So it is really, truly fall (even though the temps here are still in the 80's!) Instead of writing about our summer, here's a picture-overview of our adventures:
We started out with a trip to Lawrence, where the University of Kansas is located.
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| A pretty incredible stick sculpture on the UK campus. |
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| We walked around Lawrence a found an "England" store - John tried some odd ginger-elderberry soda. |
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| I am so excited to have found a Bounty bar - it's like a Mounds bar, but better. |
We then enjoyed a very rainy Fourth of July. Despite the rain, much of the town (including us) pulled out their umbrellas and watched the 45 min parade down main street.
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| The rain stopped in time for fireworks. Wamego puts on one of the best shows in Kansas - seriously! |
Next up, we (FINALLY) found the Konza Prairie where we went for an awesome hike. Konza is the largest remaining unplowed tallgrass prairie in North America.
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| It was so incredibly windy at the top of this hill; it felt like I could fly :) |
We spent one day driving around, just taking in the beauty of the Kansas landscape. We also took a trip to the Beecher Bible and Rifle church, a church located close to us that is on the National Register of Historical Places. We drove around for several hours looking for this church - we actually drove right by it but decided that it looked too nice to be what we were looking for - before we actually found it!
"The Beecher Bible and Rifle Church in tiny Wabaunsee, Kansas, represents one of the more interesting and unusual stories of Kansas' early days of statehood. The fledgling abolitionist community of Wabaunsee was in desperate need of rifles and ammunition to protect themselves from terrorizing pro-slavery Missourians. In response, their sponsoring church in New Haven, Connecticut, took up a collection to purchase 27 Sharp rifles. These rifles, along with 25 Bibles, were shipped to Wabaunsee, by way of Missouri on the Missouri River, in crates marked Bibles. From that day to the present, the church has been known as the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church. A congregation of approximately fifteen continues to worship weekly in this historic church building."
The next pictures aren't from a trip - they were taken in town right before a crazy storm.
Finally, John and I took a quick weekend trip to Florida to visit my grandparents.
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| We were able to snag a few hours at the beach while we were there. |
Summer seemed to fly by, but we feel like we were able to see a little bit more of Kansas, and were able to check a few things off of our "want to do" list. I'm sure I'm missing some things in these pictures. I know we stumbled upon an old prairie town one day and enjoyed a "brown cow" at an old fashioned soda fountain. And we tried out Bobo's Drive-In in Topeka (it was featured on 'Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives'); an old fashioned drive-in that hasn't changed much in the last 50 years. I think that our most enjoyable times ended up being those sunny, weekend days we spent driving around - when we were able to see nothing but the expanse of green fields and blue skies in every direction.
Love,
Leah and John
We spent one day driving around, just taking in the beauty of the Kansas landscape. We also took a trip to the Beecher Bible and Rifle church, a church located close to us that is on the National Register of Historical Places. We drove around for several hours looking for this church - we actually drove right by it but decided that it looked too nice to be what we were looking for - before we actually found it!
