Category Archives: Travel

Going to Colorado

SuperPizzaBoy and I are flying to Colorado Friday. We are going to participate in the celebration of niece Jillian’s graduation from Colorado State University. Jillian is one smart cookie and she has worked pretty darn hard to get where she is. She is a champion horse judge and has won a bunch of awards doing it. We are mighty proud of her. She is going to slapping her dorky old uncle around because the photograph doesn’t do her justice.

So we get prepared. Clothes, camera, etc. Most important is I downloaded 500 geocaches into my two GPS receivers. It’s just not prudent to go out of state without at least one backup GPSr. I just hope that my sister Ellen doesn’t get too mad at me. She should understand, she’s geocacher, so is her husband Irvin. For that matter I think Jillian is also.

Hmm…. I guess this might run in families.

Road Trip – Kansas

Last Thursday coworker Dave and I went on a road trip to Kansas. We needed to talk to some of our field guys up there plus go to an energy industry meeting. I love going to Kansas. It is very scenic (yep, I think so, really), and the residents take great pride in their state. Regulatory wise in my industry it is a little more restrictive than what I’m used to so sometimes I irritate our Kansas based employees by calling it “The Peoples Republic of Kansas.” But I’m just kidding, they know that.

Dave and I each had new navigation systems. Same manufacturer, different models. We had to check them out so we used both. Let me tell you, you don’t want to go to Kansas without a backup GPS.

We took the back roads. We went through Sharon, Kansas. Home of Martine Mcbride. We happened to run into her. She let us take her picture. Very pretty lady with a great voice. Still runs around the praire barefoot.

We also went through Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Home of Carrie A. Nation. She’s deceased so we didn’t see her. At the cocktail party we went to that night though I led several toasts to her memory.

You know, if she took those glasses off and set that hatchet down she wouldn’t look that bad.

Spent the night in Pratt, Kansas very neat tidy midwestern town. Brick streets, all that good stuff. They have their Miss Kansas pageant there. Several have won the Miss America pageant. I don’t think Carrie would have won. Smashing whiskey bottles isn’t much of a talent, and the bathing suit segment would have been a problem for her.

After our meetings, dinner, and cocktail party I went geocaching. There a couple dozen caches in Pratt. I did not find a one. Made a bad decision on the route to them (I walked) by the time I got in the vicinity it was way dark. I had a great walk though. About seven miles all told. Most of it was out in the country.
Sweetie doesn’t like it when I going exploring on foot, especially late at night. But I see great stuff that I wouldn’t see sitting in a motel room. Like this sunset.

Or this house. Sorry for the blurriness. I didn’t have a tripod.

Pratt has a park called Lemon Park. Great lighted walking trails that meander all over the place. 10 PM and there were all sorts of people walking their dogs and walking together, I loved it. Not a hint of the creep factor that one sees sometimes in parks late at night.

Next day, time to head back to T town. Dave and I loaded up on Fat Tire Beer. (I mean we bought a couple cases of it, not go on a drinking binge.) Cannot get it in Oklahoma because of our strange liquor laws.

Alamo City Trip

Last week the family packed up and flew down to San Antonio for a little weekend trip in conjunction with a business trip.

We had a great time!

Of course, if you go there, you have to stay on the riverwalk and take a boat tour. We had a great tour guide. I’m sure that some of the stuff that he told us might even be true. It all made a great story.

There was a reenactment of the Battle of the Alamo going on. Sweetie got a photograph of Davy Crockett complete with coonskin cap. She was really looking for Phil Collins. You see the boat guide above told us that Phil Collins was in town and attending the reenactment. So we stalked Phil Collins all over town. Never saw him. Person at Hard Rock Cafe said “He was here last week.” Hah!


We stayed at the Marriott Rivercenter. Great place to stay, right on the river. SuperPizzaBoy thought they had a great pool.


Sweetie is still looking for Phil. Sorry Sweetie, you are stuck with me. Yea, lucky you!


Action shot of me and SPB checking out the action on the river.