Meandering the Country

May 8-20, 2022 On our northward trail to annual doctor appointments, we found ourselves camped south of Kansas City at Hillsdale State Park, near our former stomping grounds! Although Dick and I are both proud ISU alumni, we never met on campus.  We both took jobs in Kansas City following our graduation from Iowa State University and that is where we met!  Monica was a mutual acquaintance that set us up on a blind date, the Bumble or Hinge of the olden days! Cindy and Alan help us add the Kansas sticker! We packed as much as we could into our short time in the area, including a visit with Cindy and Alan!  Dick and Alan both worked at Black & Veatch, which is how we met.  Cindy and Alan made the trip to Hillsdale State Park to spend the afternoon catching up and reminiscing.  It was Mother’s Day, so before we parted ways, we treated ourselves to “Fancy Like Applebee’s on a date night”!  (A great song by Walker Hayes!)  So fun! We couldn’t help but s...

April 24 – May 8, 2022 What a wonderful treat it was to spend a couple of weeks in Tahlequah, Oklahoma!  Honestly, the only thing we knew about Tahlequah before we arrived, was there was a Habitat for Humanity build going on.  Wanting to be a part of the build, we added it to our itinerary.  Soon after arriving, we not only discovered Tahlequah is the capital of the Cherokee Nation, but also the setting for the novel, “Where the Red Fern Grows”, by Wilson Rawls!   The city had a very sad beginning, as on March 26, 1839, this was where the Trail of Tears finally ended.  Legend has it, shortly following the Trail of Tears, three tribal elders had planned to meet to determine the location of the Cherokee Nation’s permanent capital.  Two elders arrived and waited for the third.  At dusk, they decided “Tahlequah” (translated as “Two is enough”) and went about choosing and naming the location of the capital on their own.  I can’t help but wonder ho...