QUOTABLE: “The traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep.” ~ Margaret Mead

Thursday, July 10, it was finally time to get on down to Leavenworth. We headed south out of Corning, Iowa, on IA-148 and crossed into Missouri. At Maryville, we hit US-71 south, then stopped in St. Joseph for a quick lunch at Taco John’s. The last leg was US-59 southwest to CR-JJ south, which took us all the way to Weston, Missouri, and the Weston Bend State Park. After getting set up and cooling off (because it is still HOT!!), I loaded up and headed to The Laundry House in Platte City, Missouri, to tackle the chore before our big week begins. This was my second visit to this laundromat, which is staffed, constantly cleaned, and has good seating, making it very nice. One of the washers started, but then stopped in the middle, causing a longer visit than normal, so I had to rush back to Priscilla. After a quick shower, we headed out to meet friends Shawn & Laura Faulkner for supper at Tin Kitchen in nearby Weston, then walked down the street to O’Malley’s Pub to continue gabbing. We made it back to Priscilla in time for bed. I was pretty tired, but anticipation of future events kept me awake for a bit.

LEFT TURN: On the ride today we passed a sign for Gravity, Iowa. Do they have more or less of it there? Is it harder to stand up? Do you float? Are they better at discerning heavy situations? Things that make you go hmmmm.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that we take each of our Boogers (grandkids) on a Great Adventure when they are 13. We got the idea from MW’s grandmother, who took her’s on two trips, one of which was international. She was an amazing woman, taking MW on a week long rafting trip through the Grand Canyon at 70 years old!! (We did a day last year and it was exhausting!) He has always treasured and talked about those memories, so we decided to share our love of this beautiful country with our Boogers. At 12 years old, we interview them for interests, likes, dislikes, etc., then build a trip specific to them. So far we’ve done history and space in Texas and desert in Arizona. Everyone gets a bit of military and/or aviation (hoping to spur some interests) and everyone gets into the air somehow. Now it is time for our third Booger, and the last of the boys, to travel, and we are so excited!

Friday Mr. Wonderful (MW) dropped me off at Kansas City International Airport (MCI) to meet Angel Booger aka Aiden Bell. I arrived about 1-1/2 hours before the flight and immediately got in line at American Airlines. Unaccompanied minors (UM) are kept in the custody of airline employees until handed off to the responsible adult at the gate, which required me to get through security without a ticket. Seeing that I was only 5th in line at the counter, I thought I’d breeze right through. There were two agents working priority, two working special services (my line) plus one who took someone from our line about every third time, and the rest working the regular check-in folks. Number 1 was called almost as soon as I got there. Great! Maybe not. It quickly became apparent that one of our agents was dealing with a foreign passenger who wanted to revamp his entire trip, but had language difficulties. 🙁 I tried to be sympathetic, but watching the clock didn’t help. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. Finally the other agent took Number 2. About that time a squirrely little fellow came down the line asking if we would like to go with him to the kiosk. No can do in my case or the two still in front of me. However, there were SIX behind us who had their stuff and just needed to drop off their overweight baggage, also our line. So Mr. Squirrely pulled them all out, marched them past us, and put them together in front of our 1/3-time agent. WTH? Meanwhile, Revamp was still at the counter with one of our two full-timers, and the other walked away on a break. Wait! What just happened??!! Finally someone new showed up and took Number 3. About that time all SIX of those taken from behind were processed on through and walked past us smiling. Then the 1/3-time agent started taking folks from the regular line. What purpose did that little Hollywood shuffle serve? By now I’ve been in line for about 25 minutes, and I don’t know the airport or how long it will take to get to the gate, and I MUST be there when Aiden comes off of the plane. With security still between me and the gate, I was getting a little nervous. Please, God, let me make it on time! Number 3 walked away from the counter, and that agent headed for the back area. Honestly, at that point I was just about to lose all patience when a man walked up and took over that position. He immediately called Number 4, then me. Finally, after about 35 minutes, I was moving on. In the time it took them to process FIVE of us through the special services line, they had processed 30 or so through priority and everyone in the regular line. Wow! At security my luck did not change. While the lines seemed to be moving okay and there weren’t a ton of people, I was directed to a scanner behind a couple with two small children and a giant stroller. Mom put their stuff on the belt, but forgot to empty all of the pockets on the stroller. She took off everyone’s shoes, then was told she didn’t need to do that, so put them all back on before moving on. Instead of having both kids in the double stroller, one was out and running all over the place, causing mom and/or dad to constantly go after her. It was really slow. Plus, my bladder was about to pop!! I finally made it to the body scanner. Relieved, I came out the other side only to be told to move to the side. “Double knee replacements”, says I. “No. It’s your arm. Take off your watch.” Done. “Nope, still an issue.” A female agent walked over and pointed out that I was wearing a compression sleeve after which the original agent said, and I KID YOU NOT, “Sit in that chair. You’re going to be here a while.” I said, “I’ve got to meet an Unaccompanied Minor. Can’t I just take it off?” “Oh, you’re willing to do that?” I ripped off the compression sleeve and handed it to him. He went to run it through the x-ray machine as I watched my bin with computer and passport come out of the other scanner. I asked the woman agent, “Can I pick up my stuff?” In a voice typically reserved for children, she replied, “No you absolutely may not!” Again, it took a monumental effort to keep my composure. Then the guy said, “She isn’t wearing the sleeve. It’s in the machine.” With a change of tone, she said “Oh”, then motioned for me to get my stuff. I had to wait another couple of minutes to get my sleeve back, but I finally had the goal in sight! Turned out that the gates were not very far away. Whew! I was still able to pop into the Ladies room and still make it with about 10 minutes to spare since the UMs don’t come off until last. I took that time to do a little deep breathing to get myself calmed down. I was pretty excited, but I think he was overwhelmed by exhaustion. Apparently he woke up at 1:30 AM and couldn’t get back to sleep, poor kid. On the way back to Leavenworth we stopped off at Roxanne’s Cafe in Platte City for lunch. Later, after he took a good nap, we made a grocery run to get food he likes. In preparation for the upcoming activities, our evening was spent watching Aces High before turning in. Well, to be fair, Aiden fell asleep before we were too far into it.

