Work, walks, and a wedding

Last week was a whirlwind.  Returning from vacation and immediately having to travel for work gave me no time to ease back into normal life.  Peaches even thought it was exhausting!

I was lucky to enjoy a small and peaceful dog walk at the shelter on Wednesday night.  The dogs were excited to be out of the shelter and enjoying a nice walk with our volunteers.   Bucky Barnes was a very happy boy!

Sweet gray-faced Carmen stole my heart.  Both that face and her sweet disposition reminded me of my sweet old girls. 

 
Bessie is one of my favorites at the shelter, and while she didn't get to join our walk, I made sure to spend some time with her.  I don't understand why no one has fallen in love with her yet.  I sure do love her!

Maddie and Peaches have been a little extra clingy since we got back from vacation.  I think they prefer when I don't have to work and can spend all my days with them.  I prefer that too. 

After a busy week, we took a relaxing walk around downtown Friday night. I was so excited to see the magnolia finally in bloom.  I love Spring and all of the flowering trees, and the magnolia are always the first.  They just make me smile.

Saturday finally arrived and with it a big day, the wedding day of two of my favorite people, Katelyn and Sean.  Over the last 6 1/2 years, we have spent many days together sharing both the good and bad moments of life and I can't imagine my life without the two of them in it.

Of course like any good Saturday,  it started off with walking shelter dogs with friends because even on her wedding day, Katelyn makes time to help homeless pups. 

We ended the day with a beautiful wedding and some quality time with some awesome friends.   We even got Sean to smile....and that's nearly impossible!

While it had been a busy week, it was a good week and definitely ended on a high note. 

While I've got some more work travel this week, I'm really looking forward to the progression of Spring and getting back on track with our NCT hikes and getting out on some Michigan adventures. 

Tonight I had to settle for a dog less walk around the golf course at the hotel. At least it was pretty.

Wishing you all a great week filled with dogs and adventure!

Harry Truman's hometown

Several years ago Imke and I visited Independence Missouri, the hometown of Harry Truman.  It was a quick trip with my main purpose there to visit the Truman Home.  I hadn't made time to see much else on that trip, but I was excited to get back for another visit this trip.  The town of Independence is only 11 miles from our hotel in Kansas City and the plan was to spend the day Friday exploring the area.

Before heading to Independence, we headed South to the Truman family farm home.  This farm was at one time 600 acres, but only 10 acres of the original farm remain.  And while the home is not currently open for tours, it was still worth a trip to visit.

We then headed to Independence.  I had found a walking tour of town and thought it would be the perfect way to learn a little bit of the history of the town and spend time with the girls.

Most of the highlights of the tour were on Delaware Street-the Street where the Truman's lived before, during, and after the Presidency.  It was nearly a 3 mile walk and it was a beautiful day to be out exploring.

After completing our walk around town, I stopped at the Courthouse Exchange for lunch and, afterward, I headed across the town square to Clinton's Soda Fountain.  This is the store where Harry Truman had his first job as a soda jerk and I had to go in to try a Phosphate.  I decided to try the Peach Phosphate and really enjoyed it.

Finally, I decided that I would tour the Truman Home.  Although I had toured it before, it is one of my all-time favorite tours so I was happy to do it again.  Afterward, I got the girls out for a photo op.  I was thankful for the nice lady who offered to take my picture with the girls.  It was the perfect way to end our day in Independence.

More fun in Central Kansas.

We started the day Thursday in Salina, KS and would be spending another day exploring the Smoky Hills area of Kansas before we continued our journey East.  Our first stop of the day was Mushroom Rock State Park.  

This is a tiny park (it's only 5 acres) in the middle of Kansas farmland and is named for the unique rock formations found there. 

I loved the different shapes and sizes of the rocks, but I also loved the surrounding scenery.  I've been fascinated by all of the windmills that I've seen across the state.  This is just one of many.

Peaches has really been in her element here in Kansas.  She really enjoys climbing and all of the rock formations have been a regular playground for her.  She is a pretty happy girl, but she has been happier this week than I've seen her most other places.  She is so full of life and makes the most of every adventure and I am blessed to have her on this trip with me. 

