Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Ten

Saturday began early and cold, cold, cold.  The temperature got down to 31 just before sun rise and a brisk wind came up as the morning wore on.  Nonetheless, we all headed out to Braden's cross country sectional meet.  We are so proud of her for the training and competing in cross country.  It has increased her endurance in soccer and given her another athletic venue for accomplishment and friends.  She came in 23 out of 98 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders--Braden is in seventh grade.  She didn't qualify for the state meet but she dropped her time by 20 seconds on a challenging course competing against girls a year older than she.  As you can see, everyone was happy.  Did I mention that we were also cold?  You can see more photos of the cross country meet here.

Portion of a bubble map showing the paths
of different sub-atomic particles discovered
at Fermilab.

Marilyn and I took the boys home while Brendan, Eileen and Braden stayed for the awards and final results. Since we had passed Fermilab on the way to Geneva on Friday, we decided to go back and visit.  Brock was interested so he joined us.  One of Brenda's roommates at Chicago, Jim, was the trigger expert for Fermilab and was perhaps the only non-drug dealer who wore a pager in Chicago in the 1980's.  Fermilab's particle accelerator, the Tevatron, ceased operations in 2011 leaving the search for the Higgs boson particle to CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.  The site is very intriguing and continues a number of physics activities including education.  We spent time in the education center which Brock especially enjoyed.  The large site is very pastoral complete with a buffalo herd and prairie restoration areas. The architecture is also quite striking showing some of the influence of Frank Loyd Wright.  You can see more photos here.

From there we went to the frozen tundra of Oswego High School soccer fields.  Braden played well in an evenly matched game.  Her team won 1-0 with Braden getting an assist on that goal.  You can see more photos here.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Nine

Brock and Brady ready for school

It is not possible to sleep in at the Aurora Pickett's, at least on a school day.  As you can see in the photo, the boys seem ready to take on the world.  I walked the couple of blocks to their school with them.  It was a bit cooler than the day before but nothing like it would be in another day.

Brendan had left for work even before I got up.  Braden goes to school first and I drove her to Bendarcik Middle School.  I checked the web page and was pleased to see Braden's picture right on the front page.  She is a member of the cross country team and will be participating in the sectionals on Saturday.

It took the remaining adults a while to get ready to go but we finally got off to a day in Geneva, a lovely little town along the Fox River.  We remember it from our niece  Kristen's, wedding.  We were there on a summer day and this was far from that.  It was cool and we had hoped that it would be sunny but that was not to be.

Fox River at Geneva

I dropped Marilyn and Eileen off to do some shop visiting while I stopped by a Starbucks and then down to the river for some photos.  While it was cloudy, there were plenty of photo opportunities.  You can view that photo album here.  We had lunch on State Street, the main drag, which was also the site of the Geneva high School Homecoming Parade.  Marilyn stopped at a dance apparel shop to see if she could find a little outfit for Molly.  We thus found ourselves on State Street when the parade began.  You can see video of the marching band here.

Below is a quick video clip of white egrets flying over the Fox River.

Once we got home, I took a nap and then we all went to Brock's soccer game.  He played very well and we were rewarded with a beautiful sun set, the only time we saw the sun that day.  You can see an album of photos from his soccer game here.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Eight

Monastery at Dawn

We spent the night at the Clyde Mother House in some very commodious guest quarters.  I was up early as is my custom and went out in search of some pictures.  It turned cloudy over night and the sun rise was almost without any light or color.  Nonetheless, I found some subjects that caught my eye.  You can see them at the updated photo album on our stay in Clyde.  There is a wind turbine just off the property, clearly visible from the chapel.  there was a continuous noise from the blades rushing through the air.  It is probably the price we have to pay for our use of energy but there will never again be a soundless night at Clyde.

Of course, the morning is not quiet anyway.  The magnificent bells of the chapel pealed out around 7:30 as you see and hear in the video below.

We spent some time with Sr. Paula before heading out and getting on the road to Aurora, Illinois, our next stop.  It had turned cool and it was raining steadily for the first time during our trip.  This would be nothing to the freezing weather that finally caught up with us in Aurora.  Along the way, we stopped at one of Marilyn's favorite places:  an outlet mall.  This one was the Tanger Mall along I-80.  Marilyn spent time in several stores but ended up getting an Eddie Bauer light fleece top.  I got a similar item along with a wind proof jacket.  the weather was getting decidedly cooler and we kept seeing forecasts for freeze warnings in the days ahead.  While Marilyn visited her last store--Tower--I took my camera to the field behind and got this picture of one of the huge corn fields in this area which had just been harvested.