Saturday we were up and out early for Aiden’s first adventure…a ride in a Citabria tail dragger with a retired Air Force F-16 pilot! Each Booger has some kind of air component in their adventure, and I found Jonathan Dowty of Nehemiah Aviation while searching for options. I really enjoyed talking to him, plus riding in a tail dragger is pretty cool! The Boogers never know what we are doing until we get there, but Aiden didn’t even flinch. Jonathan walked him around the plane, explaining how it all works and giving a little demo of the controls, then they took off. He has quite a cool setup with a hangar in his back yard and a short taxi to a grass strip. The plane has two tandem seats, so MW and I had to stay on the ground. I’m pretty sure he was a little jealous, and I know I was!! As it turned out, Jonathan let Aiden take the stick and even talked him through a landing at a nearby airport. How exciting is that??!! We were really impressed with and whole-heartedly endorse this outfit. They do both sightseeing and aerobatic flights, although the ceiling was too low for much of the latter during Aiden’s trip. What was Aiden’s take? It was pretty fun and flying wasn’t as hard as he would have thought. There was some turbulence because the clouds were so low, and he was surprised at how easy it was to keep it level. Hmmmm…we may have a future pilot on our hands!!! If you are in the area, give Jonathan a call at 913-364-7919 and spend some time in the air.

At this point I should give you a little background on our buddy Shawn Faulkner for context. Aside from the fact that he has been privileged to know MW and me since high school (snicker, snicker), he is a retired Army tank dude with a ridiculous amount of education. He taught at West Point and currently instructs Army officers at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. When he isn’t doing that, he writes. So far there are two books on WWI, The School of Hard Knocks: Combat Leadership in the American Expeditionary Forces and Pershing’s Crusaders: The American Soldier in World War I. (Incidentally, the last conversation I ever had with my Dad was about that book and Pershing.) A third is in the works. He is also a bit of a hoarder of military memorabilia. (He says the difference between a hoarder and a collector is organization, but I’m going to stick to my initial wording.) In short, when it comes to wars and specifically WWI, he is truly the smartest man we know. DO NOT tell him I said that!!

