Travel Tuesday: Castle Rock Badlands

I love Kansas, and fun and unique destination and am constantly trying to visit unique Kansas locations, I have the books, Kansas Curiosities, The Kansas Guidebook, and 8 Wonders of Kansas Guidebook. While coming back from the Stock Show in Denver last month we decided to take a little detour south of Quinter, Kansas to see the Castle Rocks. 


These are large limestone pillar landmarks in Gove County, in the Smoky Hills region of Kansas.
 Even before we arrived at the official Castle Rocks, you started to notice the unique rock formations in pastures. 

We drove about  11 miles south of I-70, and followed the signs. 

This was the "entrance" sign

The site has been designated as a National Natural Landmark, yet is on private range land. It takes you back in time, can you imagine riding a horse and come upon this formation? As you can see there is a simple path (on the left side of this picture). Its rather rough and some of the ruts are pretty deep. Being in a pick up was a plus. 

Taken from atop the major hill

A little history: Castle Rock has been used as a landmark for several hundred years. In the 1800s, the Butterfield Overland Dispatch followed the Smoky Hill Trail which passed just a few hundred yards north of the then larger chalk formation.

Ruts from the Butterfield Overland Dispatch trail can be found a few hundred yards north of Castle Rock. The Rock was named by Lt. Julian Fitch in June, 1865 while he was surveying the trail for David Overland's company. (courtesy of Kansastravel.org)

There are a few different paths to take, it was a cold and windy day so we did our sightseeing from the seat of the pick up. I hope to go back when its nice and be able to get up close and see the sites from angles you can only get from being up close and personal. 

 
This is cattle country, I couldn't resist taking a pictures of this fence that goes right along with the terrain. 

The last formation on our way out. 

Thrifty Thursday: $142 savings

Have you ever been to a Goodwill Outlet? Well, I had quite the experience at one, 2 weeks ago while in Oklahoma City. Let me tell you about this crazy venture.

Just ask any of my friends, I like a good thrift store. There is always some treasure. The group of us were driving along in OKC and saw a HUGE Goodwill, so we decided to stop. All thoughts were that this was a typical Goodwill....we were WRONG, big time wrong.

Inside were bins of stuff, piled high with clothes, purses, curtains, stuff...more so on the "junk" side of things. You buy by the pound! The rest of the group refused to walk around, they just sat by the door people watching.

No organization, just piles. I was not to keen on this idea, yet it kinda was interesting. Then, there was this wall about 20ft long with shelves that were being stocked with plastic tote tubs chucked full. I went to check it out and was barked at saying "this area is closed!" What?! I am totally lost by now. I decided to ask one of the few friendly looking faces what the deal was. He told me they place about 50 tubs on the shelves then open the area. About this time the staff said, "GO"
All ___ broke loose. People were diving, pushing, elbowing, and grabbing anything they touched. Black Friday has nothing on this folks! I decided to try and check out a box = bad idea.  I was pushed to the side and people started using me as a step ladder.

I retreated quickly, but not before grabbing something that looked kinda cool. I realized I didn't have all the parts, so I went back quickly when people weren't around. Yes, it sounds like I was scared, probably because it was a tad intimidating. Finally, when I thought I had all the parts we decided to get the heck out of there.

Check out time, with what seems to be a coffee grinder.

Total: $1

When I was back home I decided to clean it up and then do a little research.

Look what I found. .............

Retail $143

SCORE! So the stop was worth while. 

Goodwill Outlets won't be a regular stop for me, but definitely something people should try once...while wearing a helmet and football pads!

Iowa State Fair 2014

As Kansas is about to kick off their state fair tomorrow it reminded me I should post about my trip to the Iowa State Fair. I am behind (as usual with blogging).

Disclaimer * we went on the last Saturday of the fair,(+) which is held in the largest city in Iowa= packed, crazy, not easy to see anything, etc*

With the way things went that day, we didn't get to the fair until about 5pm, another crazy choice. Parking, well that's a "fun" challenge. After parking on a random side street we walked the 5 block(surprisingly close) to the entry. Hungry, I thought the first thing I wanted to do was get something fried or unique to Iowa's Fair.

