Thursday & Friday, July 16 & 17 - On the GO GO GO!

Thursday, July 16, 2020 - Visiting our VIP's; Leftovers; Emerson Plays T-Ball; Hanging out with Jarred & Family; Emerson Spends the Night. 

I just finished writing the events for Friday, when I realized I have not yet done a thing for Thursday's posts.  Whew, these two days flew by so quickly I forgot all about Thursday.  Lol!!

I finished Wednesday's blog post before we left Tuttle Creek State Park in Manhattan , however I didn't have time to include the pictures, so that is what I did for the next hour or so as we drove to Wichita.  Maybe that's why I forgot about writing Thursday's post altogether.

After setting up our route on Google Maps, Dean said we would be going by the scenic overlook  south of Manhattan after all if I wanted to stop for more pictures.  Sure - if it's right on the way, and now that we know there is plenty of room to pull in and park with the RV.  

I quickly walked out to take the picture then used our facilities before we pulled out and headed south.  Since I was busy adding the pictures into Wednesday's blog post, I missed a few good pictures.  Even though Dean would say picture, picture - I told him he needed to do that whenever he noticed something interesting for a picture - but today, my camera was not ready until I finished up the blog.  

It was cloudy.  I don't the picture today was as good as yesterday's.

Dean mentioned chinooks at Fort Riley's base, and I managed to snap a picture of those.  When my dad's cousins' family was stationed at Fort Sill, her husband Wayne took us to the base.  He worked on the chinooks as needed, maintenance, etc.  One of the thrills of that trip was to go inside and see the space in one of these massive helicopters.  What an experience for a young girl of about 12!

Chinooks on base.

Fort Riley water tower

 As we moved on down the road, I was able to get the blog pictures added and focus on the scenery.  We enjoyed watching this plane spraying crops alongside of us.  I love to watch these planes since they dip so close to the ground. 

What a beautiful day it was with the clouds, and the bright greens.  You sure don't expect to see green grass and fields like this in mid-July.

It looks as if it goes on forever!

 I 

Beautiful stone barn.

Peabody, KS water tower - reminded me of a dear friend, Susan, who was City Clerk there.

Newton, KS water tower - reminded me of another good friend, John, who I first met while he was with the City of Newton.

 At my first City Clerk Conference in Lawrence, KS I met Dede, who is still today one of my dearest friends.  She was from Whitewater, KS.  Because of her proximity to clerks in her region--like those mentioned, I became friends with many of the other clerks in the area as well.  This drive brought back many memories of our times together at conferences over the years.  

We arrived and were set up at All Seasons RV Park at 1:13pm.  By now we were both hungry so we warmed up our leftovers from Texas Roadhouse for our lunch.  Very good!  We had contacted Heath & Casey earlier to see if we could pick up our first VIP's - their three boys, and take them to Braum's for ice cream.  We picked them up at 2:30.  We had a great time visiting with them for the next hour and a half.  After taking them back home, we returned to Bentley.  Our next VIP's to see was Jarred and family, and attend Emerson's T-ball game.  It starts at 5:45, which gave us a little time to rest before heading to the Y for her game.  We parked and carried our chairs to Field 2.  What a difference in temperatures from the last game.  It was so hot that day and we were sitting in the sun to boot.  Today, was a much nicer temperature, but in addition, we were in the shade the entire game.  Wonderful.  Jarred, Emerson and baby Hayden arrived not too long after us.  I enjoyed holding Hayden through the game, even if she did sleep most of the time.  She still made those cute baby faces I could watch.  Lol!  Jarred and Dean had a chance to visit some while watching the game.  You could tell the kids had now been through several games and their playing had improved somewhat - as much as it can for 4&5 year olds.  Honestly, I could tell a difference from the game we attended a few weeks ago.  Andrea's mom and dad, sister and other family members were in attendance too.  Andrea had an appointment so we'll see her later at their home.

Emerson shading her eyes while looking at us on the sidelines, with her little pink glove in her hand.

After the game, she carried her water bottles back.

Emerson, Dad & Hayden (hdden in the carrier) with a Victory sign.  Of course, they just play two innings and everyone gets to bat twice.  At this age, they are learning more about how to play T-ball, than who wins or loses.

Back at Jarred's, we had some good one on one time with Ms. Hayden, who we finally got to smile....second picture, and visited with Andrea.  

Jarred, the kids, Dean and I went to Jason Deli's for a quick bite to eat.  I ordered a baked potato with brisket and cheese.  When they brought it out to me I could not believe how big it was.  Honestly, it was not only big in diameter, but it must have been 6-7" long.  I might have ate a little over 1/3 of it.  It will be good warmed up for another meal.

Too bad her smiling face was shadowed, but we got the smile, that's what counts!