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A Iowa corn field after harvesting

We got to Brendan and Eileen's a little after 9:00.  The kids had been waiting up for us...or maybe it was the brownie with ice cream that would only be served once we arrived.  In any case, we all enjoyed the delicious brownies and ice cream before getting to bed for what would be a busy day Friday.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Seven

Amy and Marilyn

After coffee with Anola and Peter, I returned to Grand Court to pack up and say goodbye to Mom. Today we were to drive to Clyde to visit Sr. Paula and stay over night at the monastery.  However, before we left Kansas City, Marilyn felt the need to stop at a Russell Stover Chocolates stores and "get some chocolates for Mom" - the Mom in Buffalo.  That is where we met Amy who told us some of the history of the company.  A quick check on Wikipedia provided more information. Russell Stover and Chris Nelson invented Eskimo Pies in Onawa Iowa 1920.  The product was immensely successful.  Stover sold his share to his partner for $25,000 and moved to Denver where he and his wife created Russell Stover Chocolates which has become the third largest chocolate manufacturer behind Hershey's and Mars and accounts for 60% of boxed chocolate sales in the U.S.  Initially the product was called "Mrs. Stover's Bungalow Chocolates."  They moved the company to Kansas City and in 1969 is was purchased by Louis Ward whose family still owns it.  We helped the local economy with several purchases including a logo ball cap and a couple of umbrellas.

Eventually we got on the road to Clyde and arrived in early afternoon after lunch.  We sat with Sister Paula in a sunny courtyard where the temperature got pretty close to 80 degrees.  The trees displayed more color everyday and we were treated to quite a show.  To the right is a view through the wisteria arbors as the late afternoon sun illuminated the turning trees.

We had dinner at A & G, Paula's favorite restaurant in Maryville.  OK, truthfully there aren't all that many restaurants in Maryville but A & G is very nice.  Apparently Marilyn and Paula approved of thier martinis!  We came back to the monastery where we watched "Of gods and men."  We had seen it once before and in fact we had given Paula a DVD of the movie.  Its impact was not lessened by having seen it previously.  After we watched it, we sat and talked about it.  While the rest of the world was watching the presidential debate, we were spending time in the world of a Trappist monastery in Algeria in the 1990's.  From what I read in the press the next day, we made the better choice.

You can view photos of the Clyde Motherhouse by clicking here.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Six

We left Maize and drove to Kansas City back through the Flint Hills in Kansas.  We stopped at the Knute Rockne service area where we visited the display honoring Knute Rockne, the legendary Notre Dame football coach. Rockne died in 1931 in a plane crash near this point in the Flint Hills.  He had just coached Notre Dame to the national championship and was on his way to Los Angeles to assist in the production of a film, "The Spirit of Notre Dame."  I thought of my good friend, John Crowe, whose father, Clem Crowe, played for Rockne at Notre Dame.  He played end for "The Seven Mule Team" at Notre Dame and was named an All American for two seasons.  He went on to his own storied coaching career.

"The Flint Hills are designated as a distinct ecoregion because it has the most dense coverage of intact tallgrass prairie in North America. Due to its rocky soil, the early settlers of European origin were unable to plow the area, resulting in the predominance of cattle ranches, which are in turn largely benefited by the tallgrass prairie."  We pulled over at the Cattle Pens Crossing to enjoy the view and take a few pictures.

Jill Claxton and Mom

We drove on to Kansas City for lunch with Mom.  Marilyn headed out for some shopping in the Brookside area which she enjoys so much.  Mom and I went down for Happy Hour where we were entertained by Bo Claxton and Wynn.  We were alerted to his appearance by Jill, his wife, who called Mom earlier in the day.  Jill is the daughter of Hilda, one of Mom's best friends at Grand Court who died a couple of years ago.  He played one of Mom's favorites - "I Am My own Grandpa" - which he had played at Mom's 100th birthday party in July.  "My Happiness" was always special to me because the melody was written by Borney Bergantine, a Kansas Citian, who wrote the melody in the 1930's and played it regularly with his band, The Happiness Boys.  The lyrics we are familiar with were written by Betty Peterson, another Kansas Citian whose husband founded Cardinal Records, the publisher of the standard version which was first recorded in 1948.  The song was the first song every recorded by Elvis Presley at Sun Records.  By the way, Elvis is Mom's favorite recording artist.   You can hear and see his rendition of "My Happiness" in the screen below.