Our next stop of the day was the National WWI Museum and Memorial across the river in Kansas City. Shawn met us out front, and the history lesson began. (Aiden later said that Shawn’s deep baritone voice was a little intimidating at first. I told him he should have heard it coming out of a teenager years ago!) After the initial greetings, I left the guys to it because my hip had been giving me fits. Honestly, though, I’d have muddled through if I hadn’t been there before. If you like military history, this is a really great place to visit. As I wrote the last time we went, they do a terrific job of laying out the reasons and timeline for the entire war. The focus is on ground forces, though, so info on aviation and naval operations is minimal. You can go in with zero background knowledge, unlike some places that seem to think everyone comes in with the basics. Here are some of the highlights that MW and Aiden talked about:

  • Aiden’s visit with his own private subject matter expert was pretty darned phenomenal. While I think it was initially a bit of information overload, he really took a lot with him. When we talked later, he said that Shawn was a really cool guy and smarter than he looked. (Cracked me UP!! He isn’t “Sheldon” enough. I guess cool and smart aren’t supposed to go together?!) They ran into a lot of museum staff/docents who knew Shawn, which is not surprising since he volunteers and regularly brings students there. Aiden thought it was supremely cool that people who were there to explain things to visitors stopped to hear what Shawn was telling Aiden. There was a female volunteer that was absolutely enthralled by what Shawn was saying in the murals area. Same with another guy at a toy display who seemed amazed when Shawn talked about what they were made of and the history. Aiden said, “He’s a big deal there!” He isn’t wrong.
  • Aiden said his favorite things were the uniforms, including helmets, and of course, the guns! They present the evolution of technology, in both arms and uniforms, over the course of the war as each side played catch-up in the creation of the best killing machine. Aiden enjoyed the progression and how technology advances because of war.
  • Since our last visit, they’ve added “Into the Trenches”, a very realistic trench recreation to give viewers the feeling of being there. We have seen other trench representations, but they were very sterile. In this one, the mud, chaos, and tight quarters are evident. They even had a fight going on with some Germans who managed to drop in on the Allied forces.
  • They’ve added a section downstairs to show many of the items that were in storage. It isn’t fancy, just showing the item and label, but it gives folks a chance to see things that they haven’t worked into detailed displays yet or may not have room for.
  • Of course, Shawn spent a little time on the armored vehicles. For some reason, he seems to have an interest in that.
  • MW really enjoyed the period recruitment and propaganda posters.
  • The special exhibit called “Encounters” was pretty cool. (After hearing about it, wish I had checked it out.) Through videos with uniformed actors portraying real soldiers, you hear first-person accounts. The information was gleaned from diaries, letters, and photos, and the sixteen displays provide an intimate view of a real soldier that is very moving.
  • MW said don’t miss the Memorial Hall upstairs that has the museum’s original murals and battle maps.
  • After the boys finished their 3-hour tour (no boat involved), Shawn had to get back to hang with the grandbabies. Since we didn’t go up last time, I joined MW and Aiden to check out the top of Memorial Tower. The first elevator opens on the plaza above the main museum guarded by a pair of winged sphinx statues. Both have their wings covering their eyes for different reasons. “Memory”, on the west side facing east, is shielding her eyes from the horrors of the war. “Future”, on the east side facing west, covers her eyes because the future is unseen. From the top of the tower, you get an incredible view of the surrounding area.

Finally finished, we went to late lunch at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant back across the river in Leavenworth. Our day was capped off back at Priscilla with a movie…WWI, of course….1917.

Sunday we went to Leavenworth Baptist Church, where pastor John Beck gave a good sermon about growing deeper in God’s word. (Am I the only one who feels they are talking directly to me every time??) Afterwards we had lunch at Pullman Place downtown where I ran into a couple from Paducah, Kentucky, who actually went to Lone Oak High School, my 10th grade school! They didn’t know our Grimm buddies, though. Next was a quick drive thru Leavenworth National Cemetery to show Aiden a small part of what each and every one of us should be grateful for every day. Then it was time to head over to Shawn and Laura’s for…more war stuff. (You didn’t expect anything different, did you?) While she and I had a nice visit, the boys spent time playing around in Shawn’s collection. Aiden was pretty much in awe. He already thought Shawn was cool, but then he brought out weapons and targets. Wow! Later Aiden said that he knew about the Springfield 1903 before the trip, but never dreamed he’d get to shoot one! He said that it is the coolest gun he has ever seen or shot. “Even the look of the wood grain was amazing.” They also shot a Colt 1911 military pistol, which he thought was also pretty cool. Needless to say, it was an amazing afternoon for him.

After having a conversation about Medal of Honor winners earlier in the day, our movie for the evening was To Hell and Back about and starring Audie Murphy. (Y’all know I’m a little in love with that man!!)

