"Roots" - Hutchinson, Kansas

We arrived in Hutchinson around 2:00pm and set up at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. I (Rick) was born in Hutchinson, some 50+ years ago, when dad was stationed here while in the USAF. I had not been back to Hutchinson since my birth. I wanted to find the hospital where I was born and the house where we lived.

I "Googled" the name of the hospital, Saint Elizabeth's Mercy Hospital, and found a reference to it being closed some years ago. Another reference stated the building still existed and approximately where it was located. We found the old hospital (click on the photo to enlarge). The building is for sale. It most recently was an apartment building and office building.
I then called Mom and asked if she remembered where we lived. She remembered "9th Street", but no address. I went back through some old photos that Y had scanned, and found the two below. The one with Dad and me, I could barely make out the house numbers by enlarging the photo. Y and I jumped in the Jeep, put in the address, 1212 East 9th Street, into the GPS and off we went.When we arrived, the following pictures are what we found. It's the same house! Notice the windows in each of the photos. In the present picture, you can see the original concrete porch under the existing deck. In the second new photo look at the roof line and position of the vents. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Gage Park & Zoo - Topeka, Kansas

We drove over to Gage Park and visited the zoo. We saw the normal animals: elephants, lions, giraffes, but there were a couple of animals with some strange habits. We saw an orangutan that liked to chew and "pop" gum and a bear that spent a lot of time in trees stripping off the bark and leaves.
After the zoo, we went out for a late lunch, then returned and rode the train and carousel. I can remember riding them when I would visit my grandparents here in the 60's. As you can see from the bottom photo, I started "real young".

Siteseeing - Topeka, Kansas

First things first. Today is Mom's birthday...Happy Birthday, Mom!

We drove downtown to the First Presbyterian Church to view their Tiffany "Windows of Comfort". They were installed in 1911 by Louis Tiffany. Favrile glass was the invention of Louis Tiffany. It is a glass made without paint, enamels or stains. Colors were produced by additives such as cobalt, gold and copper.

We then drove over to the Old Prairie Town at the Ward-Meade Historic Site. Anthony Ward bought 200 acres from Indians in 1854. The original cabin, built by Ward, along with their larger home still sit on the property. The Old Prairie Town has several historic buildings that have been moved onto the Ward-Meade property. There is also a botanical garden on the property.


The final picture is of Grandpa & Grandma McCaffrey's old home on Buchanan Street. They owned the home from the late 1920s until it was sold in the mid 1990s.

Lake Shawnee Campground - Topeka, Kansas

We arrived in Topeka yesterday and got set up before the rains started. Over the next few days, we plan to visit with relatives and take in some of the local attractions.



Today the weather was nice so we went into town for some shopping. Later, we met my cousins, Colleen & Chris and Maureen & Frank, for dinner at Olive Garden. We had a nice visit "catching up" on our lives over the last couple of years.

Spacecraft Mfg. - Concordia, Missouri

We made a return visit to Spacecraft Manufacturing in Concordia Missouri. They build custom 5th wheel trailers. We spent several hours looking at the show model that was on the lot. We opened cabinet doors, cargo doors, ran the slides in/out, examined the quality of construction, and asked a lot of questions. We really liked what we saw and will definitely consider Spacecraft for our next trailer.