punkins

The Big Well, Greensburg, KS

10-30-15:  Back to the Heartland after a glorious weekend in Texarkana for Laura's wedding.  Our hearts are full after seeing her so happy.  We have a little less than a month left in Kansas, so we are looking forward to seeing as many people and places as possible before heading back to Texas for the winter.  Some of the pix below were taken before we went to Texarkana.

One of the neat things about where we stay in Wichita, is it's between McConnell Air Base and Eisenhower Airport.  That makes for getting to see and hear some interesting air traffic.  But the last couple of days I've heard an unusually loud and low-flying plane over the rv park and today I finally got to see it.  It was an Osprey Hybrid.  I didn't get a pic, but be sure to google it because it's super cool.

Just more Kansas sunrises!  Never gets old!  And later today Sara Karnes posted sunrise pix from Branson that looked just like what we were seeing. God keeps us connected to our peeps in such interesting ways!

my GPNC friend, Erlena, and her sweet service dog

10-16-15: Above are a few pix from the film festival day that I volunteered with at the Great Plains Nature Center in mid-October.  It was a beautiful day and I had time to do a little walking on the trails before my parking lot duty.

Finally found "Fire on the Mountain".  Rachel from GPNC told me about it a few weeks ago and I've looked on various hikes to no avail. But today I found it!  The colorful pix above are some internet pix of FOM.  The duller pix are what I found on the trails.  So we have Snow on the Mountain and Fire on the Mountain.

10-17-15:  Headed over to Douglass this morning for Andrew's soccer game, then took them to Augusta to the Pumpkin Patch.  What a fun day!  And it's finally cooling down and feeling a little like fall.

this slide makes one go faster than she expected

but she managed to hold her "precious" up to keep it safe

spelunker #1

spelunker #2

Grammy and Asher

What the photographer missed after this shot, was a little bitty girls hopping on the see-saw with Grammy after Asher hopped off.

Andrew in the Rat Race

Both Andrew and Asher won a bag of free kettle corn for their perfect aims!  Andrew with the punkin shooter and Asher with the paint ball gun.  He's convinced he's ready to go deer hunting now.

Grammy slinging a gourd

That face!  Looks like a scary zipline

til ya see how close to the ground he was

Andrew - doesn't everyone run on top of hay bails?

Asher - it's no easy task to climb up here

children of the corn

Grandpa and the A's

enjoying their winnings

Hayride to the punkin patch

We told them they could pick out any pumpkin from the patch they wanted.  As long as they could carry it themselves.  Asher originally had the one Andrew is holding, but decided if he had to carry it himself he might find a different one.

Grandpa found a 35 pounder.  They had those near the exit so he didn't have to carry it too awfully far.

10-20-15:  Wow!  I believe we have a "tumbleweed" situation at the rv park!  These things are everywhere!  They are actually Windmill Plants and they are blowing through the area right now.  They are very lightweight, but "grow" as they build up along a fence.  And every time the office door opens they rush in!

We've been able to get to know some awesome people at ACRV.  Love little Hudson and Hadley Jo.

Got the above pic from my friend Marlyse today at work.  

10-24-15: Wedding Day!  Plenty of pix on my other blogposts.  After the happy couple left town, David and met Bill and Pam / Jakeb and familyat Big Jake's. Bill and Pam were feeling a little sentimental after Laura's wedding.

My college bestie, Lisa.  So proud of the ghoul she has become.

Andrew -- the mad scientist
Asher -- Frankenstein

Paula and Jerry Black's granddaughter -- a bowl of spaghetti.  Is that not cuteness??

10-31-15:  Halloween was uneventful for us at the rv park. (Happily)  But we enjoyed seeing all the goblin pix on FB!

Andrew and his 2015 soccer pic

this 7 year old didn't think it was too funny that we gave him a sippy cup -- but it didn't stop him

Saturday morning cartoons with the boys

and crash

fall jams

11-2-15:  We headed over to Augusta this morning for truck suspension work and caught another fantastic sunrise on the way! This afternoon we got to play Panties with Greg and Linda Sue.  The girls hammered the guys. It's all in the visors.

11-5-15:  Saw my first bald eagle of the season.  We were riding down 235 at dusk and saw it flying beside the highway.  It was flying pretty low and headed toward a pond.  The white head and tail were very visible even as it was getting dark.

lots of railroad work going on

11-6-15:  Rocky went in for his yearly checkup this morning --- well, we went with him.  Afterwards the 3 of us took a road trip to Greensburg.  Beautiful, clear autumn day.  On the way we saw the beginnings of the Cottonwoods turning yellow, more hawks than we could count, and some healthy cottonfields.

Greensburg was virtually destroyed several years ago by a major tornado.  Sadly, there were fatalities. But the people rebuilt and did so in a very green way.  There are 6 LEED certified buildings in this little town, which is more per capita than anywhere in the USA.

"Space Wanderer", Pallasite Meteorite was found on the Peck farm in Kiowa County in 1949.
Weighing over 1000 pounds, it's the largest pallasite found to date. It has been on display at the Big Well Museum since.  After the 2007 tornado, it was recovered and put on display at Exploration Place in Wichita, then Sternberg Museum in Hays, and it now back "home" at the Big Well Museum.

Construction of the world's largest hand dug well began in 1887 and served as a source of water until 1932.  It is a masterpiece of pioneer engineering.  Workers were paid 50 cents to a dollar a day to work from sun-up to sun-down. It was completed in 1888 and was 109 feet deep, 32 feet in diameter. It was opened as an historic attraction in 1937. It is on the 8 Wonders of Kansas.

On the way home, we got off the main road a bit to check out the Pratt County fish hatchery.  But we didn't think it looked overly impressive, so we drove around the Pratt County Veterans Memorial Lake instead.

The Ninnescah River feeds into the lake.

11-8-15:  Learned on FB today about the passing of Mary Aleba, one of our RV'er peeps.  She was in her early 60's, traveled alone, and was a bundle of liveliness! She had a massive heart attack while workamping in Florida at one of her favorite places.  RIP Princess Mary from PA.

Wanda Harland and me

Today on FB I also learned that one of my Texarkana College friends was on the road and passing through Wichita.  Though I was working, I contacted her and she made time for a visit! It had been over 30 years since we'd seen each other, but we picked right up where we left off.  So much fun getting to see her and catch up!

getting my neck "just right"

She tried to tell me how to get my neck just right for a selfie.  Worked out beautifully, don't ya think?


November is truly a month thankfulness!  We are so thankful for our family and friends that we've spent time with in Wichita and Texarkana this month!

Love to you all!

Cannonball Green, Slider, and Corn Dog