August 8, 2020 – Manhattan, Kansas

We’re off to see the Wizard!!!!

After a lovely stop in St. Louis, the hubs and I headed to Manhattan, Kansas where one of our sons and our daughter live.  I haven’t seen them since March and the hubs since December, so we are quite excited!  I had a little trouble finding an RV park – partly because I’m out of practice and partly because of my desire to be within close driving distance to the kids.  Our first stop was at Mill Creek Campground in Paxico, Kansas (Hey, you really should mention something about the museum we didn’t get to see) (Oh yea! Paxico is right down the road from Wamego, KS which houses the Oz Museum – everything Wizard of Oz! It would have been a fun one to visit but ya know, Covid…) which is about a 40 minute drive from Manhattan.  It was a nice park but there was one large problem.  The park sits VERY close to a railroad.  We’ve been by train tracks before so weren’t very concerned until the first train came through.  I suppose since we were in a rural area, the train was able to go at a fast clip (which makes them loud), then since we were at a cross road, the train whistle was blown every time, finally, the trains were frequent.  All in all, it wouldn’t have been bad except the hubs remote job requires almost constant phone conversations during the day and the trains caused interference.  The owners were very understanding and we moved down the road to Tuttle Creek State Park, a ten minute drive from the kids’ apartment!

We’re gonna go throw some discs!!!!!!!!!

We didn’t choose this park originally because they only have 6 full hook-up sites that include sewer and all were booked.  The hubs accepted that the honey wagon ☹ was going to be a necessity and we spent 2 1/2 weeks there. (Ed. Note – It is a royal pain in the ass!!!!!) It was large with beautiful, old trees, a lake and disc golf course (I think this is what made the annoyance of the honey wagon acceptable😊).

        

We did a lot of social distancing…                                 and I even got to work a puzzle!

        

That’s a mighty fine hat-bowl you got there!!!!!!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with Josh and Dare.  Being on opposite working schedules gave me some one-on-one time with both of them, whether it was doing laundry, hiking or just hanging out after dinner.  On one of our laundry excursions, Josh needed to wash some items I had knit for him.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember whether they were all knit with wool or a washable blend.  ONE of them was not a washable blend – a mottled green and black hat that he apparently loved.  Now that it is shrunk and felted, it has become a beautiful bowl!  I told him you can never have too many bowls to put stuff in.  After telling him how sorry I was about 15 times, I told him I’d knit him another one…believe it or not, I do not seem to have a picture of the original hat, or remember what the pattern or yarn was (HEAVY sigh). (Ed. Note – We all believe it!!!!)  I came up with something I thought was close and it is a lovely hat on its own but I’m not sure it’s going to be as loved as the other other one.

        

I thought Kwanza was a holiday thing?!?!?!?!?!

One early morning, Dare and I went on a hike on the Konza Prairie Nature Trail.  It is located in the Konza Prairie Biological Station which is a native tallgrass prairie preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University.  Most of the area is off-limits to the general public but the nature trail is very popular.  It has a 2.6 mile loop, a 4.6 mile loop and a 6.2 mile loop.  My young daughter thought we’d tackle the 6 mile loop but I just laughed and laughed.  We hiked the 2.6 mile loop and had a great time.  I was tired but not in bed the rest of the day, there was a breeze and the uphill part didn’t last the whole time – thank goodness!

        

       

Much of the time we were surrounded by butterflies and a few grasshoppers, too!

Crawling inside their skin doesn’t leave much time for other stuff!!!!!!!!!

I thought I’d have plenty of time to knit, but to my surprise, I did not!  After finishing Josh’s hat, I have continued to work on my 2nd Breckenridge Cardigan and am almost finished.  This is a good thing because I’ve just realized we’re in August and I have my Great Love sweater to complete and the hubs to start!  Next stop – Nebraska!