A New Road

I have lived in the country in Kansas for over 20 years driving the last two miles to our house on gravel roads . . . except when it rained, then the last two miles were on mud roads. And people wondered why my car was never clean.

Now that we have decided to sell our country home and move to a downsized home on a paved road in town, the county has decided to pave the road to our house.

In preparation, they cut down all of the trees and brush along one side so they could widen the road, grade new ditches, and install new culverts under driveways. They also hauled in numerous truckloads of dirt to raise the level of the roadway.




So we're going to have a paved road to our house. Maybe I can drive a clean car until we find a buyer for the house. Come to think of it, maybe a paved road to the house will help us find a buyer sooner. I sure hope so!

Antique Show

Carole periodically needs an "Antique Fix" so when we saw an ad in the newspaper for the Annual Antique Show at the Overland Park International Trade Center, we just had to go. The show was scheduled to run three days and I was afraid Carole would want to go every day.

We went the first day and, I must admit, it was a very nice show. All of the dealers had attractive displays and, for the most part, no junkie stuff was shown. All of the antiques looked very good and were well presented.

We walked through about a third of the show, then stopped at a concession booth for some lunch. By that time, Carole had walked enough, so we left and returned home . . . empty handed! Carole had not seen any thing she couldn't live without.

The real surprise was when she decided to not go back the next day, but I'm sure we will return next year. At least she got her "Antique Fix" for this year.

A "Long Lost" Cousin

One of my first cousins, Leila (Smith) Parks, who I had not seen for probably 35-40 years stopped by our home last night on her way from Texas to Indiana for the Smith Family Reunion. She was traveling with her step-son, John Parks.

They arrived too late at night to spend much time talking, but we made up for it the next morning. After a nice breakfast prepared by Carole, we sat around talking about the good times we had growing up in the Fort Wayne area and swapping stories about our lives and our families during the intervening years. We talked until nearly noon when they had to resume their trip.

Below Carole is flanked by Leila on her right and John Parks on her left.



I hope we see each other before another 35-40 years passes.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Yes, Greg's visit had to come to an end sometime . . . and today was the day. He had an early morning flight out of Kansas City International Airport north of Kansas City, which is an hour's drive from our house in the country south of Kansas City. So, we had to get up at 4:00 AM just to get him to the airport on time.

Here he is pictured getting his bags out of the back of the Blazer at the airport. We left home before daylight and you can now see the sunrise reflected in the windows of the terminal. He looks a lot more awake than I was.



It was sad to say 'goodbye' to him this morning, and I'm already looking forward to his next visit.

Have a safe trip, Greg! It was wonderful having you home even if it was for such a short time. We'll include fishing during your next visit home. That gives you another reason to come back soon.

Greg's Last Hurrah

Greg wanted to say goodbye to John, Becky and the kids, so after while we finished running some errands and doing some last minute shopping Greg wanted to do, we stopped by the Crowl-Moore household.

We caught Becky in the kitchen heating up soup and fixing grilled cheese sandwiches for the boys who were getting ready to head off for a ball game, as usual. Becky is in the left picture below at the kitchen stove with Alex and Jordan in the background. In the right picture is Kyle (in the background) and Sam, Luke, and Alex wolfing down soup and grilled cheese sandwiches while seated at the breakfast bar in the kitchen.

















At least Greg got to say some goodbye's before he leaves in the morning.

Our First Kansas Home

While Greg was home, we drove around the Kansas City area to see some of his old haunts, one of which was the old "Davis Homestead", our first home in Kansas, which is on 81st Terrace in Overland Park.

The red sidewalk is a handicap ramp someone has added to the property.

We moved to this house from Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1972, the year Greg graduated from Snyder High School in Fort Wayne. This is where we lived when Greg started to college at Johnson County Community College and subsequently transferred to the University of Kansas.

Seeing this old house brought back a lot of memories for both of us.

Kansas City Steak

When Greg told me he was coming home from Guam, he said he wanted to do three things:
(1) play golf
(2) go fishing
(3) eat a Kansas City steak.

We managed to play golf twice, once in Overland Park and once in Pittsburg. It was too hot while he was here to go fishing, the fish weren't biting. The only thing left was to eat steak.

So, we picked up a couple of Porterhouse steaks cut at least an inch and a quarter thick and put them on the grill. Carole put some twice-baked potatoes in the oven, sauteed fresh mushrooms, and prepared fresh asparagus.


