Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Tulsa To Kansas City Road Trip - Can You Imagine Doing This In Covered Wagon? Or Even Just In An Old Hudson Without Air Conditioning? (I would Love To Have A Hudson Hornet, In Yellow Of Course)

We took a drive North today taking the lesser used route to Kansas City.  Business, Nordstrom Shoe Sale, (for John, not me),
 and Barbecue!
 This is what the sky looked like on the way back - glad we hadn't stayed longer.
 This is the picture of the rocks at the edge of the Highway that I took and sent to Amanda and Mike.  I just recently decided that I wasn't being annoying enough as a Mother-In-Law, so I have begun to send interesting rock pictures - as a Geology major, I think Mike likes them.
 This is Coffeyville, Kansas - just North of the Oklahoma border.  Those houses weren't originally set so far back from the street - a flood came through and wiped out rows of houses.  You can still see the driveways and foundation.  (Just too hard to photograph, so you'll have to trust me.)  
 This charming old green house was far enough from the river to survive the flood.
 Here is the real Gem of Coffeeville - The Brown Mansion.  Another historic home saved by that Old Maid daughter who stayed to take care of her parents, and then lived to a ripe old age in the house, donating it in her will.  I can't tell you how many times I have heard of this. 

 On this sleepy little highway the biggest things we saw were grain silos, until the gigantic group of buildings.  
 Saint John The Baptist Catholic Church, Greeley, Kansas 
So surprised by the sheer enormity of it - do you suppose that every the Catholics in Kansas shows up there on Sunday?  (Or that Saturday 5 pm excuse for Midnight Mass?) 

And just in case you don't know what I meant when I mentioned Grain Silos, here's a picture.  (Or at least this is what I think is a Grain Silo - it could be a power plant, or actually anything else.) 

14 comments:

  1. Ah Beryl, 'Not annoying enough as a mother-in-law': I love it!! ha ha ha ...
    Great pictures of the wide open spaces and My Goodness, that is a huge Catholic complex for a small city. Just googled Coffeyville, it has lots of nice old buildings. That sky looks a lot like what we get here on a regular basis.

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    1. Hi Patricia - My son-in-law is such a good husband and takes such good care of my daughter. Driving through Kansas I am always remarking to my husband how wide and open the spaces are - exactly as you described them - but especially more so in the dead of Winter. That sky was pretty menacing - definitely big thunder storm on the way.

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  2. looks fascinating and Soooo differ to here. Don't want to go anywhere in a covered wagon! x

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    1. Hi FF - Problem with the wagons is how slow they go - even the Amish have tired of the pace. They have been known to commute on the only form of motorized vehicle approved by the Amish Church - their tractors.

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  3. What fun a road trip! The food pic...yummy!

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    1. Hi Carla - You brave woman! It was fun and that was the best BBQ lunch ever - place was called Jack Stack in downtown KC.

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  4. Looked up Brown mansion and it is beautiful and interesting. Hope your HB had success finding shoes. If not you still had an interesting day trip!

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    1. Hi Sanda - He did find a nice pair of shoes and get his business call made, so all in all a successful day. I agree that the story of the Brown Mansion and family is very interesting.

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  5. Oh, Beryl. That BBQ pic makes my mouth water! I'm going to have to break down and learn how to cook BBQ - heckuva lot cheaper than visiting the US to satisfy that craving. And I'm coming to realise I've now been away so long that my homeland is beginning to look exotic to me! How sad is that? I've always loved old buildings like that green house. I live in a house with 'original features' but I really appreciate wood buildings and their unique structures - and particularly verandas and the lovely weather they imply....I'm almost homesick except I know it's colder there just now than here. Great post - thanks for sharing your pics!

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    1. Hi Shelley - When I pass one of those old beauties, I marvel at their staying power - all the rain, hail, and swirling winds they have withstood. Makes me nostalgic. (But newer homes are so much easier to keep clean.)
      I think you might be the only one anywhere who understands both sides of this - I tell my Oklahoma friends in all seriousness how wonderfully exotic I find this place, and they laugh their heads off at me. Good luck with the BBQ experiment - just find the right wood, I'm told. Luckily I can just run out to Billy Rays or Rib Crib.

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  6. Wow, that is such a Dorothy in black and white Kansas kind of sky before they had to duck under the house! Glad you got away from that in time! That BBQ is just divine, yes as Shelley above we still have not learned to do the good BBQ, besides putting teriyaki chicken on everything. I wonder if my daughter will hang around to look after us - not likely - and actually would not really want her to...

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    1. Hi Jody - Before I moved here I thought the Wizard of Oz was the result of an excellent imagination but when those clouds start boiling it all seems possible. And if you really don't want your daughter taking care of you in your old age, you should confuse the heck out of her and tell her now. My mother told us that when we were almost as young Tallulah, and now that she's in her 90's, we're glad she did. No guilt. Do you make your own Teriyaki sauce? I have a recipe that is nearly (but just nearly) as good as the Kikkoman stuff, but will take most of an afternoon and leave your fingers smelling of garlic and ginger.

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  7. I love your pictures "on the fly"!! The sky looks just beautiful, butI guess that sight would a bit scary in cyclone territory :)

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    1. Hi Carolyn - The skies in Midwest America can be pretty scary!

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