Blogs from Salina, Kansas, United States, North America

Geo: 38.8405, -97.6097Today marks the first day of our return home. It was a major moving day eastward. Because we were losing an hour today, we got up early and left at 7:00 AM and a very chilly 45 degrees. Knowing it would get very warm before the day was over, we were in shorts. Thank goodness for seat warmers. I will say, it didn't take long for the warm-up to begin. By 8:10 AM it was 70 degrees (of course we were moving out of the mountains during this time). By 9:15 it was 86 degrees and an hour later it was 90 degrees. We arrived in Salina, KS at a whopping 97 degrees, so we more than doubled the temperature in just a few hours. Wow!So, we began the day driving east on Rt. ... read more

Geo: 38.8405, -97.6097We had Emily and Lucy stay with us. The hotel had a swimming pool. The girls loved it. And to go to the hotel room, GrandDad put the girls on the "cart". They loved it. Lucy slept on the Pack N Play. It took her longer to go to sleep, as compared to the night before.The girls both enjoyed the FREE breakfast the following morning.... read more

No likey the mornings. Sally went down to get breakfast and I stayed in the room to watch the sunrise from the opposite of my normal day. So entranced that I forgot to take a picture of it coming up over the historic water tower in Salina. Circa 1999. Sweet view!... read more

Ah, the wide open plains of Kansas! Though we haven't seen Dorothy or Toto, we have enjoyed the rolling hills, expansive fields and unending rows of shoulder-high corn (not as many amber waves of grain as we had expected to see in Kansas, though). In fact, we're enjoying the drive so much we've decided to press on farther than our original intended destination at the kids' urging. Either they really love the car, or they just want some more DVD time. We said goodbye to our family in St. Louis this morning and headed over to Kansas City to watch the Royals play (and unfortunately lose to) the Detroit Tigers. The visit enabled Todd to add one more entry to his already impressive list of stadiums he's visited, and gave us all a good chance to ... read more

We enjoyed our visit to Salina, Kansas. We found Terry’s childhood home and elementary school (now a district administration building). Graycee enjoyed the nearby park called Indian Rock. Terry’s home looked like a 400 sq foot bungalow. We drove around the neighborhood and downtown Salina as he described all the places he used to walk to or ride his bike. He went to swimming lessons every day at the swim center that is now boarded up (over 50 years old). All the pictures tell the story. The picture of “Lincoln-Roosevelt” Middle School was where Terry went in the 7th grade. It was called Roosevelt Middle School at the time. The high school, Lincoln High, was boarded up behind this building. We grabbed a fresh food organic lunch at a market and ate under a tree near ... read more