer is, "I'm doing well." Or perhaps we say, "It's been good to see you, keep in touch." And really mean, "Now i can get back to doing what I really want to do, and I won't think of you again for a long time." To be sure if we said what we really felt it could be hurtful and we do not want to hurt. I have thought about such things the first time many years ago and I decided that the proper thing for me to do is to try to modify the things I say so that they are noncommittal or to actually be willing to mean that which I say. Perhaps what I would have said instead could be something like, "I will not interrupt your meal any more. Have a good day." Both statements would be true.

Over a month ago when a neighbor across the street left he was going to throw away two tomato plants that he had grown. He had been giving me a homegrown tomato every couple days and I was enjoying them. I asked him to leave the plants so that I could continue to enjoy them as long as we were here in the grove. Of course he said sure and asked me to throw away the plants when I left. I have watered them a couple times a week and picked the tomatoes fairly regularly. The birds are just about as fast to pick (peck) the tomatoes as I am. They definitely gotten their fair share of the fruit. I was thinking that it would be nice to have a net to drape over the plants to keep the birds away but that is something I might have had when I owned a house and had a garage. I sure don't have such things in the motor home. A couple mornings ago I went over to check if there were ripe tomatoes and discovered that there really is a tooth fairy, or a net fairy. Someone had taken two small pieces of netting and placed around the plants and they are now well protected. I have no idea who did it. There are so few people around anymore and none close to the plants at all. I guess that when I leave i will just roll up the net and place it where it can be seen and let them pick it up later. Somewhere around here is an unknown good neighbor. Hope I find out who it is.

When we bought this Vectra motorhome there was a piece of carpet that was put in the front under the drivers seat and over the area next to it. Also there was a carpet scrap laid on each of the three steps coming in. The idea of course was to protect those two areas from the driver and/or shoppers until the new owner took possession and then they would discard them. Being the new owners we had other ideas. Those pieces of carpet cover the area of highest and dirtiest traffic in the whole motorhome. Anytime we come into the house any dirt on our shoes gets deposited there. Vacuuming or shaking them helped a lot but it finally got to the point that we decided to take them out and was them with a hose and soap. If they took the cleaning, fine, if not, fine. I am out on the concrete "patio" with a hose, a can of carpet cleaner, and a smallish brush. The neighbor behind me came out and said he had the perfect stuff to clean the carpet. He got some of it and make me a bucket of soapy water and brought out a long handled floor scrub brush. What a difference that made. Instead of killing myself crawling on my knees with a small brush I had a tool to do the job properly. Then when I was done scrubbing he came out and offered the use of a drying rack that he has. I was going to let the carpet dry on the concrete, but I knew it would dry better hanging in the air. Even then I figured it would take as much as three days to dry. When I had washed the small pieces it had taken two full day to dry on a picnic table. When I got the carpet hung up it was late afternoon. The next morning when I went out to check of it the small pieces were fastened up with clothes pins and the larger piece had a couple clothes pins on it too. And the most amazing thing was that it was dry. It was cleaner than I though it would ever come too. So once again a neighbor came to assist me without being asked. I don't think that people here are much different than they are anywhere else. I do believe that there are less barriers between neighbors in the camping world so it is easier and more common for people to get close to the neighbors.

This is a great lifestyle.

Till Later This is Uncle Duck

A Concert

In the last few days more people that we know have left Bentsen Grove for their summer homes. It is getting too hot for those that do not want to stay year round. I can understand that. I definitely do not like the hot weather as much as I use to. But then I don't think a whole lot of good things about the cold weather either. I think I have become a fair weather person.

With the absence of people I think that more birds have moved into the park. At least they are more apparent if nothing else. There are mourning dove that must be nesting very close to our motorhome perhaps right in the trees above it. Almost anytime during the night that I am up I hear their cooing. I grew up thinking that the birds went to roost at night and became quiet. Either that is not true or something is different in the south than it was in Kansas or Colorado. When we were in Key West for a month some time ago there were roosters that would crow all through the night. I know that was different than I had ever experienced ever before.

In the 2007-2008 season a friend here in Bentsen Grove with a few other people, put on a performance of lip syncing to a song from the soundtrack of "O Brother, Where Art Thou". They called themselves the Soggy Bottom Boys. I had the soundtrack CD and had listened to it many times and liked it. I loaned it to my friend so he could practice. What I did not realize was that the Soggy Bottom Boys actually was the name of the group that performed the song originally. It was not until I was listening to the album again that I realized the mistake I was making in my thinking.

This afternoon we went over to the Assisted Living facility where my MIL, Helen, is living now. There was a group of ten saxophone players that put on a concert. I heard that they come to perform every once in a while. They are from one of the local colleges music departments. The put on a fine performance. I thought it rather odd that while I knew the music of almost everything that they performed but yet when they told what the name of the song or where it was from was totally foreign to me. It simply goes to show how often we hear a song without knowing what it is and it sticks in our mind.

We are not doing anything special these days. We just biding our time till we make some decisions about how we will handle the summer months. We go out to eat every couple days. We have been trying to go to either some new place or to some places that we have enjoyed in the past and have not been lately. That may not be a good thing right now. I cannot say exactly why but our list of places that will never be a destination to eat is growing longer every week. We have been in places that we liked last year and when we leave we say, "Well, if we don't go back we have not missed much." And that is unfortunate.

The temperature on the thermometer of the Jeep indicated 103 degrees today. Sure am glad that we have a well working AC in the motorhome. If we did not it would be miserable to stay here.

Till Later This is Uncle Duck