This was our second stay at Weston Bend State Park, and you can see our original review here. Note that construction is underway to add quite a few paved, full-hookup sites, so that will make it even better, especially for big rigs. For this visit in July 2025, we paid a little under $29 per night for 4 nights in a 30-amp electric site with no water. (There is water in the campground.)

Monday it was time to relocate and switch focus. We hit the road early beginning north on KS-7, then turned southwest on KS-4 and zig-zagged down to I-70 west. Unfortunately, the required miles for today forced us onto the dreaded interstate. Ugh! It served the purpose, though, and soon we were exiting on KS-156. Our only option for lunch was the Pizza Hut in Ellsworth, Kansas, which was surprisingly good. Afterwards we continued southwest to Great Bend, taking US-56 from there all the way to Dodge City and the Gunsmoke RV Park. After setup, we took a ride to the Visitor Center, then ran a couple of errands. Later we watched about half of Fury, but my mifi ran out of juice, so we had to wait to see the rest.

Tuesday was our day to check out Dodge City, and due to the 92 degree heat, we started early! After dropping back in at the Visitor Center to get tour tickets, we started out with a visit to the Boot Hill Museum. MW and I were here before Covid, and they have added an entire building and a lot more exhibits. We took in all of the museum, went up to Boot Hill, then walked the sidewalk of historic Front Street. Aiden tasted his first Sarsaparilla, which he liked, while we took a little break in the Long Branch Saloon. Sadly, Miss Kitty was nowhere in sight.

I think my favorite story from the museum was about Fred Harvey. I’d never heard of him, but he was quite the enterprising young man. After arriving in the United States in 1853, Fred worked as a railroad agent in the west. At work he saw what awful food was fed to passengers…canned beans, hard biscuits, cold coffee, for which they paid a premium. He launched a plan to build actual restaurants with good food at railroad stations. Called Harvey House, the first one opened in Topeka in 1876. Within 7 years, he had 17 restaurants, and by the time he died, 15 hotels, 47 restaurants, and 30 dining cars. Now that is someone who saw a problem and solved it with great success!

Next up was a trolley tour of the city and Fort Dodge. I think the kid was LEAST impressed by the giant cattle feed lot we passed, or more specifically the smell of it. Before it even came into view, he leaned over and said, “Do you smell that?” I said that, while I didn’t see one around us, there was most likely a feed lot nearby and upwind. No sooner had the words cleared my lips when we saw it up ahead. Let’s just say, Aiden’s not a fan. I’m not either, but I’ve seen ones that were much larger and smelled a lot worse, so this one didn’t bother me too much. My eyes didn’t even burn!

We passed the 100th meridian line, which was the boundary between the Louisiana Purchase territory and the Republic of Texas. At the time it was a big deal with the Supreme Court actually establishing the boundary. In addition to that, and of more importance to me, it also tends to be the boundary between arid and humid. West of that the air dries out nicely, and even if temps are high, it doesn’t feel the same. Plus, I don’t get covered with sweat! For me, west is best! Sorry Mom.

Fort Dodge is the oldest permanent settlement in western Kansas. Built in 1865, it provided protection and supplies to those using the Santa Fe Trail. At its largest, it held in the neighborhood of 500 soldiers, but was only in use for 17 years. The land was then deeded to the state of Kansas to create The Kansas Soldier’s Home. Among the last of the stone structures built was the commanding officer’s quarters. Although now called the Custer House, the man was never stationed here. However, the 7th Cavalry went from here to the Battle of Washita with him in command.

Back at the Museum, we watched the noon gunfight show, then headed to lunch at Central Station Bar & Grill.

Before heading back to Priscilla for a break, we took Aiden out to see the Santa Fe Trail ruts west of town. Still a relatively large open field, it is a little hard to picture how desolate it must have been for those taking the famous route back in the day. The signage had a quote from George Sibley, who was a government surveyor of the road to Santa Fe: “Sunday, September 11, 1825. Morning calm and cool…The Waggons were obliged to turn out into the High Prairie, and go around a considerable distance to get past this rugged Bluff…Altogether, I believe this is the worst piece of Road we have had since we left Ft. Osage.”

