Rolling Hills Zoo: Kansas Staycation

With only a couple of couple of weeks before the start of the 2019-20 school year, time for vacation is fleeting. But here's another Kansas Staycation that provides a whole lot of fun right here in our own backyard.

We went early in the summer with the girls and Jill, and I've compiled the photos along with a rhyming tale into a keepsake book for both Kinley and Brooke. Come along for a visit to the Rolling Hills Zoo near Salina!

***

An outing was planned at the Rolling Hills Zoo

A day among creatures: What a fun thing to do!

First on the docket was to each grab a map

Grandpa says maps make the visit a snap.

Grandpa says maps help to know when and where.
Kinley consulted the map with great care.

Grandma says apples don't fall far from the tree.

I guess that she's talking 'bout him and 'bout me!

 

However, some animals weren't found on the sheet

But still their acquaintance, we surely did meet!

Geese wandered and flew throughout the whole park

In one hidden nest, a mom left a mark.

Some eggs she had laid were tucked into a nest.

Keeping our distance surely was best!

The butterflies, too, missed a spot on map page. 

Their flight among blooms seemed to be all the rage!

Flamingos were standing around on one foot

We had to try it: Would we go kaput?

No, we were so regal and filled with such grace

Even one-legged, we still could keep pace.

Next stop on the outing was at a big pond.

It seemed that a school of fish had been spawned.

A quarter we paid so we could feed fish.

It seemed that they liked it and found it delish!

Big cats laid around; they were ready to sleep.

Roaring at them? Still they made not a peep.

A good, long nap seemed a part of their plan.

We finally gave up and down the sidewalk we ran.

This chimp was not sleeping; he was ready to play.

He threw that big disk at the window display!

We were surprised, and we let out a shout.

We were sure hoping he could not get out!

That big yellow disk gave him lots of good fun.

In his arms, on his head, and he still wasn't done.

His orangutan friend didn't make such a fuss.

He stared and he gazed right over at us.

No antics for him. No cute interaction.

He made not a sound - not even one fraction.

Not all of the creatures were real and alive

A few we could ride, and we'd surely survive. 

Upon this big turtle we surely could hop.

More fun was to come: We weren't ready to stop.

Our Grandma said she could remember that creature.

On a previous visit, it was also a feature.

When Kinley was little, she named all the parts

The eyes and the head and the mouth just for starts!

Inside of the building, we saw the real thing.

"Aldabra tortoise:" It has quite a ring!

Keepers had brought them some veggies to munch.

That is what tortoises like for their lunch.

They didn't move fast; they were really quite slow.

But still when we watched them, we saw that they'd go.

They live long, long lives - up to 100 years.

However, extinction was once quite a fear.

Sichuan Takin was the next animal's name.

A most curious creature, we would likely proclaim!

The sign said the name would rhyme the word, "rockin'

It warns others like him with a loud "cough" for "talkin'. 

Some people do call it a "goat antelope."

It's threatened by poaching: (That's a definite "Nope!)

In China, it's thought as a national treasure

As precious as pandas? It is hard to measure.

Giraffes were inside, though a beautiful day.

We wish that they'd wanted to roam and to play.

Perhaps they'd been fed with their daily hay ration.

So munching and crunching was their current attraction!

As Mommy and we looked through windows that day,

Grandma said, "Looks like you girls are displayed!"

Giraffes eat a whole bunch, the sign clearly said.

Using long tongues in their big knobby heads.

75 pounds worth? No wonder they stay

Inside while they're eating and don't want to play.

It looked like the camel was telling a joke.

His expression was funny, a quite humorous bloke!

Imagining's fun, said our Grandma to us.

Thinking a camel would like to discuss

A story or joke or one or two puns

Before we moved on and our visit was done.

A rhino was next on the visit that day

His big, single horn was there on display.

His skin looked like armor; he looked really strong.

An enemy likely would not last long.

A rhino can weigh up to 6,000 pounds.

His size and his strength and his power abound.

Then it was time to strike a new pose

Grandma and cameras mean plenty of those!

