Crazy Kansas Trip

Happy 2008! Hope this New Year's post finds you all doing well. I am going to quickly summarize our Kansas trip for your enjoyment and for posterity! I think we saw most of the loyal blog readers at some point on the trip, although some of the KC contingency was missed due to an unexpected weather event on the weekend prior to Christmas. Sorry we missed you guys!

First off, to illustrate how much we love the people we saw, we left 65 degree weather with sunshine to drive on snow packed and icy roads in 8 degree weather...however you all put up with us staying at your houses so we will call it even.

We flew from Greenville (which is an awesome airport) to Wichita through the winter weather that dumped 10 inches of snow on Lindsborg the day before, so our plane ride was not awesome. There was a ton of turbulence and puking, but luckily I took my drugs so I barely noticed anything was going on. The pilot really stuck the landing in Wichita on the snowy runway while pumping the brakes pretty good, so I was just pretty darn happy to get there in one piece.

We got off of the plane in Wichita and headed to our frozen over rental car which we then pointed towards Manhattan. The road alternated between totally clear to nearly undriveable I-135 and I-70, but we managed to make it to Justin and Kelly's. They had just gotten power back the day before, so we are really glad we did not come into town on Thursday night to rough it. We are not that tough anymore after 4 months.

The next leg of the trip was to KC. We stayed with Andy and Erin, and got to see my aunt Martha and cousin Mary to catch up. Everyone was great about moving around their schedules and opening their homes to us. We really appreciated it. We went to the Cats basketball game at the Sprint Center that evening and had a great time. The Sprint Center is amazing, and the Power and Light District that is going in around it is an awesome addition to downtown. Maybe it isn't, I don't live there, but coming in from outside it was fantastic. The environment for a Cats fan was awesome. Very much like a bowl game type of atmosphere at the bar prior to the ball game. The bar across the street had a capacity of 404 people and was completely full by 3:30 on a Monday afternoon...nicely it was full of people wearing purple! Jake and I got to see a bunch of folks that we hadn't seen since leaving Manhattan so it was a great time for us.

Hill City is a long way from KC. Fact. Luckily Jake and I only live with each other and have no friends, and had traveled with each other (only) all week so we really had a lot of catching up to do. It all comes down to a game of "Would You Rather" on a 5 hour car trip. I recommend it. I am not sure of the exact origin, but Molly or Nikki brought it to my attention. It is a game where you think of the two worst scenarios you can think of and then pose it for response to the other party. I will give you the classic example: "Would you rather sweat cheese or have cauliflower for ears?" Think about it. It is a really great game if you are creative people. I may have to turn it into a board game and quit working. I am going to get right on it.

Hill City was great. We had some serious relaxing time with Jake's parents and sister in front of the fire, I went to Hill City yoga, watched Dan referee some basketball, ate delicious prime rib with friends, and I went to a women's group meeting with Sue where they played the bells. Yep, a musical instrument complete with sheet music. I am not sure if Sue exactly understood my musical limitations until the instant I looked at her with panic in my eyes and asked her to highlight the notes I was supposed to play and maybe elbow me when it was my turn. Luckily I don't think I was the worst one there. That may have been the lady was sitting on the other side of Sue! I am not sure how I was not the worst one there, but I wasn't. I think some folks were sandbagging to make me feel better, but I appreciated it. I was sweating through my shirt and having 7th grade band flashbacks.

Next we headed onto the 'borg. This is the part where we bailed on going back to KC. Sadness. I missed the major friend Christmas party, but I also missed a blizzard so we will still call it a good decision. Sorry we missed you guys, but really glad we didn't come to KC on Friday as they ended up closing I-70 between Topeka and Manhattan on Saturday, which would have trapped all 4 of the Toll girls in KC until Sunday. My sisters and I all came home a day early and managed to avoid the storm. For once the Toll girls used some solid logic instead of being motivated only by the thought of having fun with friends.. We must all be getting older and wiser. Anyway, Jake and I stopped at the brewery in Hays on the way home and it was great. I highly recommend it. The beer is SUPER and the food is good. Very cool atmosphere as well. Big, old building with exposed beams, etc. Awesome. I understand that the restaurant is a co-op of people that all threw in some money together so that they would have somewhere to eat downtown and the effort has been great. What a cool thing.

Lindsborg was fun as well. We made the regular rounds at the Stuga for drinks and sandwiches, and then filled up the Toll house with people. Nikki brought her boyfriend Bob along for the trial by fire that is staying more than 1 night at the Toll house. He spent major hours with Jake and my dad and was still speaking to Nikki so we assumed that he didn't have a totally terrible time. He talks loud like the rest of us, has great stories, and then my dad made him chase the trash truck...no really he did. In my father's defense, Bob was the only one wearing shoes...that is the only thing I will say in my father's defense on the issue. He also joined the Tolls in wearing a light up Rudolph nose I brought for him all the way from SC, so major points scored with me! We had game night per usual on Sunday night with Molly and Jake emerging victorious. However, I am pretty sure Molly was point shaving and Jake was helping her. Of course I can't prove it, but I think it is a fact. Shannon was there and brought a little trendy Californian-ness with her. Nikki and Shannon were responsible for dressing me repeatedly and all my sisters made sure my Christmas gifts would help me to be trendy in the New Year!

The thing I am most proud about this Christmas was again executing the Toll Girl picture. My parents had one done when I had my senior pics done, and we (girls) have been wanting to replace it as the last one is full of braces, unfortunate hairstyles, and general weirdness of being captured for eternity on film at your most awkward phase. It was a major covert undertaking that was spearheaded by Molly, with major thanks to Turner for taking the pic on a Saturday and then working over the weekend so we could have one for my parents to open on Christmas morning, and to my grandma for helping us mislead my parents. I think she really had a great time with it! My mom tried to booby trap us several times by wanting to come along on our random errands to town, but Molly and Nikki managed to sneak around town while Shannon distracted her. It was all very impressive. I couldn't believe that we pulled it off. It was totally worth it.

Christmas Day we flew back after seeing both of our families in the morning. Whew. We again had some exciting activities in the air as we flew into a major storm in the Southeast. I was pretty worn out when I walked into work again on Wednesday, but it was all totally worth it!

Thanks so much to everyone that made time to see us! It was great to see everyone and we really appreciated everything you did for us!