K.C. Trip Day 3: Morning

So where were we?

( Yesterday evening, through a hazy memory... )

For what it's worth, here are the photos that were taken during the excursions yesterday. I'm the one in the leather jacket, and Travis is the one who isn't me.

Today we're going to head a bit west to Lawrence and take in some sights and restaurants and things there, then I guess I'll head home either this afternoon or evening. I'm not quite sure yet when I want to leave...it's kind of a dichotomy between having more time to do (and perhaps watch) stuff up here and not having to drive after dark. Well, I guess I can discuss it with Travis over breakfast.

Further updates as the situation warrants.

Another day of running around

We headed over to Lawrence to eat breakfast (lunch) at a brewpub Travis likes in that town, and also to wander around and do a little looking and shopping. I had a burger, and three 5 oz beer samplers, and proceeded to amuse Travis by my thoughtful tasting of each sampled beer.

After we ate, we walked a few blocks down the street to a used record store, then back up to a used bookstore, both of which stores had several cats on the premises. I bought a few small items. We drove around the University of Kansas campus for a bit, then stopped for frozen custard, another used bookstore, and a grocery store where I could pick up some apple and cherry cider, then back to the apartment where we are now.

At the moment, I'm entering the order for my computer parts into the computer, and will be placing it as soon as I can finalize the selection of parts. After which, I'll be packing up all my stuff and getting ready for the drive out of town and back to home.

It's been a fun weekend, but a tiring one...I think I'm going to be glad to get home and get to bed.

Home Again

"Dancing in the moonlight, singing in the rain / Oh it's good to be back home again!"
    —Blackmore's Night, "Home Again"

After making the preceding entry, I went ahead and banged out my order for the computer hardware. More on that in a later entry, as I'm just about dead on my feet right now. Subsequently, Travis and I packed up all my stuff into my car, and we headed down to Zarda's Barbecue, which was on the way back out of town. We had food and talked about various random things (Travis: "Look here...you can order Zarda's to be shipped to you anywhere in the country." Me: "I'd be afraid I'd get Zardoz by mistake, and get Sean Connery in a bad movie."), and then it was time to be on my way. Travis gave me instructions on how to get back to 71, which I managed with only a couple of false starts...then I headed on back the way I came. I got started about 7:15, and the trip took about 3.5 hours including rest stops...I got in at 10:45 p.m. On the way down, I listened to Kansas's "Power" again, then the first two discs of a 3-disc Simon & Garfunkel set I checked out from the library. Didn't get too sleepy en route, thank goodness; I suppose the cold air blowing in every crack and crevice at highway speeds helped keep me awake. But anyway, I'm home, and it's an even toss-up who's happier about it, me or my cat.

And now, time for the post-visit wrap-up. It was a heck of a fun weekend, and I'm extremely grateful to tbutler for hosting. It was also a bit wearing—I imagine for both of us. It's kind of funny how these visits go...they tend to fall into a certain kind of frenetic rhythm. Neither host nor visitor wants to waste a moment of time, and so the days are spent whizzing around the immediate area to satisfy the visitor's curiosity or the host's pride in his home—or even both at once, such as the time on Travis's first visit down here that he remarked he wanted to check out the local used bookstores. I imagine he would probably have been happy with just the two or three best, but no, I wanted to show off, so I dragged him around to every darned used bookstore in town. :) And those are all great reasons to do stuff, and there is more great and enjoyable stuff in any area than can be exhausted in just one or two visits. I know I'm not complaining—far from it! I had a blast at the barbecue places, and the Liberty Memorial, and Union Station, and all the other places like that. I wouldn't have missed any of them for the world. I'm just amused at how guest and host's wishes can feed back on each other, making things a lot busier than either one anticipated.