How about a Double Bacon Corn Dog!

Next stop of course had to be the livestock barns.

The Avenue of Breeds was AWESOME! End of story, just plain awesome. 

I like unique/heritage breeds to this was right up my Avenue, ok sorry about the lame joke. 

 The draft horses warming up and moving from barns to show arenas was something that made everyone stop and watch. Brought me back to the days when my family had Belgiums

We watched an llama futurity show, checked out the Boulevard of Dairy Breeds,stopped by the largest boar pen, (he weighed in at 1,400lbs),  visited a few western clothing booths, and spent at least an hour in the 4-H exhibits building. So impressed by what young people are making, creative & talented!

The buildings at the fair grounds are very impressive, and even more so to think they were built just for the fair! 

The Ag Building, originally build in 1904

You can check out this picture and others showing the amazing architectural buildings of the fair at Blue Ribbon Foundation.

Of course we had to check out the Butter Sculpture in the Agriculture Building

As we were getting ready to walk out the gate there was the Exotic Petting Zoo. Pretty happy we stopped :)

Barn Quilts-Fairbury, Nebraska

As were were traveling back from a graduation in Nebraska this past weekend we spotted this barn quilt north of Fairbury, NE.

And of course, I just had to stop and take a picture. I love barn quilts! In fact, I am helping with a local barn quilt trail.

As we pulled over to take a picture we noticed the owners were in the front yard, not wanting to be weird or rude we pulled in and asked if it was ok to take a picture. "Sure" they said.

Well ONE HOUR LATER, we were back on the road! Nice people, we learned so much and were reminded of what a small world it was!  The lady who did this co-authored a book through University of Nebraska Extension, called Quilt Quest. As we headed out of town she suggested we stop by the Fairgrounds to see 2 more blocks that were done by a local high school student.

 

The design on the left is the 4H block from a 1930s pattern and the right is the FFA block.

If you are ever traveling through Fairbury be sure to stop, also north out of town take a left(west) onto Hwy 4 to see a few more barn quilts. I know I will be taking that route next time I head north!

Extreme Style-Horse Racing

In the past on the first Fashion Friday of May I have posted about Derby Fashion (here) or how to make your own Derby Hat (here), and well as last year when 3 generations were entered in the hat contest at Derby Day Remington Park Style but this time I want to share what we did last weekend, that kinda relates to Derby Day, plus animal print is always in style right?! RemingtonPark in Oklahoma City has Extreme Racing at the end of April. This year they added ZEBRAS and Pigs(as in Hendricksons Racing Pigs). The place was packed, last year's attendance was 19,000 this year they believe it was doubled. Not as much fun as last year because it was elbow to elbow EVERYWHERE, and my best friends weren't able to come along like last year.

The Quarter Horse Live Racing started at 1:30 with the Ostriches going after Race 4. The Ostriches might be my favorite.

 

Saddled and ready! I like that they have the animals in pens so the public can get an up close look.

 

 

They are off!

 It can get a little WILD!

 

Then they had 4 more horse races and then the ZEBRAS were up to go!

 

 

As you can see, some of the jockeys were bucked off. Jesus Salazar, the jockey closest to us in the green and yellow silks, is one that ended up winning I believe. He came to the ranch and "helped" CP build fence once.

 

We weren't able to stay for the camel races this year

 

If you are ever able to attend an Extreme Racing event, I suggest it! Fun for all ages.

 

Hog Trough's Deep Fried Hot Dog-Wickenburg AZ

If you are ever traveling through Wickenburg, AZ and want to try some BBQ, that also has other fun menu items, the Hog Trough would be your place!

I like to try new things, not the kinda food you can get anywhere, so when I saw...The Original Hog Dog was DEEP FRIED I had to go with it. It seemed like something you would see Guy from Diners, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives trying. PLUS its wrapped in BACON!

It was really good, not greasy like I thought it might be. There waffle fries were pretty amazing too!

 

 

Rubio's Mexican Restraunt~Review

While in Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl we tried out Rubios...AMAZING!

They are famous for their fish tacos, so of course I had to try them out....they lived up to their reputation.