Alex Carroll and Mom

The family gathered for dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, one of Mom's favorite places to eat.  There we met Alex Carroll who was the manager on duty.  He was very engaging young man and we learned that had been adopted from Russia in 1987 when he was 10 years old.  He was raised here by his mother and was very close to his grandfather who just celebrated his 95th birthday.  He and Mom had a lovely visit topped off by his giving her a couple of free meal coupons.  Mom thinks he is great!

When we got back to the apartment, Marilyn decided to work with Mom about her hair.  When I went to bed, she was using some "product" on Mom with a promise that she would consult with the hair dressers in the beauty shop on site in the morning before we left for Clyde.  I will let you know tomorrow how that all worked out.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Five

Today marked the halfway point in our trip.  We spent the day in Wichita with Andy and Lois.  After a leisurely morning and a delicious brunch at their home, we got started at Botanica around noon.  Botanica is a collection of themed gardens with continuous expansion planned for the future.  It took us almost three hours to walk through the various gardens.  probably our favorite was the children's garden which is a wonderfully creative space for play in what is really an enchanted forest.  The emphasis here was not on plants but on activity areas that would spark the imagination and freedom of children.  We both wished we had something like this back home for our grandchildren.

As you might imagine, my camera was busy throughout our walk taking pictures of flowers, bees, butterflies, and of the four of us in this wonderful setting.  You can go to the updated Picasa album to see more photos of our second day in Wichita. 

The only interesting subjects for video were the koi when we put some food in the pond.  You can see this below.

We also paid a visit to the Nifty Nut House...where we went nuts and bought all sorts of vintage candy and chocolate covered almonds and other goodies.  You will note the big smile on Marilyn!  When we got outside, we discovered that it was raining a bit and had gotten a lot cooler.  We decided to put into a local pub in Old town for some warming beverages and a few appetizers before heading home to play with Andy's harmony remote, another delicious dinner...and more of those delicious desserts followed by some television:  All Star Dancing With the Stars and Castle.

Grand Tour - Missouri, Kansas, Illinois - Day Four

We left Mom's at 9:30 am to drive the 200 miles to Maize, Kansas for a visit with my cousin Andy and his wife Lois.

View Larger Map

At Emporia, Kansas, we entered the Kansas Turnpike and drove through the Flint Hills, a unique and unexpected terrain.  We were on a tight schedule so we didn't stop at the Knute Rockne Service Area.  We will on the way back and will post more information about this area and about why the rest area is named for the great Notre Dame coach.  All my Domer friends out there know, but the rest of you may not.

Andy and Lois Sciolaro with Marilyn as we wait for the
Thunderbirds to fly.

We arrived at the Sciolaro's and were treated like visiting royalty...or at least like visiting Platt cousins!  They have a lovely home with a front and back yard that evidences the loving care of almost 40 years of residence.  I will take some photos of the back yard before we leave so I can share them with this blog.  After delicious lunch on their patio and plenty of visiting, we hustled over to a position adjacent to the air base to watch the Thunderbirds, the Air Force high performance team, perform as part of a weekend air show.  It was exhilarating as always.  It always reminds me of my days in San Diego and the annual performances of the Blue Angels at NAS Miramar.  It is difficult to take video with all the bright sunshine, but I was able to get a short clip of an F 18 flying over our position.

After all that excitement, we drove back to Andy's and enjoyed a tour of Wichita.  It is a very nice town and has taken care to create some interesting public spaces, especially along the two rivers that run through the city:  Arkansas (pronounced Are-Kansas in these parts) and the Little Arkansas (same pronunciation.)  We saw some areas that we would visit later that day.

After another delicious meal, we drove back to the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers for the viewing of the fire pots at the Keeper of the Plains. "The 44-foot Cor-Ten steel Keeper of the Plains sculpture stands elevated on a 30-foot rock promontory, surrounded by a plaza which describes the Plains Indian way of life. Pedestrians can access the area via two bow-and-arrow-inspired cable-stay bridges which span the Little and Big Arkansas rivers. Fire drums on boulders at the foot of the Keeper dramatically light the night. Plantings of sage, bottlebrush, medicinal herbs, prairie grasses, yuccas and cactus add to the sense of place and time. Renowned Native American artist Blackbear Bosin donated the Keeper of the Plains to the citizens of Wichita in 1974."

After enjoying several views of downtown Wichita from this vantage point, we returned home to two delicious desserts, marking the end of an enjoyable day in Kansas.

You can view more photos of our day in Maize and Wichita on my Picasa site:  https://picasaweb.google.com/111139278872202723241/VisitWithTheSciolarosOfMaizeKansas