Kansas Blog

I expected to see cookbooks and colorful utensils, but what made my heart sing was a band playing "Wild Thing" when I stepped inside Apron Strings Kitchen Store in Hutchinson. What could be better than shopping to the sound of live music? Borrowing from the song's lyrics: Third Thursday, I think I love you.

Our family visited Liberal a few weeks ago. We decided to skip the continental breakfast at our hotel and venture out into the community to see what we could find. I was fully aware of the famous International Pancake Day Race that takes place there annually on Shrove Tuesday, so I wasn't surprised to find that one of the main roads in town is called Pancake Boulevard. But I was surprised to find a wonderful little breakfast spot on the side of that road - The Pancake House. 

Stretching from Medicine Lodge to Coldwater, the Gypsum Hills Scenic Byway is a 42 mile journey.  I've been fortunate through family trips and professional excursions to travel through a great deal of Kansas counties, up and down the highways and byways.  However, this particular stretch of road was one I had yet to encounter.  Coming from northeast Kansas, we decided to trailer the bike down.  The trick with that is finding a good place to park the truck and trailer while we were out exploring.  The folks at the Wright's Truck Stop in Medicine Lodge are used to having vehicles parked there for long stretches of time and were very accommodating. 

Pinterest is a great way to find a new recipe, learn how to organize the laundry room, or get a look at the latest fashion trends. It's an online version of a visual bulletin board. "Pinning" has become an obsession, with food being one of the major topics.

My first experience on the Kansas River was in 2012-April to be exact-when I received a newsletter from a local outfit; the weekend forecast was "85 and Sunshine." With that one email and a hungry need for warm weather, my inaugural kayaking season would commence with a last minute float down the Kansas River.

Winding my way down a path lined with bright orange tulips, I stopped under tall pine and redwood trees to peruse an artist's collection of watercolors featuring bright colored flowers when the sounds of a fiddle and accordian filled the air. The musicians were among a lineup of acts performing under a canopy of long-standing trees during Art at the Arb, an event at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine that coincides with the city's annual Tulip Time Festival.

"I can't drive 55!" sang Sammy Hagar in 1984.  However, if you're cruising down the Native Stone Scenic Byway in eastern Kansas, it's the perfect speed to take in the sights.

The museum that bears the name of Martin and Osa Johnson is not exactly what you'd expect to find in the middle of Kansas. Then again, Martin and Osa Johnson were not exactly your run of the mill people. 

If you have the chance to spend an early spring day in the native tallgrass prairies of Kansas, you may hear the low booming sounds of a male greater prairie chicken attempting to attract a hen. Birdwatchers and hunters both flock to Kansas in search of these gorgeous birds, known for their peculiar breeding behavior.

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.