We climbed on the statues for our next photo op

She clicked and she snapped. She rarely does stop!

We couldn't let animals have all the fun.

WE wanted to play before we were done.

We climbed and we dug in the dirt for awhile.

All of the playing left us with a smile.

A little barn scene came into our view.

There at Salina at the Rolling Hills Zoo.

Some sheep and some goats were all there to pet.

They were among the cutest, we'd bet!

Also at barnyard, we saw a small tractor

It was a sure Grandpa Randy attractor!

We climbed up on top. He showed us how.

And we could imagine we'd take off and plow.

Some free "souvenirs" we found on the ground

There were plenty of goose feathers we found.

They were all scattered and strewn all about.

There for our eyes to search out and scout.

We gave one to Grandpa to feather his hat.

Who knew that Grandpa was as stylish as that?!

Kinley used one for a pointer, you see

For marking her name: It filled her with glee!

Finding her name on a plaque was so sweet.

One with Brooke's name would be equally neat. 

But we didn't find one. Oh well, not to be.

Maybe another time? I guess we will see.

An "I Visited" sign gave us reason to pose.

The fun we were having, it certainly shows.

A day at the zoo is just hard to beat.

Exploring the animals surely is sweet!

Grandpa and Grandma and Mommy and us

Had fun for the day with the rhinoceros

And the camel and goats and big cats and the chimps

More fun for a day, as you probably glimpse

From looking at pictures, you surely can tell.

Our day at the zoo was certainly swell!

Kansas Staycation: McPherson

McPherson is a small town with a big downtown presence. From the outside looking in, it appears the 13,000-some residents have figured out the formula for keeping hometown businesses viable. It's a rarity in this new world of online ordering and the rush to big box stores to shave a few bucks off the family's budget.

Somehow, McPherson seems to have found the formula. As I looked at a colorful collage at the Clayworks gallery, I thought maybe it represented the answer: A variety of ideas and concepts in the downtown area create a whole that is attractive to both residents and out-of-town visitors. And, as one of the pieces of the collage says, "All things grow with LOVE."

It's obvious that McPhersonites love their town. With its location in the middle of the state, it's also a great spot for a Kansas Staycation.

 My PEO group traveled to McPherson this spring for a field trip. We only toured two places and ate lunch at the Main Street Deli. Some of us spent a little time at Twice Told Tales, a second-hand book store which turned out to be owned by a "girl" who grew up in Stafford. (It was a nice surprise. We didn't know it until we walked through the door.) Since we were on a schedule, we didn't have time to explore other stores, including two of my favorites, The Well and The Cook's Nook.

But, if you didn't want to spend all day in McPherson, you could amble on down the road to nearby Lindsborg, about 20 minutes away. (I have done blog posts about Coronado Heights, the Red Barn Studio, and Dala horses in Lindsborg, and there are plenty of other stores and attractions there, too.

On the PEO trip to McPherson, we started at the renovated McPherson Opera House. McPherson County was booming in the late 1800s with a population of some 24,000. Commerce and agriculture supported the county and its same-named county seat, McPherson.

Even though McPherson lost its bid in 1887 to become the capital of Kansas, some early entrepreneurs weren't deterred. They wanted to build a bigger and better opera house to replace the city's original structure.

The opera house, which cost $42,000 to build, had its grand opening in January 1889, and it became a center for conventions, political rallies, high school and eighth grade graduations, orphan train stops and a variety of entertainment. The auditorium had two balconies and seated 900 persons.

In 1913, the auditorium was redecorated. The owners hired G.N. Malm for the project, a noted painter and writer affiliated with Bethany College in Lindsborg. In addition, Malm, along with his brother and Oscar Gunnerson, had a successful business that dealt in hand-cut stencils designed by Malm.

 

Malm painted the mural above the proscenium arch and designed the decorative stenciling that has been recreated in the auditorium. During a 1925-1929 extensive remodeling of the Opera House, the decorative scheme devised by Malm was largely left intact but some of his work was painted over in an effort to “modernize” the interior.

