Kansas Blog

Beef production in Kansas is big - cattle represented almost half of the agricultural cash receipts in 2010 and Kansas ranks third in the nation with 6.1 million cattle on ranches and feedyards. That's more than twice our state's human population! Our family saw a good many of these bovine beauties on a recent trip to western Kansas, where we sampled some Kansas beef at Plank's Barbecue in Garden City.

With the arrival of spring in Kansas, the glow of a great tradition across the state rolls into our lives again: The Drive-In Movie. 

When you visit Mine Creek Battlefield on a quiet day, you can almost see them there: 7,000 Confederate soldiers charging across a battlefield on horseback towards two highly outnumbered Union brigades cresting the hill. The Union forces freeze in their tracks against the odds, but are destined to carry the day. 

Osawatomie is a great little Kansas day-trip full of history from a time when the state was new and people were passionate about their political positions. The town was a pivotal spot during the Bleeding Kansas fight for freedom. It stakes claim to being the place Kansans were first called "Jayhawkers" and is where the Kansas Republican party was founded. BUT, it is perhaps best known for its relation to the famous abolitionist, John Brown.

Many wonderful songwriters have come from Kansas, and we are on the hunt for the next one.  Submit your original composition of a Kansas song for a chance to win this month. Entries will be judged by singer/songwriter Logan Mize, an up and coming Nashville star raised in Clearwater.

In the western Kansas town of Oakley sits a quaint little museum named Fick Fossil. According to DiscoveRoakley.com, during the 1960's Ernest and Vi Fick began collecting fossils from the long gone inland sea that once inhabited the area. By 1971 they owned thousands of shark teeth, complete fossils and a lot of folk art that Vi had made using their discoveries. Soon the collection outgrew their home, thus the museum was established in the mid 1975 to showcase their findings and Vi's art.

Hunting requires hard work, intense preparation and dedicated focus to reach success. It also offers the adrenaline rush, the satisfaction and all the rewards that come with any popular sports season.  Essentially, that is what makes hunting so addictive, and keeps hunters in the outdoors season after season, and year after year. The challenges are worth the rewards.

Magical. I know it sounds obvious but that simply is the best word to describe the movie Oz The Great and Powerful that premiered last weekend. The new movie that is the prequel to The Wizard of Oz, a cinema masterpiece of its time, provided the perfect date night with Hubby, who grew up watching the beloved classic, based on L. Frank Baum's novel, every year on television with his family.

About 17 women gather one Sunday morning at the Kaw Valley Gun Club in Topeka. Together they fill chairs outside the tiny club as regulars come and go. Meanwhile, the original divas take stage for introductions. 

Not too far off I-70 in Colby is the Prairie Museum of Art and History. Upon entering the museum we went first to the Kuska Exhibit, which houses the namesakes' personal collection of items including wedding dresses, military apparel, buttons, toys, glass and countless other memorabilia (I dare say everything but the kitchen sink!). At first glance it appears to be similar to any other historical museum I have been to but as I stepped foot into the first aisle, I discovered backlit vintage hodgepodge and before I knew what was happening, six legs were running everywhere and six hands were busy opening and touching this and that.