We stayed to visit with Andrea and Jarred after we returned, then asked if Emmy could spend the night with us.  Mom and Dad said yes, so we loaded up her suitcase and headed back to Bentley.  We spent he next hour or so visiting with her before it was time to go to bed.  I made up a bed for her on the couch, and she was out pretty quick.  It was a great day with some wonderful VIP's - of course, all of our kids and grandkids are VIP's in our book!  


Friday, July 17, 2020 - Moving Day; We Stayed on the Move All Day Long!

I was awake sometime after 4:30, but I made myself stay in bed until about 5:30 since Emerson was asleep on the couch downstairs.  I didn't want to wake her up until closer to 7:30.  Fortunately, it did not faze her one bit that the coffeepot was perking, and I was up moving around.  In fact I had to wake her up.  

Dean drove to Lamar's a few miles away to get doughnuts for us.  Apple Fritter for him, sour cream doughnut for me and a glazed doughnut for Emerson.  I woke her up when he returned.  Her eyes popped open when she heard doughnut.  As soon as Em was done eating, she brushed her teeth and changed into her play clothes.  We gathered up all of her things, then took her home, so Mom or Dad could drop her off at Zoo Camp for the morning.  She has really enjoyed attending it this week and I'm sure she's met several new friends.  She's a very outgoing little girl.

After dropping her off, we wanted to check out climate controlled storage units in the area.  Misti may need one to hold a few things, so we did a little research via Google.  We drove by a couple, however they were not yet open.  Later I did call, gathering information I will share with Misti later today.

Once that was done, we headed back to Bentley, and quickly had everything packed away.  We unhooked and were soon on the way to Oswego at 10:03am.  We made one stop on the way.  We pulled into Hillside RV, where we were parked and set up up by 1:23pm.  

Sorry for the blemish, but this was really a beautiful site.

Always pretty in the Flint Hills!

We were both hungry, so we shared my leftover baked potato topped with brisket and cheese (adding a little extra butter) for our lunch.  That was one BIG potato.  We were both full.

As soon as lunch was over I was in the shower.  I have a hair appointment at 4.  I was barely out of the shower when Marla called to see if I could come early.  In the meantime Dean drove to the Post Office to pick up our mail.  When he returned I was drying my hair.  I had time to get a few other things done before I left for Marla's.  Realizing I had a little time, I drove up and down a few of the streets in town.  It is so sad to see the loss of such beautiful trees.  There was so much debris still stacked at the side of roads from the storm.  There were several homes damaged from falling trees.  City crews and volunteers have worked diligently over the past several days to get things cleaned up.  

Dean left to mow at the lot, and I headed to Marla's.  45 minutes later I was back at Bentley.  I still needed to put on my makeup, and change clothes before we picked Cindy and Elmer up.  We are having dinner at the Columbus Golf Course.  We've talked about trying it out before so tonight's the night.  I was in such a hurry, that when we were just a few blocks from their house I realized I still had my crocs on - I forgot to change into my sandals.  When we left I told Dean we needed to go back to the RV Park so I could change them.  Whew....what a crazy, busy day.

It was a nice drive with time for me to relax a bit before we arrived.  We wanted to get their early before it got busy.  We were fortunate to be the first ones there.  The food was very good and the restaurant was very nice.  They have an outdoor seating area where a couple of musicians provided music.  

A lady walked in later.  I thought I knew who she was, and asked Cindy if it was Andra.  We see her often in the mornings walking in the park, and near Cindy's house.  She didn't think it was because this lady was wearing glasses, but I still thought it might be her.  She went out to the patio area to sit.  After our food arrived, I glanced out there and another lady, Bev from Oswego was sitting with her.  I was now convinced that's who it was.  Before we left, I walked out to visit with them for a few minutes, before we gathered up our leftovers and headed back to Cindy and Elmer's for an evening of Wahoo and Pitch.

Columbus Golf Course Restaurant - what a beautiful space.  Notice the glass garage doors to the right.  These can all be opened to expand onto the large covered patio area.  I can see this being a great venue for a wedding reception.

Too bad I didn't snap this picture with our grandson walking by the door to the kitchen.  Tucker was working in the back this evening, but he did come out before we got our meal to visit with us for a few minutes!

Back at Cindy & Elmer's, the girls won the first game of Wahoo quickly, but then we were robbed of our first place status as the guys won the last three games.  Then we turned our attention to Pitch, which the girls won!  Cindy made peach crisp, adding ice cream for our snack.  I think I've gained 5 pounds this week.  I can't remember the last time I acutally fixed a meal - we've just ate the leftovers from meals we've had after going somewhere to eat.  I'm ready for my own cooking for a few days.  I'm not sure how soon that will happen.  Tomorrow is another busy day!

It was 10 when we left for home.  We both needed a little time to wind down.  It was well after 10:30 before we went to bed.  I had a hard time falling asleep though, but finally fell into a nice slumber.