In 1929, the facility was converted into a movie theater, first called the Empire and later called the Mac. In 1965, the last business to occupy the building was the Trailways Bus Station. However, the building fell into disrepair. In the 1980s, the crumbling structure was facing demolition when a group of citizens organized efforts to renovate the building. Through careful restoration, the interior now looks much like it would have in 1913. But it now has modern amenities, including larger seats, a digital sound system for movies and a concession stand. 

Light still shines into the building through colored glass windows.

The restoration took 25 years and cost $8.5 million. Funding came from individual donors, foundations, government and private grants, as well as from State and Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits.

One part of the restoration has a back story: In about 1933, a little girl named Jo (Norma Joan Burlingame) visited the Empire movie theater with her babysitter. The sitter's boyfriend was the projectionist, and the two went to the projection room where Jo was placed on a shelf in order to restrict her adventurous spirit. There, Jo found two "soldiers" - which were actually the two handles from the original Opera House doors.

The sitter and the boyfriend tried to get them back, but Jo protested so loudly that they eventually gave up and let her take them home, where she buried them in a sand pile. A few years later, her family moved to St. Louis and the "soldier" handles came along. In her later years, she told the story to her family.

Her daughter Sarah Peters of Louisville, Ky., returned the door handles to the Opera House in late 2011. Now the handles are mounted on the original Opera House doors in the Grand Ballroom. The transfer back to McPherson fulfilled her mother's wish: "If you restore the building you can have them back!"

The opera house ticket booth is not original to the building, but provides a handy place for current patrons to buy tickets before the numerous local and traveling tour performances.

 The basement has also been renovated. In its early years, McPherson had underground tunnels in its business district, like many prairie towns. (PEO toured Ellinwood's tunnels during another field trip.)

The basement meeting rooms are rented out for community events or business meetings. Guests can see the original limestone that was quarried in neighboring Marion County and brought by horse and wagon to McPherson. Some of the square nails used during construction in the 1880s are still visible.

Another part of the basement has been transformed into the Mary Anderson Arts Center, which functions as a working art studio for artists. The clay room features a kiln and potter's wheels, while the other arts are taught and practiced in the adjacent room. Novice and veteran artists can use the center to host art-inspired camps, birthday parties, women’s groups and more.

The McPherson Arts Alliance, whose office is across the hall from the Arts Center, programs a number of classes for all ages. During summer, the McPherson Recreation Commission provides art classes for youth.

We had a wonderful tour guide, Jean Rowland. If you're with a group, I highly recommend a guided tour. You may also take a walking tour on your own for a small fee.

MCPHERSON CLAYWORKS (DISABILITY SUPPORTS)

The arts center at the Opera House is certainly not the only venue for art in McPherson. Clayworks provides a location for differently-abled people to do art - and sell it to others.

Disability Supports of the Great Plains' goal is to make life complete for its clients. Clayworks provides an artistic venue for clients to express themselves by making bowls, decorative plates, planter decor, mugs, wind chimes, vases and other pottery, as well as jewelry, stepping stones and stationary, our tour guide, Teresa Preston, told us.

I purposely kept this photo fairly dark so that the people couldn't be easily identified.

A gallery on McPherson's Main Street gives the public a chance to buy the client's work. The artist gets 100 percent of the revenue from their artwork.

The Clayworks. Studio staff follow case worker's recommendations on what media and projects are best suited for each individual client, and they use what they call a “gentle teaching” approach to working with the artists. Sessions are kept to a 12–16 artists working in clay, greenware, hand-thrown pottery and drawing.

 “When the artists begin a project, they start with something they look at as just a mound of clay, or a pencil, brush and sheet of paper. But as they work with it, it grows, transitions and changes. By the time they’re finished, they’ve communicated their personality and feelings in a way words never could.”

David Olson on The Clayworks website

The Clayworks uses creativity as a way to help people find a sense of place as well as a livelihood — and a place to share their gifts with the world. A similar work space and gallery is set to open on Main Street Hutchinson in July.

These pieces of pottery were completed that day and were ready to be fired. I was struck by the message of the LOVE stickers on the "window" that looked into the work room.

