13 on Thursday

            

1.  This trip to Oklahoma was nice because I had a “guest” rider! My friend Ellen rode along with me to visit her Dad in Enid. I will say, the trip went F.A.S.T!! Lot’s of talking! – no Music Man! So I did miss out on my “sing along” but that’s okay!

2. My parent’s were doing well and that is always a relief. I do wish they would let my brother and I get them someone to help with house keeping. They don’t want us to help and they won’t hire someone and they are getting to where it’s not up to the standard I wish they had.

3. My Dad has cut down tremendously on his wheat farming. But he still plants a small amount and he finished planting the wheat earlier this week. And he is very pleased about that. He is praying for rain. It seems as if the rains always miss their part of the woods.

4. The are getting siding on their garage and that looks nice. I’m glad to see they are making some improvements. It seems as if you blink and years have passed and things get run down. Where does the time go?

5.  While watching Gunsmoke with them, my brother and I sent texts back and forth. He asked me to name the characters of Gunsmoke, which I did. Kitty, Marshall Dillon, Chester, Festus, Thad, Doc and I said Clint but learned later it is Quint. I think he was impressed! Then he asked me When Gunsmoke started – well, Randy and I had just talked about this a couple of weeks ago and so I even knew the answer to that! 1955.

6. It’s been a year since my Mom broke her hip and she is doing much better than I thought she would be. Very thankful for that.

7. Steve, my parent’s minister, had been visiting earlier in the week. My dad really enjoys having him come by. I appreciate him visiting with them because they aren’t able to attend services anymore.

8. I had intended on asking my parent’s some “interview” questions. Just things I am curious about – what’s their favorite Bible verses, their favorite hymns. I would like to know their favorite childhood memories. But the time didn’t seem right. I need to work on making the time right because these are memories I would like to have recorded.

9. My Aunt Doris called while I was there so I got to talk to her for a while before I turned the phone over to my Mom. That was nice.

10. I went to pick up Ellen when I left the farm. I got to meet her Dad, Marvin and I had such a nice time getting acquainted with him.

11. We went Godfather’s to eat dinner and continued our visit. Such a nice man and he retired from Gold Spot Dairy which used to be one of my favorite places to eat a sandwich on lunch – years ago!! - In the 1970's.

12. It rained on us coming and going this trip. Very seldom do I come home after dark. So was pleasantly surprised when we were south of Caldwell to see that the Chisholm Trail Silhouettes are lit up at night. Not sure why that surprised me but it did.

13. When I got home, The Husband was already home from his fun evening at Trunk or Treat at our church!

It is so good to be home!!

13 on Thursdays

My friend, Debra at Prairie Songs does a post on Tuesdays called "Ten on Tuesdays." She publishes ten things that have happened that day or recently or random thoughts she has been having. I've always thought it would be fun to join her on Tuesdays but I have never taken the time to do it.

Every other Wednesday, I go to Oklahoma to visit my parents. At one time I intended to post about my trips to Oklahoma but ... well, just never know what to say because we just do what parents and adult children do.

On my way to Oklahoma, I had the idea of taking Deb's idea from Tuesdays, doing it on Thursdays and talking about my trips to Oklahoma. But I need a clever name - Deb has "Ten on Tuesdays" "Ten on Thursdays" just doesn't have the same ring so I decided on "13 on Thursdays!" Okay, I realize it's not very creative but I just got home from Oklahoma and I'm tired!

13 on Thursdays

1. One thing I always notice on my trip is that Kansas always tells me when I'm leaving her. Then once I enter Oklahoma I always wonder why her sign is shot up and the Kansas signs aren't...

I mean, really. Is it Kansan's shooting the Oklahoma sign out of - what - spite? or is it Oklahoman's shooting it out of - what - ignorance of respect? I always wonder this as I pass these two signs.

2. This trip I saw 3 dead deer beside the roads. Uh oh. Someone's vehicle is smashed. Been there, done that... But this trip I noticed one of the deer had been beheaded. Which means it was sporting a big rack and someone wants to show it off. (even though this is illegal) However, isn't the whole idea of hanging a deer head on your wall to show off your hunting skills? I would think it would defeat your purpose if when someone asked you where you "hunted" that big rack you had to answer "well, I chased it with my truck for 3 miles before I could run it down."

- Just wondering again....

Which leads me to #3

3. I've always liked quiet when I drive alone. Very seldom do I listen to the radio or anything. I think this is a "side effect" from having 4 kids. Well, I've noticed when I travel to Oklahoma, I'm always wondering about things - you know, like the signs, the reasons someone would WANT a deer head they hit with their car, etc but also, the memories pour in. Not always the good ones. That can get so tiring. It could also get so depressing but I won't let it. So when this starts I  start playing "Music Man" in the DVD player. NO... I don't watch it, I am driving after all. The DVD player is in the back of the van. BUT I love the music (plus I have most of the lines memorized...) So I put it in the player and SING along with Robert Preston, Shirley Jones and The Buffalo Bills! I have such a good time!! (I can't carry a tune in a bucket so be thankful I'm in a closed vehicle!!)

4. Every time I pass the log house (it's too big to be a cabin) their black dog greets me and runs down the road with me to the corner where I turn. I always talk to him. I don't want him to get too close to my tires. Farm dogs do this. I wonder why? Is it because I'm driving down HIS road? 