Later we headed back to the Boot Hill Museum for the evening’s entertainment. First up was the 6 PM gunfight, which had a slightly different story but similar outcome. Then we went to the Varieties Theater for supper and to take in the show, which has been running every summer since 1958! The meal was roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, roll, and dessert, all of which were unexpectedly excellent. Then we watched singing and dancing with can-can girls and a few other characters, all led by Miss Kitty, of course. At one point while the latter was dancing around in the audience, she sat down on Aiden’s lap. He froze and didn’t have any idea what to do. He said she didn’t even break eye contact and it was crazy!! MW and I were cracking up! Sadly, I was behind him and could not get a pic.

HILARITY: At some point Aiden and I were talking and the subject of “cool” came up. I said, “What, you don’t think I’m cool?” “Nope.”, says he. “But you are OG.” Ladies and gentlemen, my Booger thinks I’m original gangster! (You old folks, look it up.)

Gunsmoke RV Park is just west of Dodge City, Kansas, making it a great location for sightseeing. Amenities include a pool, laundry, air-conditioned bathhouse, a dog park, and office w/small store. Their paperwork also shows a playground, horseshoe pit, and pavilion, but the playground was run down to the point of being unusable, and we didn’t see the other two. Facilities in general were in need of refurbishment, but the pool appeared to be well-kept and the bathhouse was clean. The campground offers around 48 pull/through or back-in, full-hookup sites. Their map also shows tent camping, but that doesn’t appear to exist anymore. The first section of sites as you drive in are long-term, with the exception of a few overnight spots. That does not offer a good first impression, but when you get to the back, the gravel sites are well-spaced, long, and fairly level. Cell signals were strong, and we had plenty of over-the-air tv. While this could not be considered a destination campground, if you want to check out Dodge City, it is fine, and the price is good for proximity to a tourist attraction. For this visit in July 2025, we paid $48 per night for 2 nights in a 50-amp, full-hookup, pull-through site.

Wednesday MW and I sat outside enjoying the morning for a bit before waking the kid up and packing it in to relocate again. When we hit the road, it was US-50 all the way to Hutchinson, Kansas. Along the way we stopped at Tom’s Country Kitchen in Kinsley for lunch. After getting Priscilla set up in her new spot, we relaxed for a bit before heading over to Pretty Prairie and Kansas’ Largest Night Rodeo. You know we love a good rodeo!! What I haven’t said in a while is that it is HOT. The high in Dodge City on Tuesday was 105, and it has been consistently hovering around 100. The seats were bench bleachers, and thankfully ours were shaded. However, they were the tightest rows we’ve ever sat in. When the folks showed up that had the ones in front of us, we had nowhere to put our knees!! The show was great, though. They had a wagon with a team of clydesdales that was gorgeous. The bullfighter was also very funny, but the most hilarious part was the rabbit. What, you don’t see rabbits at your rodeos? Well, one snuck into the arena and put the show on hold while they tried to run him out. He was smarter than the riders, though, and they finally decided to leave him in and let him fend for himself. He must have exited pretty fast when the horses started jumping again. The other cool thing that happened was mutton busting. For those unaware, that is when little kids strap on a helmet, grab ahold of a sheep, and hang on for dear life. One little girl stayed on all the way to the end of the arena and most of the way back! The crowd went nuts!! About 3/4 of the way through the show, all three of us were aching and stiff from sitting so cramped, so we decided to pack it in and head back to Priscilla.

Thursday we woke up to cooler temps and very little humidity. Yay. At 8 AM, we walked over to the trailhead and met Randy and LeAnna of Ponderosa Ponies. Randy unloaded our rides, and Aiden met a beautiful horse named Scout. We didn’t realize it until talking later, but we had already seen him with another rider…the owner’s grandson…in the rodeo. This park has miles of riding trails, both wooded and out in the open. LeAnna rides here regularly on her own, and it is a favorite place to take clients, too. We wandered around for a couple of hours just enjoying the morning. LeAnna and MW’s horses kept the pace up front, but Scout was a slow walker. I mostly stayed behind him to nudge him along a bit. About 3/4 of the way through the ride, my horse decided she was ready to be done. She slowed down to a crawl, at least until she realized we were on the trail back to the trailer. Aiden said he enjoyed the experience and scenery, but it would have been better if our horses had kept up and didn’t poop so much!! LOL I can’t tell you all of the things you shouldn’t do with a bum hip, but without hesitation, riding a horse is near the top of that list. My hip was not happy, along with a lot of the other muscles. It took serious effort just to swing my leg over to get off! Whew! MW said he was sore in a few places, and Aiden’s right knee was bothering him while we were riding. I hobbled back to Priscilla and sat for a bit before getting a nice shower. They both said the soreness cleared up pretty fast except for a little tightness across MW’s shoulders the next morning. Poor heads!! It took DAYS for me to be able to walk without a limp.