If art is not your thing, there's also a beautiful golf course that Randy and I visited last year - Turkey Creek. We ate at Tres Amigos Mexican Restaurant for our evening meal and enjoyed that, too!

For more ideas on a Kansas Staycation in McPherson, go to this website.

Kansas Staycation: Ted Ensley Gardens, Topeka

Flowers are the music of the ground.

 From earth’s lips, spoken without sound.

 – Edwin Curran

As I was sitting in the Topeka ExpoCentre arena last week for the church annual conference, I could hear the rain pounding on the roof. After nearly 12 inches of rain at home and flooding throughout Kansas and neighboring states, my first thought was, "Not again!"

But, by the time the afternoon session was over, the rain had stopped, so Randy and I visited the Ted Ensley Gardens near Topeka's Lake Shawnee. And the rain that I was bad-mouthing had decorated the flowers there like frosting on a cake.

It couldn't have been more beautiful. (And, bonus! It hadn't rained at home!)

 

The gardens comprise 37.5 acres on the west side of Lake Shawnee. The lake was built as a Work Progress Administration project and completed in September 1939. The gardens are named after Commissioner Ted Ensley, who formed the idea for a rose garden in 1978. From there, the rose garden expanded into waterfalls, fountains, streams, flower beds, a gazebo, a garden pergola, walkways and bridges.

We entered the garden via a 60-foot covered bridge over a rocky stream just north of SE 37th Street and West Edge road.

 The gardens feature a panoramic view of the lake...

  ... as well as plenty of places for sitting and enjoying the view and listening to the splash of the water in the fountain.

 

The pathways lead to tucked-away spots to find even more flowers and greenery.

The Shawnee County Extension Master Gardeners help maintain a Woodland (Shade) Garden as one of their demonstration gardens (below).

In May, staff and volunteers plant more than 90,000 annual flowers and plants. By the time we visited, those flowers were in full bloom.

 

The May planting comes after Tulip Time at the gardens, when horticulturists from the Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Department, with the assistance of volunteers, plant more than 80,000 tulips and daffodils. They are in full bloom in April during the city's Tulip Festival.

And speaking of flowers, the garden includes 1,200 varieties of perennials and 300 varieties of annuals, roses, trees and shrubs.

I loved the old-fashioned roses in all different colors. They are the most fragrant.

 

But there were also the more traditional "florist-shop-type" varieties, all glistening with raindrops.

There are also meditation gardens and water gardens throughout the complex.

The arboretum features 450 trees, including 87 varieties, some rare to Kansas, including a zelkova tree that will grow 100 feet tall and buckeyes, among others. But many of the trees enable visitors to see how a mature tree would look in their own home landscaping. It also demonstrates which trees grow best in that area of Kansas, which are most disease resistant and which have the best growth habits for withstanding wind, ice and snow.

In 2009, a statue was added to honor a little girl named Katie, who, upon seeing the gardens for the first time, exclaimed, “I’m so happy!” I understand the sentiment.

People aren't the only ones who like the flowers. So do the spiders, who left behind their handiwork in colorful settings.

Even in the carefully-manicured gardens, an interloper caught my eye ... and maybe reminded me a bit of the reality of home.

Weeds are flowers, too, 

once you get to know them.

--Winnie the Pooh

I know them all too well. Maybe that's why I can appreciate all the work that goes in to keeping the botanical gardens so manicured and beautiful. 

Topeka can be a great Kansas staycation destination. Besides the State Capitol, we also enjoy the Topeka Zoo and Discovery Center where we've been multiple times with Kinley and Brooke. While I was at church conference, Randy and Kinley spent the morning at the zoo and the afternoon at Sports Center, a family entertainment center, where they played 18 holes of Goony Golf and rode the go-karts. 

Now that the girls are getting older, our to-do list includes the Kansas Museum of History.

For casual dining, we like The Burger Stand. We tried The Pennant for the first time this trip, and I'm sure we'll be back, now that Jill & Eric and the girls are moving back to Topeka. The Blind Tiger Brewery and Restaurant is another local eatery. 

Find out more about Topeka eateries and attractions at Visit Topeka.