Road Trip Stage Four: MO, KS

Back home now enjoying the temperate climate of Seattle! I've got a paper due (doesn't that sound weird? oh well...) on Friday, but I'll try to post a few more photos from the trip in between paragraphs.

Once we left Indiana, we started making our way back west. Larry and Deb, Emily's aunt & uncle, were terrific hosts.

Great with the baby, and full of trivia on Emily's dad's family :)

They're outside of St. Louis, by the way. Route map of this stretch:



Also saw their son Todd and his kids (their mom was sick, unfortunately, but last we heard she's feeling better):

Caiden and Blaike, beautiful girls.

Todd's sister Angie and her husband Rob came by to make delicious sandwiches:

Thanks again!

And then it was on to the great state of Kansas. Haley and Franklin really hit it off:

I haven't gotten through all of our photos yet, but we may have failed to capture Lonnie and Barbara Lee on film. We won't need any help remembering their wonderful hospitality, however. Thanks, and congrats on the beautiful new house!

Also drove in to Lawrence, which of course meant lunch at Zen Zero:

Can't wait until Franklin can try their curry!

Note, he did _try_ to try it the other day... hope that stain comes out of my shirt! :)

Franklin enjoyed meeting Tom:


And seeing the beautiful KU campus:




I also tried to explain to him just why I love La Prima Tazza's espresso so much:

Probably have to return when he's old enough to sample it... Likewise the growler of Free State beer we picked up for the road :)

Wonderful to see the town, and especially nice to hang out with Deron and Haley!


And as you probably know, Franklin cut a dashing figure in his new KU onesie as we approached the Colorado border:

More from our trip back west coming soon!

Pick Up Sticks

Good morning, reader. You remember that art installation we saw in Lawrence, with the sticks wrapped around a tree? Well that artist just completed a piece at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and he was recently profiled in the Home section of the New York Times.

Natural History
Originally uploaded by Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The article is interesting, but the slideshow is just super cool. Enjoy!

Congratulations Deron & Haley!

Had a great time seeing everyone & celebrating Deron and Haley's wedding last week.


We stayed at the wonderful Halcyon House Bed & Breakfast. Amazing rates, good food, great location. And fun mirrors in the bathroom:


Had a nice (though much too hot!) walk around campus at KU. Everything seemed to be in order, though there was a new, temporary art installation up:

It's called the Bedazzler, and is made up of saplings from local trees wrapped around a dying elm tree on campus. I'd never heard of the artist, Patrick Dougherty, but I really like this piece.

The Topeka Capital-Journal write-up touches on one aspect of the piece that I found especially compelling:
The wood sculpture has “one great year” before decomposition sets in, Dougherty said. When it is no longer bedazzling, the work will be removed and recycled. “The line between trash and treasure is thin,” Dougherty said.

Very cool.


In other news, I got a new KU hat to go with my new Brazil jersey.

Neither team quite lived up to its potential this year, but at least I look nice...


Hey, speaking of looking nice, weren't we here to talk about Haley and Deron?
Rehearsal footage:


Even more fun than the rehearsal was the dinner. The Lee's hosted a great party at The Top of the Tower in Topeka.

The other windows boast views of the state capital, but I kind of like this view of the Kansas River valley, which Clay also appears to be enjoying.

A little enjoyable downtime the night before the big event:




And then, as we watched the USA's exciting-if-ultimately-frustrating loss to Ghana in the back room at the church (yay technology!), final touches were applied.




Emily was there to help pin flowers, looking great in her new dress:


The stage is set:


I don't have much from the ceremony itself, but Emily got a pretty nice video of the recessional:


Deron and Haley hosted a very nice reception at the Kansas State Historical Society. And they looked very nice dancing together there:


I was a little slow to hit "record," but I captured a fair amount of Chris' toast. Good stuff:


And there you have it. There are a few more photos in a set on Flickr; if I happen across any more, I'll let you know.

In the meantime, Huzzah to Haley & Deron!

Seattle, Sure; but Oh that Lawrence . . .

Thanks for you patience, Mel.

Took a bike ride recently up to Gas Works Park and on into Fremont. Lovely time. Odd, but handsome park:







Look, way over across the water--Capitol Hill!






And after miles of riding, how could we not stop here?

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More basketball watch-party photos!
thanks, Dave

Ryan


Yancy, before things got going



Jamie almost looks nervous . . .



The opposing team's lineup? No time for that; too busy reading the paper . . .


More fun during and after the game:
























Hard to believe it's all over (for this year!) . . .

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Luckily, Kristin, who runs the alumni email list, is awesome

She put together an outing to the Mariners/Royals game. It was cold, and it wasn't the best game ever (that's right, Royals fans, I said it . . .), but was great to see everyone again.

And they sell garlic fries at Safeco! Wow. (Thanks, Shannon, for sharing with us!)

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Finally,
Just heard a charming story on the radio about Lawrence's post office . . . ah Lawrence. Good stuff on the parade for the basketball team over on kusports.com, too.

Woooooo!

Amazing game yesterday.

I need to get some sleep, so I'm just posting these photos for now. Rock Chalk.


Downtown Lawrence, courtesy of Scott and the Jayhawk Nation blog. I also recommend the video of the party there.



More downtown Lawrence, from kusports.com



Look: something not basketball-related. Mimi in front of the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park.



The winning shot, in honor of Adam Webb



For Adam

(I'll say more on that when I have a chance)



Got to watch with Ismail and Kari, so that made it extra fun.



Post-game at the Whisky Bar; how do you like that painting? It's called "In Demand," and can be yours for $700 . . .



Melanie and Dave at the Whisky Bar post-game.



Classic Melanie pose (?)