Trouble in P Village

My mom and I traveled to the KC area this weekend to visit relatives and watch my nephew perform in The Music Man. The production was wonderful. The cast and crew was made up of regular, everyday 7th and 8th graders -- only they were quite talented! My nephew had 2 parts: a traveling salesman and one of the quartet members. He's a natural actor, a very good singer, and was great!


My nephew getting his make-up applied by his mom


And now for the hair


And he's flying out the door just in the nick of time


Playing DDR with a friend. He's a champion and I got to see why! In a few weeks this basement will be finsihed as a game room, office, bathroom and utility room. Too bad Oklahoma can't have basements

Pretty, but what in the world is it?
We stayed in a "Motor Lodge" recommended by my sister-in-law. It's family-owned, older, and really cool. I want to go back with my daughters just so we can stay there again. Well, that and visit our relatives, too. Our room was kind of a suite. We parked right in front and entered in one bedroom, then there was a door to a tiny hall. Off to the side was a door to the bathroom, and straight-on was a door to the other bedroom.

The decor was non-standard motel fare. It was real furniture, windows that would open, blinds AND curtains. And the best part was that at $69 it was only $7 more than a one-bedroom two-bed room! There were storms in the area, high winds and rain, and the community tornado alarms were going on and off most of the night. We heard this morning that the high winds were causing it.

About the bathroom - it was small, very small, but clean and workable. I didn't realize how small it was until I finished my shower this morning and was ready to step out of the tub. I slid the tub/shower door open and stood there, quickly realizing I needed to tap into my engineering experience to figure out the best way to get out of the tub, only I don't have any engineering experience. Undaunted, I formulated a plan, and decided the best way out was to limbo under the pedestal sink then hokey-pokey around the toilet to try to reach an area of floor clearance that was where the door would swing partially open. Really. That bathroom was so small that the toilet paper was hung on the wall under the pedestal sink. When finished with your business you simply leaned forward a tiny bit, while remaining seated, reached across the "room" and pull the toilet paper off the wall.

Despite the lack of sleep due to sirens and taking preventive ibuprofen in order to be flexible enough to use the bathroom facilities, it was the best place I've ever stayed. It even had an old-time cool roadside sign. I really wanted to take a night-time pic of the sign, but there was too much rain and I didn't have a tripod. I'll get it next time.

On the way home we took a 4 block detour in Yates Center, KS to see the town square. It was worth it.

Courhouse in Yates Center, KS

Robin egg, already hatched, and bird poop

One of the streets in the lovely town square

A sign in the window announces in handwriting the weekly winner of the pizza and movie. How cool is that?

Tomorrow I plan to hike, and I'm quite sure it will be muddy so I'll leave Eddie at home. Eddie spent the weekend with the Squares and they were a bit too eager to return him home. In fact, he was here waiting for me when I arrived. Evidently his presence upset delicate Lucy. I'll find out more tomorrow.