The guys headed off to shower at the bathhouse, which according to Aiden was hot and filled with poop and bugs! It was absolutely hot and our neighbors were playing fast and loose with the toilet seats, leaving them pretty disgusting. Thankfully, we figured out that the culprits were only using one of the three bathrooms available (there were four separate rooms with toilets, sinks, and showers, but one was out of service), so that helped with that issue. (Since our site was not full-hookup, we could not all shower in the trailer every day. MW almost never does anyway.) I will say, though, that the bugs were only bad if you’ve never been in a bathhouse with a LOT of bugs before. LOL. Suffice to say, Aiden was NOT a fan of that particular park!

When I could finally walk a little bit, we headed out to lunch at The Barn in Burrton, Kansas, which was really good, but service was slow. Heads-up though, Aiden said this is the best chicken fried chicken he had on the whole trip, and believe me, he had a LOT! After that we took him to check out Strataca, Kansas’ Underground Salt Mine Museum. MW and I have been here before, so you can check out some specifics here. (It’s a different format, so scroll past the write-up to see lots of pics.) This mine was originally found in 1887 by Ben Blanchard when he was looking for oil. We did the mine tour, plus the dark and train rides, which take you further back into the mines. Aiden thought this was pretty cool. The salt currently being mined here is used mostly for road salt. Although he knew it was a mineral, had no idea where it was being mined. By the time we were done there, though, it was time for me to get back and sit! The rest of the evening was feet up, while we finished watching Fury. It was good if you like very graphic war movies where our side is up against impossible odds, but I was happy to learn from Shawn later that being in a modern day tank crew doesn’t look like that. It had me feeling sorry for him in his previous life!!

EVERYDAY BLESSINGS: It was 95 degrees when we headed out for the rodeo Wednesday night. As the afternoon progressed, the weather apps were saying thunderstorms at 7 and 8 PM. The skies were dark in several directions when we arrived at the grounds, but the weather app had backed up the rain to 8 and 9 PM. The rodeo began at 8 PM, so we still thought we would get wet. But within a few minutes, it changed again and there was no more rain in our forecast at all, despite seeing rain off in the distance. We did, however, get the associated temperature drop…about 10 degrees by 8 PM. It was awesome!! For the previous 10 days, it had been saying that Thursday was going to be miserably hot and sunny. That front, though, gave us cloudy skies and temps of around 65-70 for our ride and a high for the day of around 83. The humidity didn’t even kick in until we were almost done! It was the only day during the entire Great Adventure that it wasn’t miserably hot.

Friday it was necessary to wash some clothes so I headed over to the Busy Bee Laundry (very good) in Hutchinson and knocked it out. Our original plan for this day was kayaking on the Arkansas River. However, the water levels are so low that the trip would require more than novice skills. So we decided to ride over to Wichita, Kansas. We had a quick lunch at Bowlero, the bowling alley, which was surprisingly good. Then I left to take care of a few errands while Papa and Aiden did a little bowling. I intended to take care of the four stops and hustle back to join the fun. Traffic, however, had a different idea. It took me 40 minutes to drive 13 miles to the mall, then the signage was mis-marked, so I walked all over the place trying to find the store. I finished there and blew off the other three places. Back at the bowling alley, the guys were finishing up their third game and ready to pack it in. That was fine with me, but Aiden missed out. Papa apparently kicked his butt, but if he had played me, it would probably have been more even. Or would it? We made it back to Priscilla and relaxed a bit, then I decided it was time for some ice cream. Aiden and I took a drive over to Braums, where he went for regular food…five hamburgers! Yes, you read that right. They had a deal, and he was certain he could summon his inner Joey Chestnut. He did, too, but there was a bit of discomfort afterwards. Later when talking about the various things we did on his trip. Aiden said “I don’t even know what to say about that.” He was so confident before he unwrapped them that it would be easy peasy. Don’t look for him in any future eating contests. I think he’s checked that off of his bucket list. LOL

Saturday morning we were up and out to check out another cool Kansas spot, the Cosmosphere. The last time MW and I were here, we were blown away by the quality of this space museum in the middle of Kansas. Here is the detailed information from that visit. This time we checked out parts of the museum we had not seen before. We saw Oasis in Space in the Justice Planetarium, Space: The New Frontier in the theater, and got in a little science education in Dr. Goddard’s Lab. We were getting pretty hungry by then and the cafe was full, so we took a ride over to Firehouse Subs – Aiden had never been!! Afterwards we returned to the museum to ride the Navigator Flight Simulator and finish looking through the Hall of Space Museum. Aiden said this was one of the top things we did in Hutchinson. He didn’t know that much about space until we went, and the movie was pretty cool, too.

