Quick visits, day trips, excursions, and weekends away. Anything under a week, you wouldn’t count as a genuine vacation. This includes camping trips, but excludes our many backpacking trips.
Looking south from City Market — (I’ve also seen this area referred to as River Market). We spent a couple of hours soaking up all the exhibits at the Arabia Steamboat Museum – https://www.1856.com/. The Arabia sank in 1856 and was excavated in the 1980s. The museum provided a fascinating insight into the goods being shipped by steamboat into the Midwest
Chinatown Food Market — Lots of tasty morsels were purchased along with enough packets of noodles for many backpacking lunches.
Orange cat and spot — Of course a visit to see Katie also means a chance to see Dick, our grandcat in his native environment and with a nice midcentury modern style rug too.
Top of the Power and Light Building. I love Art Deco architecture.
The Kauffman Center from the 32nd floor terrace, Kansas City Power and Light Building — We were at the Kauffman Center last night for Chris Thile with the Kansas City Symphony.
View to the east from the 32nd floor terrace, Kansas City Power and Light Building.
View to the west from the 32nd floor terrace, Kansas City Power and Light Building — Featuring the Diocesan office and Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral, which can be seen just past the convention center. I waved at my ex-colleagues, but I don’t think they saw me.
Empty Chair — I’d planned on taking a picture of Ginger sitting enjoying the view, which would have been a great silhouette. But Ginger got up as I grabbed my phone.
No smoke without fire — I was some miles away the smoke was thick at the farm, and ash was falling from the sky. This was from a prescribed burn, not a wildfire.
A change of plan — Here I am enjoying the sunset and beer on the deck at the cottage.
Lanie — Just Lanie being herself. Walk by the creek.
Early evening on an Ozarks farm road — It’s all looking very lush and green. Nowadays this road has a lot more traffic than it used to. One-minute read.
Last of the sun — The last of the sun was catching the trees behind the house.
Four deer — They were about 100 yards away and very interested in what we were doing, which just happened to be, watching them.
Journal: 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. Ginger, Lanie and I camped in Mark Twain National Forest to see this, my third and (most likely) last total solar eclipse. 1999 in France and 2017 in Missouri being the first two. Journal: 5 12
All over — That’s it for twenty years. 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. Now for the long drive home.
2024 Total Eclipse — Not too bad for crop of a hand-held picture taken with a seven-year-old mirrorless camera, using the kit lens.
2024 Solar Eclipse — Composite — Eclipse detail merged with an image of the corona.
Doing the ‘Eclipse Dance.’ Just before the totality. 2024 Total Eclipse. Just four minutes to go…
Pre-Eclipse Shenanigans —Gary & Ginger — 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. +3
Pre-Eclipse Shenanigans — Lanie & Ginger — 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. Notice how the light in the background is already fading.
2024 Solar Eclipse Camping — Eclipse Day, and the weather is looking wonderful. Warm with clear skies. We spent the morning chatting before breaking camp around midday. Two-minute read, +1
2024 Solar Eclipse Camping — Sunday. Two-minute read, +1
Trip: Destination — The Texas Gulf Coast. We are back on the road on the second of our shakedown trips in advance of some more serious travel next year. We are headed back to Texas. Beaumont, Texas to be precise, where we plan to work for five days, and then spend some time on a Texas Gulf Coast beach before returning home. Album: 8 31