KC

KC skyline from Hotel room

Mom in front of Hotel

Parkville, MO downtown

A couple of weeks ago, Mom and I went to Kansas City.  I had a seminar to go to, so I could obtain some continuing education credits, to keep my registry updated.  The seminar was at the University of Kansas Med Center. Nice facilities and good seminar!  I booked a room at the Argosy Casino in northwest KC.  Nice rooms and very convenient for restaurants for Mom, as she would be without a car.
We checked out the area and found a little town called Parkville, not to far from the hotel. Nice little touristy town. We ate at Franks Italian Restaurant-Shrimp Scampi Linguine-Very Good!   Then we went north a little ways and found the Zona Rosa Mall. Very Large outdoor Mall! There were lots of people, because they were having a Beerfest, in the commons area. We didn't taste any beer, but we did do a little shopping.
It was so nice that it all (except Med Center) was in Northwest KC area. Very convenient!
Poor Vel had to stay "back at the ranch" with the dogs! I think she was a little jealous!
Later-M

Visiting SE South Dakota



Turbulent Gavins Point Dam-releasing 160,000 cubic feet /sec

  We spent a few days at Lewis and Clark campground by Yankton SD.  We stopped at the bottom of Gavins Point Dam. Very impressive water flow, unfortunately its doing alot of damage downstream.

Colorful Jet Skis at the Marina

View from campsite

We had a site that backed up for a lake view, very nice.  One of the things I enjoy is having my morning cup of coffee, sitting outside,  listening and watching the birds. It was a perfect spot for that! 

Abundant Mayflies

Mist from Dam

The Bluffs

Having fun Kayaking

Barn Swallow homes (Holes in the Cliff)

The park has very nice bike/walking trails, so we took advantage of those. We also got the kayaks out one morning, while the wind was light, so peaceful!
The dogs love it too.  Except when one of the Mayflies decided to land on Luxi's butt, she jumped a foot and was paranoid to go outside after that.  We had to take her across the road from then on out, to a special spot, so she would go potty.  She is our high maintenance dog!!

Giant Spam Sandwich



Volunteers making the Spam Sandwich

 Here are some pictures of the World Record Giant Spam Sandwich!  When we went to JC Fremont Days, we watched them make it.  It doesn't look very appealing to me.

Moving the Spam Sandwich after adding Pickles

All I can say is YUK!

My Grandma had a Blue Ford Falcon like this, except it had a white top.

Full waterway



Full waterway

  Behind my folk's house, I'm not sure if you consider it a creek or what. It's just a little small waterway that runs through town. But in June we received quite a bit of rain and it seemed every time it rained, this waterway would fill up considerably!  I shot the pictures from the dining room window.  The football field, on the other side, would have to be completely flooded before any threat of it coming up to the house. But it sure gets full!!


The normal waterway

Normally it hardly has any water in it, mostly tall grasses and I'm sure a few frogs!
Vel and I went to JC Fremont days yesterday. They made the largest Spam sandwich in the world. I forgot my camera, but took some with my phone.  So, maybe I'll post them when I get them off the phone.
We also walked through the car show, it was one of the biggest one's I've seen lately. I love to look at all different kinds of cars. They had a few motorcycles and scooters also.  We filled ourselves with BBQ, funnel cakes, corn dogs and fresh lemonade.  We didn't have the guts to try the Spam sandwich, but saw a few people walking around with a large platefuls of it. (No Thanks!!) 
It was nice to get back to my folk's house to cool off-Later_M

Robins take flight

Well our daily watching of the Robin nest is over. All three babies took off through the day last Sunday. In the morning, they all were very alert and watching Mom and Dad in the yard, flying and hopping around. 

11 days old

 At one point, the first one was hanging on the outside of the nest. But he/she decided quickly that it wasn't quite time and hopped back inside the crowded nest.  The next time I looked out, there was only 2 babies.

Feeding time -12 days old

Checking things out-13 days old

What are we suppose to do??-Watching Mom and Dad flying( 14days old)

One off-2 to go!

It was fun watching the last two, trying to figure out when the time was right.  Then all of the sudden, number 2 jumped up on the trellis and flew up and then down to the ground.  He went all the way around the neighbors house, hopping, I think.

Number 2 off and running!

Number 3, checking out the wings

Everyone's gone-So Sad

I left for a while and when I came back, Number 3 was gone also.  I spotted her on the retaining wall at the back of the house. Her Mom or Dad was there, telling her what to do.  She flew off to the other side of the creek and a little bit later flew back to the retaining wall. 
So, the family of Robins are off flying to the farmlands of Nebraska.

Number 3, Hey, where did everyone go???

We are able to use the deck once again!!!-M