Did you know that triskaidekaphobia is a fear of the number 13? If I were one of the Apollo 13 astronauts, I’d think it was my lucky number.

HUH? While walking around the museum, I heard a young lady that I’m guessing was 13 or 14 years old ushering her family over to see the “statues of the presidents”. She said, “I only know one of their names, though.”

Our original plan was an evening of dirt track racing, but the weather said it would still be 100 degrees at 10 PM. We gave Aiden the option, and he took a pass. Whew!! MW and I didn’t want to sit in that heat either, but this week is all Aiden, all the time!! Instead went to the movies and saw Aiden’s pick, F1. Later he said that was his new favorite movie. I have to say, both MW and I were impressed with the way it was filmed and would watch it again.

Sunday we started our day at Saltcity Cowboy Church where the music was excellent and the sermon on pride versus glorifying God was thought-provoking.

After that we had our last lunch of Aiden’s Great Adventure together at Applewood Restaurant. Next we drove back over to Wichita, where MW said his goodbyes to the Booger and headed off somewhere to wait while I went with Aiden to the gate. Our first stop was the American Airlines counter where there was again a delay in getting through, this time because the agent thought I was in the Priority line and made me get in the regular check-in line. (Special Services is a separate line that specifically lists unaccompanied minors, but what the heck.) We made it through to the gate in plenty of time for the flight, and I was really sad to watch Aiden’s backside disappear down that gangway. When MW returned for me, we ran the other errands I didn’t get to on Friday then headed back to Hutchinson. It felt like a long day, but Aiden’s was worse. His return flight was delayed in Chicago, and he didn’t make it home until the wee hours. I’m sure he was exhausted. His Dad picked him up, and that poor man had to get up early to be at work the next day, too, so we can’t complain.

This is our second visit to Sandhills State Park. Located just north of Hutchinson, Kansas, it is really convenient to all of the activities there and less than an hour to Wichita. The park has 1,123 acres with miles of trails for hiking and horseback riding. They also have wildlife observation blinds on the Pond Trail and hunting is allowed by permit in certain seasons. Amenities include picnic tables, vault toilets, and benches along several trails, and an office, pavilion, bathhouse, and dump station in the campground. There are a variety of sites, both pull-thru and back-in, with 50-amp electric, water, picnic tables, and fire rings. Some of the back-in sites also have sewer, and many sites have horse corrals. The last time we were here a beautiful pond curved around in the center of the campground circle filled with water fowl. This time the water is down to a small stream and the space is all grown up with large trees. Apparently the source dried up, but the maps still show the sites on water. Not a big deal to us, but might be to someone else. The bathhouse is basically four separate bathroom units in one building, and they were HOT, even in the mornings. They had the vents closed, so there was no way for the hot air to escape in the cooler nights. As previously mentioned, one was out of service and one was left pretty disgusting by a pair of campers. (The camp host was aware and attempted to limit them to only one of the three and cleaned as much as possible.) Everything else is very well maintained. Excluding Aiden, we like this campground, even without the lake, although avoiding the heat of summer would definitely be on our list for future visits. For this stay in July 2025, we paid just under $33 per night for 5 nights in a 50-amp site with water. That cost included a $5 per day park entry fee.

Well, that brings us to the end of Aiden’s Great Adventure. One of the things we love about these trips is getting one-on-one time with the Boogers. Visiting in a group is great, but their individual personalities shine when we have them alone. My take-aways from this one are that Aiden is an amazingly polite and considerate young man, and despite the straight face most of the time, he has a great sense of humor and fun. He cleaned up after himself and jumped in to help wherever he could. He opened my door and grabbed anything I was carrying to help with my gimpy hip and even cleaned up after himself! As with all of them, the week after they leave is a bit sad for me. I miss that Angel Booger!!

Next up…Sahara Heat, An Unexpected Turn, and Uncle Russ. See you on the path!!

Talisa

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