Heading East.......

Hello All ~
Writing you all from Hillsborough, N.C.   but I don't want to get ahead of myself - so I want to back up to our time in Kansas and our trail out East.
We spent several days with my dear family in Kinsley, Kansas ~  my cousin Sally and her husband Al along with their son Mark and his family.  We explored some of the small towns in the area along with some of the historical landmarks including Fort Hays and Fort Larned.
We also watched the Lunar Eclipse from Sally and Al's front porch as it rose directly out front!
Sally and Al have had a farm for over 40 years and it was so great to get back to rural roots.
This is also where we left our trailer for the next month while we headed east and the good part is ~ it means we get to go back and visit again when we pick it up!

sunset from the front porch

The Homestead

 

 

Al and Sally and Mark - whipping up Pot Roast for Dinner!  Yumm

 

Sally and Carol visiting a sod house in Edwards County

 

We saw this crop everywhere in Kansas - it is milo or maize ~ a feed grain

 

 

We had a great time visiting historic Fort Larned!

 

The blacksmith shop

The commisary

 

People have been carving their names in the stone buildings for a hundred years

 

Kinsley is the Midway point !

 

Sally is quite an artist and painted this mural on the Kinsley museum

 

 Sally and Al's son Mark is the fourth generation attorney at the office in Kinsley



From Kinsley we went to Lawrence, Kansas to have dinner with Sally's 2 daughters - Josena and Anne and it was great to visit with them.  It was great to meet Anne's husband Steve and their son Sam.   Lawrence is a vibrant university town (K.U. Jayhawks) and Annie gave us the grand tour.

Annie with Sam and Steve

From Kansas we wandered the back roads across Missouri and enjoyed the scenery - though this was the first of 2 or 3 days off inclement weather and we intended on camping in the truck we ended up staying in a couple of nights in motels.  The scenery across Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky was stunning. It is something to see the progression from the Kansas plains to the Kentucky Blueridge mountains.

We spent a couple of days driving through Kentucky which included some great  bbq in Louisville, a distillery tour on the "Bourbon Trail" out side the capital city of Frankfort, and visiting historic Bardstown.

Kentucky

 

 

Fishtrap Lake near Pikeville, KY

 

The power and beauty of Kudzu

 

 

Old village of Bardstown, KY

 

Tasting room at Woodford Reserven in Versaille, KY

 

 

Well  ~ as usual I have gotten carried away  - but I hope this at least gives a touch of some of the scenery and variety of this part of the USA.  We are really enjoying just driving the back roads.

 

Fair thee well and we will stay in touch!

 

Don and Carol