A Small Town With A Lot Of History

Thursday
October 22, 2009

I woke up at 6:30 freezing and looked at the thermometer which showed 32 degrees. It’s too cold and I’m not getting up. I put my head back on the pillow and fell back asleep. I guess around nine o’clock we both woke up and I put coffee on. Gina grabbed her laptop and got on Facebook and I grabbed mine so I could update our blog. We just sat in bed enjoying the morning in our truck. I finally updated our blog around noon. We then went inside the customer service center where they have nice bathrooms and showers. We have been living out of our truck since Tuesday which normally isn’t bad. However, the weather has been wet and cold. We both took showers and got dressed so we could figure out what we would do today. We normally cook outside but with this weather it has been impossible which has kept us eating out which is not what we normally do. Gina has been seeing these rocks at most houses that had names on them.

Examples Shown in a Downtown Business Window

So we set out to see if we could get one with our name on it. It didn’t take us long before we found the creator of these. The company is JS Limestone and Wood Products. We went inside and met the owners and he showed Gina some examples.

Gina Talking to Joe About What She Wants


A Few More Examples Joe had on the Floor

Gina really wanted one so she went out in the back to pick out a rock.

Limestone to choose from


There were all sizes

She found one and now she had to decide what and how she wanted our name on it. After we finished there we wanted something to eat since we were both hungry and it was now five o’clock. We decided we wanted to try out Duffy’s Steakhouse.

Duffy's Steak House


Just a Photo Looking Down Mainstreet

We had heard a lot about this restaurant so tonight we would try it. Gina got the chicken fried steak and I got the chicken fried chicken. They both came with mash potatoes and gravy. We both really enjoyed our food and agreed that it was good enough to eat again. The surprise for us was the seasoning. Not only were the steaks seasoned well but the gravy was seasoned the way it would be in Louisiana. While we were there Ralph from Excel’s service department came in with his wife Theresa. We had both finished our food at the same time so we visited with them for awhile. They used to own an RV dealership in Missouri but they decided to close it down and Excel offered Ralph a job as the assistant manager of their service center. They’re a very nice couple and we wish them the best in their transition to living in a very small town. We then headed back to our truck and settled in for the night. The low temperature tonight is forecast again for the low 30’s. We had another slow but great day. Gina’s happy for sure since she is getting a rock with our name on it.


Friday
October 23, 2009

I got up at 7:30 this morning and got the coffee brewing but then got back in bed. Around 9:15 Joe from JS Limestone called and wanted to see if we could come down and pick out an eagle to engrave on the rock. I told him sure but give us about 30 minutes. We both drank a cup of coffee and then jumped up and got dressed. It was still cold outside (39 degrees) but was definitely warming up. We arrived and met Joe around 9:45. We said goodbye to Joe after Gina had chosen an eagle design.

Just a Sneak Peak of the Rock Gina Picked Out

Neither one of us had eaten anything yet so we decided to eat at the “Second Cup Café”.

Second Cup Cafe

It’s very small but inviting café. Gina ordered a piece of raspberry & peach pie and I ordered biscuits & gravy with eggs and hash browns.

Look at those Biscuits & Gravy


What kind of Breakfast is This??

The food here tasted alright. However, it’s not one of those places that you just want to come back to. From there we decided to drive around town. First we stopped at a field of Sorghum (more commonly called milo).

Milo up close


A Field of Milo

Kansas is the largest grower of milo and there is field upon fields of it around here. After that we stopped by an Old Dutch windmill that has been restored and the area around it is now a beautiful park.

Dutch Wind Mill


The History


Here We are sitting in the Park


Gina is so Fascinated with these Colors
(She made me stop in the middle of the street to take this picture)

We then headed back to our home so we could grab a big pot. We decided since the weather was so nice that it would be nice to relax outside while we cooked a big pot of chicken & sausage gumbo. We had bought some smoked chickens last week at the Kensington meat locker. Gina has wanted to use them to cook gumbo to see if the smoke flavor would enhance the taste of her gumbo. The weather was turning out to be very nice with clear skies, a light breeze and a very nice 57 degrees. I filled the pot up with water and got the chickens boiling and then grabbed a lawn chair and sat outside enjoying a beautiful day God had made for us. While I was relaxing and cooking Gina jumped onto Facebook and was very upset because they had changed how the home page looks. After the chicken was done boiling I took it out of the water and Gina began deboning it while I cut up sausage.

This has been our little setup for the past four days
(Gina deboning Chicken)

Once we had the gumbo cooking I told Gina that we needed to walk over to the manufacturing plant and make sure we would have our home back for the weekend. However, before we could get over there Curtis was already bringing our home to us. He got it backed up and then we got all the slides out. While I was moving the gumbo to our home Bryan stopped by to invite us to the tailgate party that Excel was sponsoring before the local high school football game started. I told Gina that I wanted to get our satellite moved before we went to the game. Trying to setup the satellite in the dark is just too difficult. It only took about five minutes and then we were off to the Smith Center Redmen football stadium. I believe just about the whole town was there. Excel had grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone there.

Tailgate Serving Line

We got in the line and I got a hamburger while Gina got a hot dog. We enjoyed our free meal and then Gina got a cup of hot chocolate. Bryan and Curtis invited us to sit with them on the 50 yard line. It felt like we were at a friend’s family reunion. Everyone there knew everybody and just accepted us as if we were a part it.

This is the Van that Excel is letting us use
(This is what I mean by family)

Tonight’s pregame was recognizing all of the parents of senior athletes.

This picture is of a Father Recognizing his Daughter even though she was sick and unable to attend the ceremony


This is both the Junior High and High School Band


This is almost all of the students except for the football players

While we were waiting for the game to begin Curtis told us some history about the Smith Center Redmen football team. Years ago Head Coach Roger Barta set high standards for his players. Instead of trying to explain it I thought I would just give anyone who might be interested a link to a short story published in Reader’s Digest. “Life Coach Roger Barta”

Curtis caught and gave the football and tee shirt to Gina after the Redmen scored


The Smith Center Redmen Cheerleaders

The Smith Center Redmen are going for their 75th consecutive win. In 2007 the Redmen made national headlines by scoring 72 points in the 1st quarter of a game. Joe Drape which is a writer for the New York Times flew down to write a story about the Redmen. The team and town people so impressed him that after returning back to New York he decided to write a book about The Smith Center Redmen football team. The book “Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen” was released this year.

The Book "Our Boys"


The Redmen defeated the Osborn Bulldogs 47 to 7

Once the Game was over we left and went home. I was tired so I kicked back in my recliner and watched a little TV. Gina decided that she wanted to bake her Cran apple walnut pie. I tried to tell her that it was 9:30 and that it wouldn’t be done until a few minutes before eleven o’clock. She insisted so I put the pie in the oven. While the pie was baking I fell asleep because she woke me up and asked me if I wanted a slice. I said alright. Here it is 11:15 at night and we’re both eating a slice of pie topped with vanilla ice cream. The pie was good but we both still like the berry medley pie better. Finally around midnight we went to bed. I know that I have not described Smith Center or the people very well. However, we have really enjoyed being in Smith Center, Kansas and have met a lot of wonderful people while we have created some great memories.

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