Leaving Indiana

We attended a couple of parties during our last week.  A friend whom I had worked with for almost 25 years had decided to quit work in order to spend more time helping her elderly father.  A party was given in her honor and in the picture are those of us who had worked with Carole at Brulin.

My book group got together for one last time to share a glass of wine and good conversation.  They are an interesting, well-read group of women whom I will miss.  We've shared a lot of experiences in the downtown neighborhood where John and I have lived for the last 20 years.  The group has added a few members and lost a few over the years.  By being a part of this group, I have read books I would never have thought about reading and I have come to appreciate and enjoy the support and friendship of these women.

We got together with the family for one last dinner.  Amy and her brother John delighted in telling old stories about their childhood.  This time about babysitters they had known and tormented.  Somehow I failed to get any pictures.

On  Friday morning we got on I-70 and left town.  The suburban was loaded to the max including using part of the back seat where the dogs ride.  They settled in quickly and lay down to sleep as they always do on road trips.  The ride was pretty uneventful the first day.  On Saturday we started through Kansas and made our first side trip.  We saw ads for the OZ winery.  Ever since Carson played the role of Toto in YATS production of the Wizard of OZ we have had a fondness for anything associated with  the story.  While many places in Kansas have tried to cash in on the story, Wamego seems to have the most with a museum, winery and Toto's Tacos (which we didn't try).  It was fun looking in the winery gift shop but the $28-30 bottles of wine were a little steep for our budget.  I'll stick to my wine from Trader Joe's.
It really felt like Kansas when we saw the fields of sunflowers.  We stopped for the night in Goodland, KS and will arrive in Denver sometime on Sunday.