5. Mom and Dad always like for me to bring lunch. Mom likes hamburgers, Dad likes chicken. So I try to trade back and forth between them. More often than not, Mom will say - when I bring chicken - "Oh, you brought chicken." It's not a question. She's just making a statement. (my favorite is chicken!!)

6. After eating lunch, we always go into the living room and Dad turns the tv to Gunsmoke. We watch 2 episodes of Gunsmoke, 1 of Bonanza and Inside Edition and then Jeopardy! My brother and I always joke that we really enjoy "bonding" with the folks!!

And that leads to #7

7. There is a depression on Bonanza. People are out of work, no food, they are rustling cattle - But it's not effecting the Ponderosa... Which makes me wonder, do you suppose Ben Cartwight took Dave Ramsey's course on how to manage his money? Or is he like Joseph and had a dream where God showed him to "store" up his crops in preparation of this depression? Just wondering.

8. When Dad brings in the mail he always gives Mom the newspaper first and when she finishes it she gives it back to Dad. I've noticed - since she broke her hip- that he shows respect to her often in these small ways. This is very sweet to me.

9. When Bonanza is over, Mom looks at her watch and then looks at Dad and he switches the channel to Inside Edition. Neither of them says anything, they just work together - as if they've done it for years! :) This too, is sweet to me.

10. My Mom started smoking when she was around 20. - give or take 2 or 3 years. She stopped smoking when she broke her hip in December. That's over 50 years of constant smoking. Now, I listen to her cough. Please - if you smoke - do whatever it takes to stop now. It's not worth it. 

11. I love my Dad and Mom. I know I'm not any different than anyone else but it is hard to watch parents age. The decisions that may need to be made. I  just pray.

12. As I left the farm, I noticed the man across the road still has watermelon in his watermelon patch.

13. Ahhh. Home. Another Wednesday over. Another trip to the farm. Time with my Dad and Mom. Sometimes, I dread going. No special reason. I'm a home body and this is a full day away from my favorite place. But as I leave Wichita and head south, I start looking forward to spending time with them. I enjoy eating with them, sharing news of Ringwood and news about my kids and grands. I enjoy watching tv with them. I'm so very thankful I have the opportunity to spend time with them on a regular basis. 

Then I click my heels and I'm back in Kansas.

Things to do in Wichita!

I have enjoyed getting to know Wichita!

While Randy and I dated, he took me to some fun, wonderful places.

Now that we're married I have had even more opportunities to get acquainted with Wichita!

I lived here several years ago but for some reason had no idea what this 

Midwestern city has to offer.

I've decided to share with you some of the places to visit in Wichita!

Yesterday we visited 

 Nifty Nut House 

http://www.niftynuthouse.com/home.php

It was an amazing place to visit! 

Andru calls it the Willy Wonka's of Nuts and Candy!

"About Nifty Nut House:

Nifty Nut House, established 1937. We're a third generation family-owned business. We pride ourselves on quality products, great prices, and friendly service. We offer many varieties of nuts, candy, and gum. All nuts are available raw, roasted salted, and roasted unsalted, roasted fresh daily in house. We also have a wide selection of milk and dark chocolate treats, gummies, dried fruits, mints, ballgum, licorice, and many sugar free items." 

It has lot's of "old" favorites:

There are windows to watch them make candy:

We each went our own way and shopped and looked 

and shopped some more...

I highly recommend a trip to the Nifty Nut House!

It's out of the way but well worth the trip!

537 N Saint Francis St  Wichita, KS 67214

http://www.niftynuthouse.com/home.php

We had such a great time visiting the Nifty Nut House!

 

 

Kansas Underground Salt Museum

Keaton, me and Andru at the Kansas Underground Salt Museum

 

We visited the Kansas Underground Salt Museum today. It was a great outing. It takes about 2 hours - 650 feet underground!  I've been in many caves on vacations throughout my life and I'm not really a "cave" fan so wasn't really too excited about this but once I got there I was more than pleasantly surprised and I really enjoyed it. It was nothing like the caves I've been in. No dampness, no musty odor and lots of space so you don't ever feel closed in.

Here is the website for more information on one of the 8th wonders of Kansas!!

     http://www.undergroundmuseum.org/index.php   

Keaton and Andru reading up on the mine.

 

 

 

 

Taking one of the train rides in the cave.

We had to wear helmets. - 

OOPS, Randy just pointed out to me they are Hard Hats!!

Picking out a piece of salt to bring home.

My miner!

I enjoyed seeing how the miners work in this salt mine but the most fascinating to me was the underground vaults and storage that are in this mine to store important documents, movies and things you would never imagine.   http://www.undergroundvaults.com/

There is a great underground museum.  Learned that anything that goes down in the mine, stays in the mine. We saw an area with "trash" from 1953 that had been left there. Do you remember the cone cups that we used to get a drink of water in the '50's and '60's? Hundreds of those in this trash area.

I asked Andru to describe the salt mines he said "cool" and "awesome". He liked the train ride and the dark ride the best. 

Randy loves history and so he appreciated the history of the salt mine, the history of salt and the three main salt companies.

Keaton's gone home so I can't ask him what his favorite part was.  :)

We finished the day eating a DELICIOUS meal in Yoder at Carriage Crossing. 

The best strawberry pie I have ever had!!