Relaxing in Smith Center, Kansas

Sunday through Friday
October 11 – 16, 2009

I decided to just write one entry for the week we have spent in Smith Center, Kansas since not much has happened and our air card reception has been horrible.

Sunday we got up early and said our goodbye’s to our friends before we left Hutchinson, Kansas. We got on the road around 11:30 after we decided that it would be best for us to go straight to Smith Center and have Excel adjust our kitchen slide. We had thought about going to Junction City, Kansas to take a tour of the New Horizons RV plant. There were five other couples heading there and we thought we might just follow them and have another day of socializing. We had set an appointment for October 26th to get our slide adjusted but last week I had asked Bryan Tillet if we could come in early. He said, if we were patient that we could come in on Monday but that he wasn’t making any promises. We stopped at Wal-mart in Salina, Kansas so Gina could fill a prescription and afterwards I filled up with diesel. We arrived at Excel in Smith Center around five o’clock. Our site is behind Excel’s office building and only has an electrical hookup. I had dumped our tanks and filled up our freshwater tank prior to leaving Hutchinson so we should be alright for the week.

Our Home for the Week

Monday we woke up to windy and wet weather with a temperature of 32 degrees. Around eight o’clock I went inside their Excel’s office and met up with Bryan who got us in touch with Curtis Peterson. We spoke to Curtis and he said he would do his best to take care of us this week. We then went to downtown Smith Center to see what all they had to offer. Well it only took Gina and I about an hour to walk in every business. It’s not too small since they do have a pizza hut in town. While we were walking Thomas called us to let us know he would be flying to 29 Palms California on Tuesday. It was so nice to hear his voice and talk to him. We hadn't heard from him since he left last month on September 15th. Smith Center is a small town however, everyone we have met has been extremely friendly. The local high school football team is currently holding the nation's longest winning streak at 73 consecutive wins. Speaking to people in town they say it's getting harder each week to win. This town may be small but has a lot of character. With not much else to do for the evening we just returned back home and relaxed.

Tuesday found us waking up at nine o’clock and by the time we finished drinking our morning coffee it was almost noon. We met with Bryan around one o’clock to give him some feedback about what our friends thought of Excel fifth wheels. After that we were given a tour of their manufacturing plant which lasted approximately two hours. By this time both Gina and I were hungry and since it was cold outside Gina decided that it would be a good time for homemade chili. Since the weather has been cold, wet and windy all day we just hung out and relaxed for the night.

Wednesday we woke up again around nine o’clock and while we were drinking our coffee we decided to ride over to Lebanon, Kansas since we were told that there is a place there that sells fresh beef. Back on Monday we had met Will & Wilda, another fulltiming couple when they arrived to have some work done to their fifth wheel.

Will & Wilda (another Fulltiming Couple)

We had asked them if they wanted to ride with us and they said sure. We left around noon and found the meat market in Lebanon. We bought two rib eyes sliced one and a half inches thick along with a pound of ground meat mixed with ground bacon. From there we decided to drive over to a slaughter house in Kensington, Kansas. We were told that they have excellent smoked meats. We bought some smoked pork chops and three smoked chickens and a berry medley pie. We were told that if possible to buy a pie from there so we did. We then went back home and put the pie in the oven while I grilled the two rib eyes that we bought earlier. The rib eyes had a great taste but we still like our beef tenderloin steaks better. After dinner we had a piece of warm pie with vanilla ice cream. This pie was unbelievably great. The pie filling was a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. The crust was the best. The pie was so good that we both decided to have another piece. We also brought Will & Wilda two slices of pie over so they could try it. Now that our stomachs were stuffed and we didn’t feel like moving so we just relaxed for the evening.

Thursday found us again waking up late and since we didn’t have any plans we just sat around and did a whole lot of nothing all day. We did speak to Thomas a few times today and he sent some pictures to us. He sounds like he is having a lot of fun.

Thomas in 29 Palms, California

Friday we actually woke up at seven o’clock and had our coffee together. We discussed what we could do for the weekend since it didn’t look like they would get to our slide. On a side note we’re not complaining since we are staying here for free and we have really enjoyed our time here. We decided that we would go to Minden, Nebraska on Saturday morning and then stay at Fort Kearney State Park located in Kearney, Nebraska. Now that we had our weekend planned I was finally able to keep a decent signal on my air card and got the blog posted. Once that was finished we decided to eat two of the smoked pork chops we bought on Wednesday along with some green beans and left over broccoli & cheese casserole. Those smoked pork chops tasted so good that we are going back to buy more before we leave Smith Center along with more pies. We have enjoyed this past week and have had the chance to meet a lot of the workers here at Excel and cannot brag on them enough. They all seem very professional and very knowledgably of their crafts.

Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.