The Cool Ride in Montezuma, Kansas...

Settling into a new community is always challenging especially when you are working to get into the "cool crowd". That's us all right! DR and I, we are social ladder climbers, yessir! Have to keep up with those Joneses next door you know!

Well getting in the cool Monte crowd means bike riding. Oh, I don't mean any old kind of bike boy. You want to make a social statement in this here town then you need one of these babies!

A three wheeled bike. I have never seen a bike like this anywhere. Have you? These bikes are custom made right here in town...and there's a waiting list. Even with a price tag of $900, yes that's right $900, they are in high demand and rightly so. Most of the folks riding these bikes are older and retired and in many cases in poor physical condition. One gentleman from our church who rides his all over can hardly walk because his feet are in such bad shape. Another woman who diligently rides everyday, and she is pretty quick, needs to walk with a cane. I have to say that these bikes seem to have done wonders for this community. There are dozens of theses bikes around! I have no doubt that without these bikes there are many elderly who would rarely exercise or leave their homes. Of course I did see two high school football players riding around the other day, not sure what that was about. LOL See? Everyone wants one of these bikes!

I know quite a few older folks around the country who would love to have one of these bikes! I'm not sure if the guy who builds them would ship em' out of state but you never know. Are you interested in one? It's the cool thing to do!! (At least here anyway!)

Marker Monday - The Stauth Memorial Museum

The coolest thing about living in Montezuma, Kansas is the Stauth Memorial Museum.

 A museum only a block away from our house and admission is FREE. How cool is that??

The Stauths, Claude and Donnie, were residents of Montezuma. Claude was a travel agent and Donnie was a photographer. Throughout their lives they traveled all over the world many times over. As with any traveler, they returned home with souveneirs. After Claude's death, Donnie was convinced their souveneirs should belong in a museum. And so the Stauth Memorial Museum was built!

As you walk in the museum you are greeted by a world map highlighting some of the Stauths travels complete with photographs of themselves in different locations.

Yap loves checking out this display. A case full of coins from around the world that rotates around by the push of a button.

Pottery...

 and Musical Instruments. Yip keeps trying to convince the museum guides that he should be able to take home the "fiddle" on the left.  

I love these rugs! Every time we visit, every couple of weeks, I have the urge to roll em' up, stuff em' in the diaper bag and take em' home with me!

And there are pull out drawers of all sorts of smaller trinkets to rediscover.

An alpaca rug...Yip wants me to make one like this...uummm...we'll see son.

The Stauth's souveneirs from their travels is only a small part of the museum. There is also a room full of animal mounts, donated by friends of the Stauth's, that contain moose heads, polar bear hides and a wolverine pelt (Yip's favorite).  There is a small gallery of western sculpture that showcases a few small works by Frederick Remington. There is also a space for traveling exhibits which currently is exhibiting textiles (quilts, knitting, sewing, etc.) from the local area. But this past year the Stauth Museum exhibited photos by a National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting, working models of Leonardo Da Vinci's inventions and a historical look of Abraham Lincoln in Kansas. In December there will be an exhibit about the Science of SuperCroc! I'm really looking forward to that one!

What an amazing little gem hidden in a sleepy little town on the Kansas Prairie! If you are ever in our part of the world, the Stauth Museum would well be worth the time and effort to visit!

Kansas; Where We Live

We've been here in Montezuma, Kansas for about three weeks and I'd thought I'd just share some photos of what we see every day when we look around.

This is the main street in town looking north. It's never very busy and drivers in this town seem to be very aware and careful around children. More than once drivers have stopped on main street in the middle of the day to let us cross. Right below those huge grain bins is a bank, library, restaurant, grocery store and post office.

This is our view right across the street to the south, the high school. Actually it is the high school and elementary together but the elementary is on the opposite side from us. There are about 100 students in the whole high school and all the elementary classes (K-5) are in one hallway. There is only one kindergarten class and it is fairly large this year with 20 students. Last year there were only 10.  

This is our view behind the house to the southwest. Yep that's how close the pool is and Yap's bike is in our yard. With 100 degree temps that is pretty sweet! On average, we've been to the pool 3 times a week.

Living in town in Kansas is different from what I expected. I was thinking it would be desolate with absolutely nothing to do and no where to go but I was pleasantly surprised by the pool and the library. I sure didn't expect so many trees in town either. I expected more of this or even this.

Once you drive out of town though the scenery changes dramatically. We have windmills just like back home. You can't tell in the photo but these are much smaller and closer together than those in Benton County, Indiana.

The plains are dry and brushy and there are plants out there I would to get a better look at.

The Kansas sky has quickly become my favorite part of Kansas. It can be dark and menacing but captivatingly beautiful at the same time. A sky like this would have been something to worry about back in the Midwest but out here this sky, even though pretty scary looking, was too far away to worry about. Well, unless you are driving into it like we were!

I'm really enjoying living here in Kansas and I'm even learning to enjoy the long drives to "town". But everytime I look at this sky I get the urge to buy a horse...anyone have one for sale?? Just kidding...kinda..