Ghostwriter

Kathy's post to Facebook: The little sister has to ride in the back seat, just like old times!

Miles: 1,725.
Days: 4.
Siblings: 3.
Nieces: 2
Years since the last family vacation: 42
Time together: Priceless (or so I hear)

This week, Randy went on an adventure with his sister, Kathy, to visit their brother, Lyle, in South Dakota. Kathy's girls - Amanda and Emily - went along for the ride. They wanted to know how long it had been since Randy and Kathy had been on a family vacation. After some difficult math calculations, the siblings figured out it would have been 1973. The summer before Randy's senior year in high school, their family went to Ohio to visit family.

This was a last-minute trip. With rain in the forecast for another week, Randy called Kathy on the way home from Topeka on Saturday (May 23) and they left Monday morning (May 25) for Deadwood, South Dakota. He got home at 11:30 last night (May 28).

For the uninitiated, that's a farmer-style vacation. It's a last-minute excursion based totally on the weather. (The last time Randy and I visited Lyle, we left in a drought-stricken August.) Jill says that's how nearly all our family vacations happened, with the exception of some spring break trips. Since I had meetings every day this week and KFRM reports to do, I couldn't go at the last minute.

So, I will be the ghostwriter for this adventure. There is a marked difference when I actually go on the trip. In October 2010, we went to South Dakota (and Nebraska and Wyoming). I took 437 photos, and it took me seven blog posts to tell the tale.

Randy says he often commented to his traveling companions that "Kim would want to stop to take a picture." He did send me 11 photos from his phone - after he figured out how to do it. (I told him that he had three knowledgeable technology consultants in the car with him and just to ask!)

He sent me this photo of the Platte River at Grand Island, Nebraska. He literally took it standing in the parking lot at Arby's. He was well aware that I would have probably searched for a more scenic angle. 

Kathy was a good travel agent and booked a nice hotel, the Grand Mountain Resort Holiday Inn in Deadwood. Randy called and said that it was where Iowa farmer Chris Soules and his entourage from ABC's "The Bachelor" stayed and filmed an episode.

They got a good price since it was the off-season. One guy told Randy that October and May were the "times for newlyweds and nearly deads." I guess the Fritzemeier travel party didn't fit the parameters.

They toured the Broken Boot Gold Mine in Deadwood. Randy says it was probably more tourist trap than gold mine, but they still had fun. He got a stock certificate "which has no voting power and has a par value of plenty of blue sky when traded on the Deadwood Stock Exchange."

 

They also went to the 76 Museum in Deadwood. (FYI; The shirt and the hat were photo props - thank goodness!)

The museum had a basement full of buggies.

One of their favorite side trips was to Mount Rushmore. It was a must-see for Kathy and the girls.

Randy texted us to say that when he turns 62, he can buy a pass to all the national parks for a mere $10. Jill told him that it wasn't all that long.

Amanda, Kathy & Emily

Thankfully, they were able to get a few snapshots in and explore the monument before it started pouring rain, along with some hail.

 

They went through the Badlands on the way back to Kansas yesterday. This is the one photo I got via text. I took dozens from the same area.

Another difference: I probably would have suggested we not make the drive in one day. How can you get 437 photos otherwise?

Backyard Beauties

This is my favorite little blue-eyed toddler.

 

 But we have another blue-eyed beauty in the backyard.

The County Line's typical cat population looks more like common barnyard kitten than Siamese. So we're not too sure how this exotic-looking kitten came from our run-of-the-mill cats. She has me singing Crystal Gayle's "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" to myself every time I see her.

One of her litter mates is this black and white cutie, whom we call Boots.

Awhile ago, a big black and white tomcat showed up and started sharing vittles with our cats.

He has apparently now shared a little more than that. He is getting braver. But he still won't let Randy get too close. However, Randy is diligently working on taming his cute little offspring. The shy tomcat has definitely added some diversity to the cat population at the County Line through this latest litter of kittens.

Their other litter mate looks more like their Mom, a calico beauty.

Genetics is a curious business, isn't it? 

Three little kittens
Give us the dickens
In figuring out their "lines"
A calico mama
A black and white papa
The results are quite divine!

(Now you know why I write prose and not poetry. Dr. Seuss, I am not. I could say that I will award a cat to the person who writes the best poem. Any takers? However, I will have to clear the "trophy cat" with the resident cat wrangler.)

Window on Another World

(A bakery window in Chicago reflects a street scene amid the decorated cakes.)

Travel offers a different window on the world. You can learn a lot when you travel:

• My sister learned that I can stay on my side of the bed these days. (They used to fight about who had to share a bed with me because I was a turbulent sleeper as a kid.)
• I learned that even though I walk nearly every day at home, it's decidedly different to wear "real" shoes instead of tennis shoes ... and I have the blisters to prove it.
• I confirmed that you invariably take more clothes than you need to ... even if you have to cram them into a carry-on bag. This quote is so true:
  

When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.

~Susan Heller

• And I learned that it's pretty great to spend time with your siblings as adults.
  

Our third and final day in Chicago had an art theme. After a breakfast brunch along the Chicago River, we went to the Gold Coast Art Fair in Grant Park, which featured more than 300 artists.

(I don't know any of these people. I was just struck by the view of the cloud-dotted skyline as I turned the corner in the sea of white tents.)

The only thing I got at the art fair was a sunburn, but it was still fun to look.

With some time before our evening flight, we went across the street to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Even the outdoor courtyard was artistic, with the old Chicago Board of Trade arch nestled among a rainbow of flowers and flanked in the background with new buildings.

