The Plains

Vacation time again.  The Kansas Plains await.  Not sure exactly where I'm going, but I want to see Hays, Great Bend, McPherson, Oakley, Colby, and Goodland.  Museums and historic and natural sites abound in the region and I'm looking forward to buying books at their shops.  From Emporia, we hope to visit Lawrence, Junction City, Abilene, Topeka, and Atchison.  Probably will need to cut some destinations from the schedule, but not too many.  I must see the Kansas Historical Museum in Topeka to check out their book selections.  If not, I'll make up for it at the other bookstores.  Most of the historic sites and museums in Kansas have some thoughtful people selecting and buying the books to sell.  Ft. Hays, Ft. Riley, Ft. Zarah, and Ft. Riley are the military sites I want to see.  College towns are always attractive to me and Lawrence is no exception.  Manhattan is a neat little town where Kansas State University sets and I've been through there a few times.  Lawrence, however, is more reminiscent of Fayetteville and I enjoyed my last visit.  My late father-in-law called KU campus Snob Hill (he was a K-State grad), but he liked the town. 

I had so much fun in central Tennessee last spring, but missed out on spending much time in Oxford. We ate lunch at Ajax and had a book-buying binge at Square Books and Square Books Jr. before heading over to West Helena to visit family, but we wanted to spend a few days visiting Mississippi sites.  We may spend our 2 week vacation on the Plains next year because Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Montana are high on my list of visits.  I need to buy some books on the mining industry because my railroad study now requires understanding the history of mining, particularly in the West.  There's a salt mine museum in Salina I would love to visit; never enough time or money for everything I want to do.  My wife needs to find outlets to sell her purse designs in the West because her purses with scenes from the Plains have sold.  It seems to me we need to find some fairs and festivals where she can set up and sell her portable works of art. 

The Prairie Grove Clothesline Fair attracts buyers of Western art locally and she needs to sell her wares there for sure.  The ideal for future vacations is to bundle book-buying sprees, historic site and museum visits with sales opportunies for her functional artwork.  We're exploring some 30 day vacations in the future, but we're still learning to plan the perfect North American vacation.  I need to follow the SFT all the way to Sacramento, down the American River by steamship to San Francisco some day.  My study of the SFT has been a rewarding experience and I'm hopeful of a spectacular conclusion that I'll treasure forever. Planning and executing a vaction plan requires time and effort.  This vacation has required several weeks so far.  Facebook has been an invaluable tool in checking out potential sites to visit as well as the state atlases.  I'm ready to buy an rv and travel the roads of this continent.  Canada is definitely on the list with their interesting 19th century history on their western plains and mountainous regions.  Can't wait!