Finally the hot dry days of August are behind us. It’s okay that August went fast – it was too hot! Cooler days and nights in the 60’s, a good time to drive up to Bennington Lake for walking and day camping.
Leaves are starting to turn red and yellow. Sumac and probably poison ivy.
Me and my shadow. Wylie is such a wonderful companion.
Early morning walk in the moonshine from the super blue moon with Venus rising.
Lindsborg has the Dala horses, Wamego has Toto’s and Abilene has cowboy boots. In 2019 a group decided to install cowboy boots around the town, celebrating that the first cowboy boot was invented in Abilene in 1863.
Thank you to all the artists who designed these boots.
Wild Bill Hickok Cowboy Boot
Location Central Kansas Free Fair Grounds
Varsity Letter Cowboy Boot
Location Abilene High School Football Stadium
Sister City Cowboy Boot
Location Abilene Public Library
Ike’s Galaxy Cowboy Boot
Location Abilene City Hall
History of Farming In Dickinson County Cowboy Boot
Location Dickinson County Courthouse
Crazy Quilt Cowboy Boot
Location Arts Council Of Dickinson County
Mooooo Cowboy Boot
Location Old Abilene Town
Patriotism Cowboy Boot
Location Little Ike Park
Mud Creek Cowboy Boot
Location Abilene Senior Center
Rose Garden Cowboy Boot
Location Abilene Civic Center/Visitors Center
Abilene also has the world’s largest belt buckle, Designed by a local artist Jason Lahr, it measures 19’ 10 1/2” wide and 13’ 11 1/4” tall. Inlaid with a blue quartz longhorn it also features Dwight Eisenhower, Wild Bill Hickok, Abilene Smoky Valley Railroad, Seelye Mansion, C.W. Parker carousel horse, C.L. Brown telephone, and a racing Greyhound.
Thank you Wylie for being such a good sport and sitting for each photo. Time for a treat!
This Merci Boxcar is located in Hays, KS at the Veterans Memorial park.
France sent 49 boxcars to the United States as a thank you for the food and and other supplies that the US sent to France and Italy in 1947. The boxcars arrived February 3, 1949 in New Jersey, filled with thousands of gifts of gratitude that included a variety of toys, clothes, furniture, statues and ornamental items.
The boxcars were referred to as forty-and-eight. They hauled 40 men or eight horses to and from the front lines during WW 1.
The 49 boxcars were distributed among the 48 American states. The remaining boxcar was shared between Washington DC and Hawaii
Here is a link about the boxcars and you can look up the one for your State Merci America
I can’t think of any better way to start the day, than to be outside before alot of people are even up.
Sunrise over the wheat field with the elevator in the background waiting for the harvest.
A moring walk with a bit of fog.
Turtles have hatched.
Little fawn and last years little ones.
Canada geese and goslings
If you see this in your area, you should be concerned! Luckily for us it was just passing through.
Reed Timmer, a meterologist, has built a series of vehicles for storm chasing. The heavily modified Ford F-350, at a cost of $750,000, is built to withstand EF5 tornado winds of up to 200 mph. Click here to read more about the Dominator 3
Dominator 3
Wylie could be their mascot. Run Toto run!
We took off on the backroads to Lincoln county, one of our favorite places to go
Kansas is known for the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. We also have the Rim Man, a farmer really used his imagination to build this snowman out of tire rims.
Where’s Wylie? I always love to photograph him at the foot of a big old tree.
Beside the Post Rock Motel (which dates back to the 1950’s) is a wonderful Himalayan resturant. A tiny little building, with great food! It is definately worth a trip to Lincoln.
Pelicans and gulls at Kanoplis Lake
Beautiful October sunrise. We love our morning walks.
Hiking at Bennington, Ottawa County State Fishing Lake
I like this poem by Robert Frost.
The beautiful colors of this mornings sunrise.
The good think about having a little furry companion is that you get to be outside many nights. I love seeing the stars, planets, moon and occasional “what’s that”.
Photos were taken two consective nights in early October. The SpaceX Starlink satellite “train”, provides global high-speed internet. When first launched the satellites are all in a close orbit and then become spread apart. Eventially there is to be 42,000 satellites orbiting in our night sky.
I love how Orion is in this picture. I only had my iphone and a pup in one arm, just pointing in the general direction of the satellites. I was so happy and surprised that i was able to get a photo of them!
The weather had been so hot. Highs upper 90’s and into the 100’s. It wasn’t even cooling off much at night. Finally, we received some cooler weather and that means “load up” were going somewhere.
Camping at Kanoplis Reservoir, it was like having our own private lake, only 1 other camper in the campgrounds. We hadn’t been to the lake since the start of summer, as it’s such a busy place with all the campers and boaters and we like to avoid crowds. It was so nice and cool we were able to take long walks.
Another common thing you see at Kanoplis is the military flying maneuvers, today the B-2 stealth bombers were flying at the bombing range, which is just east of the lake. Awesome to see them!! Just wished I could get a photo of them.
There’s a wild critter in the fork of that tree!
Beautiful sunset
It was so much fun spending a couple days in Wamego, KS. The weather was cool and being in a small town you weren’t too far from an adventure.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
The Oz Museum certainly exceeded my expectations! Lots of props from the movie, life sized characters and even a theatre where you can watch the movie. Dorothy’s ruby slippers were on display though they weren’t the “real” ones. There were so may artifacts that it would take a day to see it all, (and of course I didn’t have my glasses to be able to read)! Admission was only $10.00. Pet friendly, they will babysit your larger dog, but you are able to carry your small pup through the museum.
There are flying monkeys on the building! I was terrified of those things.
Be sure to eat at Toto’s TacOz! My choice was the Guaco Taco. The best black beans!, lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole stuffed in a crispy shell and soft flour tortilla. Making me hungry! They also had Emerald City Street Tacos, and the Yellow Brick Burrito.
This mural was on the wall along the Yellow Brick Road. I loved the saying!!
We’re ready for another road trip around Kansas, but this is one small town that we definitely will be returning to soon.
Farmer Days 