Movin' On

It’s going to be very hard to leave this place. Waking up to breakfast on the lake, and reading together in the evening in the gentle off water breezes as the last golden light creeps over the trees has been a pleasant repast. But all good things come to an end.  So tomorrow we have to pull in the slides, hook up TOAD and travel another two hours through Northeastern Kansas for Fort Scott and yet another free fishing lake to camp beside.

Seriously, of the three Kansas fishing lakes we’ve enjoyed so far, this one south of Independence will be hard to beat.

Oh. Did you read me say we are headed for FORT Scott?  Named after the same commander of the United States Army at the beginning of the Civil War which  Scott City and Lake Scott, in Western Kansas, was named for, General Winfield S. Scott, this was the first fort built west of the Missouri line. But more about that at a later date.

Today we decided to stay here one more day and night and that raised a question. What shall we do between the glorious morn and the heavenly eve? How shall we spend the oppressively hot mid-day hours?  Well, what is it that we have so far chosen to not see or just to miss?  Does any of that bear a second consideration?

So off we went to the Cessna Airplane assembly plant at Independence Airport.  Oh, Independence International Airport; at least for the international buyers who fly in to take possession of their new purchases. Nice people, those Cessna folks.  Sadly the person who gives tours of the plant was away till Monday but we learned a bit at the front office and they let us peek through the factory door. 

  

And down the road only about eight miles from Cessna is the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ cabin.  Read the sign below and you’ll know why we chose to skip paying to see it.  But it is nice to know the Ingalls (Little Joe especially) found a homestead so close to gainful employment at Cessna for the short time they stayed here.

Then a quick ride north to the pleasant and clean Independence City Laundromat followed by a WONDERFUL banana split at a Braum’s ice Cream and sandwich store.  The Braum’s family is a much larger version of the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania ‘Turkey Hill Dairy’ family before they sold out to Kroger Foods.  Braum’s is an Oklahoma company with stores all over their home state and southern Kansas.  They raise and sell their own beef and dairy products in all of their stores.  And all is ‘GOOoooOOD!’ (As Andy Griffith might have said).

By that time the afternoon was waning and it seemed to time head back to camp and our evening reads.

And now the sun has set, the batteries are all charged by a day of full sun and some generator time and we’re going to watch a classic Red Skelton Show from 1950’s TV.  And NOT on Netflix.

We have dropped Netflix, and Pandora for our music selections. Broadband has been fast and accessible over our amplified cell system but it’s also pretty expensive.  So we husband it for important stuff like emergency weather reports, Google maps, emails and Facebook J .

But you know all those libraries Mona’s been going to all these years?  Well, they sell their old DVD’s just like their old books.  CHEAP!  Like 50 cents or a dollar cheap.  So now I’m joining Mona inside as well as outside. She’s booking and I’m … viding ???

OH!!!  Hot off the press tonight!

Grandson Kaream has passed his final tests in his Army Basics Course for the Pennsylvania National Guard at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and WILL be graduating on August 29^th. That’s next Friday.  So we’ve made reservations for a week at the nearby Waynesville City Park Campground along Robidoux Creek Its not free but we will have full hookups.  

We also won’t get to see much of Kaream as he leaves for home right after graduation, but hopefully we will get to spend some time with his mom’s when they arrive Thursday after their 16 hour drive from Pennsylvania.

Congratulations KAREAM!!!

  

-Ken