Its fast fresh and healthy Mexican food, can't go wrong with that!
So if you are ever get the chance to try it, go for it!

Laurel, IA~ Traveling Tuesday

I am really working on my 101 in 1001 and on that list was to visit another "Laurel" Town. I did so back in October and am now just getting around to posting. Posting more often is also on my list :)

This LAUREL like the others I have visited....small, but cute and unique.

Then there was this interesting little place on the outskirts of town...fun little buildings.

Traveling Tuesday~ Women In Blue Jeans

Tomorrow I leave for Mitchell, SD for the conference Women In Blue Jeans. I attended last year(did 2 posts, here & here) to get some tips, ideas, and knowledge for hosting my conference Dirt, Denim & Diamonds. It was such a great time last year that I just had to go back for their 10 Year Anniversary Celebration!
 They still have room, I know they would love to have you. If you can't go, but know someone who lives nearby or can, just go to their website for all the info!

No Nicaragua

Where have you been?- some might be asking.

I was supposed to be in Nicaragua today. My flight was planned to leave OKC at 5:30am, but I had an emergency root canal. Long story...they said I needed it pulled ASAP, then they said they would try to save it, so a root canal it was. Well, that didn't go as smoothly as they had hoped, yadda yadda..... Flying was against doctors orders so here I am still in Kansas.

This too partially explains my lack of blogging. The other is that I have been super busy with other things in life. One of those being planning of a womens conference called Dirt, Denim & Diamonds. Check it out!

My new goal is to at least blog once a week this summer....thank goodness this week is taken care of now :)

Tasty Tuesday-Cherokee Strip BBQ, Stillwater, OK

I wanted to share with you a great BBQ place in Stillwater, OK.....

For my graduation we ate here. This was the first restaurant I had even eaten at in Stillwater, so I thought it was only fitting to have a little graduation get together there.

I ordered the 3 meat platter and split it with my grandpa.

Reasonably priced and included 2 sides.

Top is brisket, then turkey, and middle bottom is pork loin.

Stop by if you are ever in Stillwater. The food is great and the people who work there are great!

The lady( I believe was the owner) congratulated me about 10 times on graduation and told me

" Don't forget, the world is out there waiting for you!" she encouraged me to follow my dreams and have fun.

Menu Monday-No cooking=Trappers Restraunt

Since I am terribly behind with blogging instead of sharing a recipe, I'm going to share some of my favorite eats from my travels.

Today is Trappers in OKC.

Appetizers of Fried PICKLED Green Beans

AND Alligator!

Blackened and fried

Salad- has fried onions and a spicy horseradish salad dressing(house dressing)

Main Courses:
SWORDFISH!!!!! and mashed taters-

 
                  Pecan Crusted Rainbow Trout(my mom's dish):

           Salmon and "something else Pasta", (can't remember, dad's dish)

Everything was great. The decor was lodge/outdoorsy/fishing......

Check out what was in their "fish tank"

If you are ever in OKC, stop for a meal at Trappers, I think you will enjoy it!

I'm going to The Derby!

Weeeelllll...kinda. When you read this I will be in Oklahoma City at Remington Park celebrating at their version of Derby Day.

Last year I posted about hats and the history, you can read that here. This year I am actually going to get to wear a big hat, 3 generations will be entered in the hat contest listed above.   I will let you know how it goes and next week's Thrifty Thursday will feature the hats we made.

Oh yeah.....Happy Cinco De Mayo as well!

Scenic Sunday-Bayard Kansas

 

 

Again another town not in my book, but shown to me by my good friend as we did our ghost town traveling. Bayard is unincorporated

 

I was kinda sad to see how this church or school has just been ignored and run down. What a sight with the door open and still able to see a podium inside.

 

History Lesson: In 1910, Bayard was a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad with a money order post office with one rural route, an express office, and some mercantile interests. It was a shipping point for the surrounding agricultural district. The population that year was reported as 50.
A post office was opened in Front (an extinct town) in June 1886, but it was moved to Bayard in August 1887 and remained in operation until it was discontinued in April 1943

County: Allen

Population: No census since it is unincorporated. There were 1 or 2 houses in the area that people were living in.