Welcome to Kansas!

After a quick breakfast, we said our goodbyes to Uncle Bob and Aunt Barbara and headed toward Kansas City, MO.

We passed by the World War One Memorial and had to stop to get some pictures. The memorial site was amazing! From the top of the memorial, we were able to see all of Kansas City. Absolutely stunning!

We got back in the car and drove in to Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, which is a very upscale shopping area. We walked around and happened upon a Tiffany & Co. I had never walked into a Tiffany's before so we walked right in. Pretty impressive.

We walked out of Tiffany's as quickly as we walked in and went down a few blocks to the Banana Republic. Wow! I couldn't believe how big it was. It even carried Monogram and Heritage items - items we don't have at our store in Chattanooga. I had to snap some pictures; I figured I'd show my boss at BR at home.

Again, we walked out empty handed, which is all right with me; I'm saving my pennies for Vegas!

After our tour of the Country Club Plaza, we went to eat at Kansas City's famous Gates Barbecue. Mmm...mmm...that's what I call barbecue!!!

With our bellies full in Kansas City, MO, we made our way towards Beloit, KS, where Nora and Dale live. They are the niece and nephew of Zac's grandfather.

We drove through some amazing scenery across Kansas. There were lots of soy, corn, and wheat fields everywhere. Some of the terrain was flat as a pancake. I've never seen anything like it. Beautiful!


We would've gotten to Nora and Dale's earlier if we hadn't gotten lost. We almost got run over by huge combines on the way! We got to their house in the country a little before five o'clock p.m. We took our belongings upstairs, visited with them for a while, and then headed to the farm of Zac's Great Uncle Carlos (on his grandfather's side). Uncle Carlos was an interesting person. He's an 84-year-old man who lives on several acres of land and has many animals, from miniature cows to donkeys to miniature horses and bulls.

To satisfy our hungry tummies, we were treated to steak skewers for dinner at the local bar and grille called Trapper's. De-li-cious!

I was feeling great about staying in the country for the night until Nora and Dale began sharing stories of their house. Their house was built in the 1800's and used to be a brothel. That was the interesting part. What scared me and made me think twice about staying in an old house in the middle of nowhere was their story of the ghost that supposedly lives upstairs in the bedroom where we were staying for the night. All night long, I swore I heard mysterious sounds and whispers. I tried to relax but had a hard time falling asleep. My plan to keep one eye open didn't work. It was probably well after midnight before I finally gave up, closed both eyes, and slipped into a coma. What a day!

P.S. I learned today that if you hit a cow in Kansas, you can't sue the farmer who owns that cow. It's called the free range law. By the way, we did NOT learn that from first-hand experience!

P.P.S. As of today, we are 1,000 miles away from home!