We left Mushroom Rock State Park and headed a few miles down the road to Kanopolis State Park.  This park is home to Kanopolis Lake and has several hiking trails.  We stopped at the Ranger station and the Ranger there recommended the Buffalo Track Canyon Trail into the Horsethief Canyon. So we were off for a hike.

This was a great hike for us.  While Peaches is always ready to go, anytime, anywhere, Maddie has slowed down and needs a trail that isn't too challenging.  This trail was the perfect combination of hills and flat areas with some rocky outcroppings.

The trail can be done as a loop or as an out and back hike depending on your skill level.  As we reached the end of the trail where we were required to do a bit of rock-climbing to finish the loop, a decision needed to be made...and Peaches was ready to go!

However, Maddie just couldn't make the climb.  I couldn't get that far without climbing to the top to see the view though, so Peaches and I left Maddie down below where she patiently waited for us to explore above and then we climbed down and returned the way we had come. 

As we retraced our steps to return to the Jeep, I really enjoyed the scenery along the way...despite the fact that a very excited Peaches pulled me down into the mud on a slippery hill...and I spent the rest of the day with a muddy knee.

I also enjoyed the scent from these amazing flowering trees.  The whole area smelled of sweet flowers.

I returned to the Jeep with two wet and muddy girls...and I was a little muddy myself, and I enjoyed a little picnic lunch right there.  It was a beautiful and peaceful place to spend some time and if I'm ever back in Kansas, I would definitely return and spend more time here.

After finishing lunch, we continued on our way.  The plan-to find Dorothy!  So we were off to Wamego to visit the Oz Museum.  For the first time on our trip, we had a few rain showers as we traveled there.  But luckily, the rain stopped before we arrived. 

After a quick visit to the museum, I got the girls out for a walk around town.  It is a cute little town with Toto statutes around town and a short section of Yellow Brick Road.  Of course we had to take a walk that way!

We enjoyed our walk, but could see that a storm was moving our way, so we headed back to the Jeep to continue on our journey toward Kansas City.

Along the way, we made one final stop at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.  I've found over the years that college campuses are a great place to walk the girls when we are on the road so we couldn't pass this one by.

I really love campuses in Spring because they are full of flowers.  I was not disappointed on this stop and I was especially excited to find lilacs!

We had an excellent walk and the campus was beautiful.  Peaches and Maddie made lots of friends and got lots of love from everyone.  It was a successful walk and I arrived back at the Jeep with two tired and happy girls for the remainder of our trip.

It had been another good day on the road and we had officially finished our whirlwind tour around Kansas. We had returned to Kansas City where we would be spending the next three nights.  It isn't often that we sit still that long on vacation, but I was looking forward to a little less driving and a little time to slow down a bit.   But I was so glad we had gotten out to explore all that Kansas has to offer.  I was not disappointed.

Rocks and Art-just another day in Kansas

We spent a big part of the last few days exploring the Smoky Hills and Flint Hills Upland regions of Kansas before heading back to Kansas City.  While traveling through Central Kansas, what I have learned is that Kansas isn't what most of us from outside of the area expect it to be.  It isn't a boring, flat, wasteland.  It is beautiful and unique, and it is worth exploring. 

We left Oakley on Wednesday morning with a plan to see some interesting geological features of Kansas.  Our first stop was Monument Rocks, an area just 20 miles from our hotel in Oakley on private land.  Lucky for us, the cattle rancher who owns this land welcomes people to come on to his property to see this amazing site.

We traveled down miles of dirt/gravel roads with rolling hills and cattle in the distance.  Soon we crossed a cattle guard and were surrounded by free roaming cattle.  Since this is a working ranch,  I knew that we'd potentially see cattle, and we weren't disappointed.  There were points when they were right in the road and the girls would lose their minds barking and whining.  Maddie turned into a killer and I actually think Peaches just wanted to play with them.  I tried to hurry through those areas so that we didn't disturb the cattle too much.