My favorite stop at the museum was Marc Chagall's America Windows. Chagall designed the six-panel work for the Art Institute to celebrate the U.S. bicentennial, and it details the arts of music, painting, literature, theater and dance.

(This is just one of the panels.)

Another "have-to" stop was the Gallery of American Art to see Grant Wood's American Gothic.

I guess the appeal is kind of self-explanatory for this farm wife. Based on their sour expressions, maybe this pair hadn't gotten rain for quite some time either.

We also saw paintings by Monet, van Gogh, Mary Cassatt, El Greco, Picasso and a bunch of other old masters, using the museum's handy-dandy guide, What to See in an Hour. (We did have a plane to catch, after all.)

Before gathering our suitcases for the trip home, Darci took us by The St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church near her home.


The church was founded in 1899 in the Bucktown area of Chicago as a Polish Cathedral style church. They are in the midst of a $2.5 million restoration project.

Even with netting obscuring part of the dome, the cathedral was gorgeous.

I started this with things learned while traveling, so I'll guess I'll end with a couple more:

• I wouldn't go so far as to say that I "mastered" riding the Blue Line train. But I did make my first and second excursions on it (though I must admit it would have taken me longer to figure it out without Lisa and Kent.) We rode it from O'Hare on Thursday, and then Darci dropped us off at the station closest to her house on Saturday, and we rode it back to the airport.

• I learned that I should have sat in the "A" seat in the airplane coming back. Then, I could have taken photos of the K-State campus from the air as we approached the Manhattan Airport.But I really can't complain about the view out my window either.

• There's no place like home. Chicago was a great place to visit. But I love my co-op skyscrapers. And I'm OK with the fact that my "museum" this week is the Stafford County Fair's photo display and the arts and crafts exhibits.

Chicago, Chicago, That Toddlin' Town

I felt right at home on the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise. No, there's not a river in downtown Stafford. And we don't have any skyscrapers, unless you count the co-op grain elevators.

But there was a giant corncob along the river. I see some corn around here, though it's looking a little bedraggled in the heat these days.

The docent on our Friday river ride along the Chicago River really did refer to the 61-story Marina City complex as giant corncobs. You can see the parked cars on the lower levels. The upper realms are left for residential river views.

Lisa, Kent and I took the 90-minute tour on a Chicago's First Lady cruise while Darci picked up her childhood friends from the train station.

We joined a bevy of other tourists and a very knowledgeable guide who hardly slowed to take a breath in her zeal to tell us about Chicago's skyline from inception to the present.

I tried to keep the camera clicks to the minimum, but, as usual, I failed miserably. Oh well, pixels are way cheaper than film these days, but I won't share them all here.

After we got off the boat, Lisa and I fought over the chance to become the Skyline Queen.

Our sister only found the Skyline Princess, a recent photo from her Facebook page. We are all Skyline High School graduates. Piloting a boat was not on the final exam, however.

The views of downtown are a little different from my norm, whether by land or by water.

After our river cruise, we visited a cousin who lives on Lake Shore Drive. I felt like I was on an episode of HGTV's House Hunters on Vacation in her living room with floor-to-ceiling views of Lake Michigan, Navy Pier, boats and the beach.

From Darci's rooftop deck, we could see the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower). Her rooftop in Chicago's Bucktown was where she entertained 50-plus friends for her 50th birthday party.

We were glad we could be among those who sang "Happy Birthday" in person. We older sisters helped pave the way into this particular decade, and we'll drag Kent with us in a few years.

The party music playlist did not include that Frank Sinatra classic, "Chicago, Chicago, That Toddlin' Town." But I may have thought it.

Reflections from a Whirlwind Tour

Dorothy, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

Believe you me, there are plenty of people in this world who hear "Kansas" and can't think of a topic of conversation other than The Wizard of Oz or our supposed overwhelming crop of tornadoes.

(A shot from the "naval" of The Bean.)

But during our own "whirlwind" trip to Chicago, I also met some people who seemed genuinely interested in my life away from the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan area.

My sister Lisa, brother Kent and I went to Chicago for my sister Darci's 50th birthday celebration.
We crammed a little sightseeing in during our three-day excursion, July 7-9. One of my favorite destinations was Millennium Park. Where once there were parking lots and the Illinois Central Railyards, there's now a beautiful park with gardens, water features and interesting sculptures like Cloud Gate, which the locals call The Bean.

(My siblings wait while I take yet another photo of this interactive sculpture in Chicago's downtown. They are the ones with their hands on their hips!)

While we didn't join the children playing in the Crown Fountain, I did enjoy watching this interactive art and video water fountain/sculpture.

The designer must have a sense of humor.

We returned to Millennium Park Thursday evening for a free summer concert. (Well, the concert was free if you don't count the $21 parking tab.)

The Jay Pritzker Pavilion hosts music concerts four nights a week and also has a series of lunchtime musical offerings. On Thursdays, it's called Music Without Borders. We heard Rupa and The April Fishes.

This bandshell is nothing like its small-town Kansas counterparts. Through the open design, you still see the city's skyscrapers. From its beams, a state-of-the-art sound system is designed to replicate a concert hall.

We had stopped by Whole Foods earlier in the day for a picnic meal. It really was similar to a Kansas potluck supper (except they let the grocery store do the cooking). Darci and her friends each brought food to share and put it on Darci's collapsible table, complete with summertime tablecloth. Everybody dug in and probably ate too much. See? It was like home.

By the end of the evening, we Kansas girls were even a little chilly. I guess we hadn't acclimated from our 100-degree-plus temperatures to the more moderate Chicago evening. Not that I was complaining.

The crowd was comprised of everyone from young families to retirees (and at least three people from Kansas.) It was a great way to end our first day. (More to come!)