As we usually do, Carole and I split one of the steaks. She took the fillet side of the bone. This is my plate with the strip side of the bone . . . only half of the Porterhouse.












Greg tackled the other Porterhouse all by himself . . . and he ate nearly the whole thing!














So, Greg had his Kansas City steak. Truly a meal fit for a King!

I always thought Greg came home to see us, but maybe it's the Kansas City steak he comes home for.

Well, maybe this will hold him until he returns for his next visit.

Independance Day

This morning at the Crowl's in Pittsburg, Frank cooked sausage and pancakes for the whole gang . . . and that was a bunch of people. After breakfast, I helped with the massive clean-up while the kids engaged in board games, riding the golf cart or 4-wheeler, and played yard games. Some watched a DVD movie on television.


I took Greg on a tour of Pittsburg including the Pittsburg State University campus and the Vietnam War Memorial. Seeing "The Wall" at the memorial is a very moving experience.

This is Greg at "The Wall" in Pittsburg. It is supposed to be a replica of the memorial in Washington, D.C.








We returned to the Crowl's just in time for a traditional Fourth of July feast of hamburgers and brats on the grill along with potato salad, Cole slaw, baked beans, and all of the trimmings . . . washed down with a cold beer. That was followed by home-made ice cream. Yummy!

The kids were playing games, riding the golf cart and 4-wheeler, and beginning to set off fireworks while the adults sat around in the yard talking and watching all of the activity . . . a typical family Fourth of July.


















I thought it was a fairly laid-back day, but the "confusion" of too many kids, too much noise, and too much activity got on Carole's nerves. She wanted to go home. So we skipped the kids nighttime fireworks show and headed for home.

We arrived back home about 8:00 PM and watched the Fourth of July fireworks display in New York City over the Hudson River, then the fireworks display in Boston out over the bay, all on television. It was very impressive, but not as much fun as it would have been watching all of the kids setting off fireworks in Pittsburg.

So ended our Independence Day.

Chicken Annie's

Carole & I, along with Greg, were invited to spend the Fourth of July weekend at Frank & Bonna Crowl's summer home in Pittsburg, Kansas. Frank & Bonna are the parents of my son-in-law, John. They have a very nice home-away-from-home setting on about 10 acres near the edge of town and have hosted a large family gathering over the Fourth of July holiday for many years.

We have been invited to their get together for several years along with John & Becky with all of their expanded family, John's brother and his wife and kids from Nashville, Tennessee, and a number of other Crowl relatives. Many of my grand kids also invited a friend, so there was quite a crowd, especially lots of kids.

Carole, Greg, and I fired up "The Bus" and drove to Pittsburg for the festivities. We parked in the Crowl's driveway and settled in for a long weekend of fun, fellowship, and fireworks. "Kid watching" is always a popular activity as Frank has a 4-wheeler ATV and a golf cart for the kids to drive around the property. Also numerous yard games were set up, such as boche ball, blongo ball, and bean bag toss. Numerous board games were also available for the kids indoors. In addition, the kids had lots of fireworks to set off.

Pittsburg is known for several things: (1) the historic heart of the business forms printing industry, (2) the location of the main campus of Pittsburg State University, and (3) fried chicken.

Back in the 1930's and 1940's, southeast Kansas was principally a large coal mining area. The husband of a local lady, Annie, was injured in a mine accident and unable to work, so Annie started cooking chicken dinners to feed miners in her home to support her family. She started raising her own chickens and expanded the house to accomodate more people. She became known as "Chicken Annie".

Annie's sister, Mary, also started serving fried chicken in her home. Chicken Mary's was located just down the street from Chicken Annie's. Annie's children and grandchildren now run Chicken Annie's restaurant and several other copy-cat fried chicken restaurants have opened in the Pittsburg area over the years building the town's reputation for fried chicken.


Greg had not been to Pittsburg before, so we had to take him to one of the famous fried chicken restaurants for an authentic Pittsburg fried chicken dinner. We selected the original, Chicken Annie's.

We arrived in the late afternoon and the place was packed. We had to wait in line for quite a while and, I think, ended up being one of the last customers served. But the wait was worth it! Chicken Annie sure does know how to fry chicken.

And Greg got to experience the "original".

The Sound of Music

For a little Stateside entertainment for Greg, Carole and I took Becky and Greg to the New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas. The musical, The Sound of Music, was playing. It was a great production.





And the dinner was great too . . . along with the drinks and the Creme Brule for dessert.

Greg thought it was all pretty good "Stateside Entertainment".