Due to the nature of the landscape in Kansas with its wide open, treeless expanse, you can see for miles and, as we rounded a corner, I could see the giant rocks off in the distance.   It was pretty exciting and I couldn't wait to get closer.

It was not surprising to me that we were the only ones here when we arrived.  Standing next to those giant chalk formations surrounded by miles and miles of fields was pretty amazing.  The formations are huge and have some interesting shapes.

It is a small area with two separate monuments not far apart and it is clearly part of the range used for the cattle as evidenced by the dried hoof marks on the ground.  And this is the day that Maddie discovered a new pie she loves...cow pies!  She was obsessed and I tried my best to keep her away, but they were everywhere and she is persistent. 

As we were finishing up our visit, we were pleasantly surprised to see another car pulling up to visit this National Natural Landmark.  It was a young couple from Kansas who had just recently learned about Monument Rocks and they were just as excited as I was to experience this area.  Peaches was just happy to have someone else to give her some love!

While it isn't difficult to get here, it is also enough off the beaten path that I'm sure it is overlooked by most people traveling through this area.  But it was definitely worth the effort to see. 

Next we continued on our journey through the ranch lands of Kansas toward our next stop.  The Castle Rock Badlands.  

The Castle Rock Badlands are another National Natural Landmark which are found on private land.  They are a little more off the beaten path, and, as I would discover, a little more difficult to get to than Monument Rocks.  But off we went through more miles and miles of ranch land on dirt roads. 

The Castle Rock Badlands are hidden behind a hill, so until you've reached the top, you have no idea what you are about to see.  We parked and climbed to the top and were amazed by what we saw.  It is completely unexpected and the view is amazing. 

Off in the distance, you can see the Castle Rock standing all alone.  There are several trails around the area which you can travel to get up close to these chalk formations, but some of them are badly rutted and dangerous to travel.  Since I didn't want to be trapped alone with two dogs miles from civilization with a broken down Jeep, I made the decision to explore from the top, but I hope to visit them again some day and get a closer look. 

With no trees and nothing else to slow it down, you can really feel the wind here.  It was amazingly windy up there! 

Even the view in the other direction was pretty amazing.  I know it's flat and treeless, but is still has a beauty to it.  The big sky reminds me of the sky over a Great Lake and I love it. 

After walking around the area and exploring for a short time, we were back in the Jeep and off for more adventures.  We had not been disappointed with our stops so far and were looking forward to seeing what else we could see. 

Along the way, we had to stop at some silly roadside attractions...like the World's Largest Czech Egg.

Or Bowl Plaza, which is literally a public restroom with fancy art on the walls...and a nice little folk art park just outside of it.

And who needs to travel to New York City when Kansas has it's very own mini Statue of Liberty. 

We also made it to the Geographic Center of the Contiguous 48 States...so we were North, South, East and West all at the same time!

And would it be a road trip to Kansas without a stop at the Largest Ball of Sisal Twine?  The smell of the twine reminded me of Fall and Halloween.  Although it seems silly, it was an interesting stop.

Along the way to all of these other silly stops, we were treated to many pretty views, including this one of Lake Wilson. 

Of course Maddie wouldn't let me drive by a lake, so we had to make a stop.  These Michigan girls are missing water!

I also learned about "post rocks."  These rock posts are everywhere in this central part of Kansas.  They are in use in fence lines along the road for grazing pastures and for fencing around homes.  They are interesting and I need to learn more about their history. 

As Wednesday drew to a close, we had time for one more stop before heading to our hotel for the night so we were off to Rock City Park.  This small, privately-owned park is home to a field of unique rock formations.  There are some walking paths around the park and the girls thoroughly enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny. 

I even found a mitten shaped rock!  And Peaches had lots of opportunity for climbing which is definitely one of her favorite things to do.  It was the perfect spot to end our day.

It had been a long day on the road-the longest day we had had for the entire vacation, but we really enjoyed seeing all that Kansas has to offer, both the natural beauty and the silly attractions.  Most importantly, we enjoyed our time together.  It was a great day.