Spring Break 2014

It's hard to believe that a month has passed since our "spring break" in March....I have been wanting to share a bit about our vacation and so here it goes....

 Due to the past nine months being filled with shopping for a different house in order to "downsize", the preparation, repairs and cleaning in order to sell the "old house", and the "forest of trees" involved with the paperwork for three closings in three months time, Vince and I decided to get away for a change of scenery.  Mind you, we have TONS of stuff to do at the new house (like unpacking boxes) however, for our sanity, we decided a "road trip" was in order.

 The first snapshot above is the snowy mountains we saw as we drove through Albuquerque, NM.  The photo above is of one of the many sights we observed in many of the small rural towns along the old Route 66 part of our journey.

"Del's" is where we ate dinner in Tucumcari, NM after we checked into our hotel, and after the BIG dust storm passed by.  It was about the ONLY place nearby, and it came highly recommended.

Kansas was our choice for a destination, as we have been wanting to spend time with my Aunt Carol and Uncle David in Lawrence, Kansas.  Even though "Spring" officially arrived the week we were in the Midwest, it was still fairly chilly. However, the hospitality was very warm, and we enjoyed every minute of our visit.

 Our hosts are opening their box of oranges we delivered from my parents in Arizona. Since my folks were not able to come with us to Kansas, they wanted to send their love & oranges instead!

 We enjoyed watching the various birds in the Kyners' backyard; here are photos of cardinals; the female cardinal is at the birdfeeder.  Aunt Carol says they don't "fly south for the winter."

 On this particular day, it was in the 40's when we took a walk in their neighborhood.

 Ready to go downtown to the St. Patrick's Day parade! There's a lot of spirit AND energy in this college town.

  Chase and Moody are such pretty and pampered cats, and we enjoyed getting to know them.

Vince was surprised by all the "hills" in eastern Kansas.  The landscape was very wintery looking, but we did enjoy a few short drives.  We went to see Clinton Lake which is only about 3 miles from their house, and towards the end of our trip, we went to Ft. Leavenworth and took in a museum about "westward expansion" at the Fort.  

Another day we went to see The Bob Dole Institute on the K.U. campus, a wonderful museum and tribute to World War II veterans...

 ...and we also went to a Natural History Museum, located in a building constructed on the KU campus in the 1880's by Italian masons.

We visited the Lawrence train depot and learned about the history of the "Jayhawks" and the important role they played during the
Civil War period of our nation's history.

One afternoon, my Aunt Carol and I baked "pepper nuts" (my Great Aunt Annie's pfeffernusse recipe) and several afternoons while the men were napping, we enjoyed looking at many photo albums and scrapbooks she has made.  Uncle Dave treated us to some "old home movies" in their basement a couple of evenings and the train set he's building. Lots of good times!

On our last afternoon we went for a walk on the nature trail in their neighborhood.  Here's the red squirrel we spotted...

 ...and the pussy willows were trimmed in their yard, so we could bring a souveneir back to Arizona to show our kids and grandkids!

 On our final evening together, we took them to dinner at Paisano's, a local Italian restaurant.  Delicious food!  Aunt Carol and I had "Italian Margaritas" (made with ameretto)~ Yummy!

Goodbyes are always hard, but we hope to see Aunt Carol and Uncle Dave before year's end for a visit in Arizona!  We're crossing our fingers!!