very

The trip to Kansas went great. Although the drive from Austin is long, it was bearable because we made a stop in Wichita Falls on the way there, and in Ft. Worth on the way back. Also, most of it was in Jennifer's mom's Avalon, which is a very comfortable car.

The whole purpose of the trip was to surprise Cynthia on her 60th birthday with a flock of relatives (and me :-) from Texas, NY and Chicago. The surprise went off like a charm and you could tell that she was touched to see everyone. We were worried that she might suspect something, but apparently she didn't, despite Pat's erratic behavior (like buying spare air matresses and linnens).

Pat and Cynthia's farm house in Kansas is pretty impressive and the area where it is located is really lovely. My image of America's Heartland was flat and boring (hey, that's how it looks in the Wizard of Oz). Instead, their area is nicely hilly and very green. The topography reminded me of Bohemia, although there didn't seem to be any real forests in Kansas. The other cool thing was the weather. Although it was hot during the day (not Austin hot, but still pretty warm) it was nice and cool at night. Again, you could sense that they have real seasons up there.

Pat also has a bunch of great toys. For one, he's got a John Deere Gator with which we had way too much fun. He also as a huge "shed" filled with the coolest wood-working powertools. I always thought that this type of stuff only existed on TV and was not to be had by mere mortals. Obviously I was wrong - too bad they live so far away.

I hope that we'll get to visit some other time and spend a little more time in the area. The trip there was a bit too rushed for my taste. When Jfer and I tried to take a scenic route to see the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, we were thwarted due to the loud weeping and gnashing of teeth from the back of the car. So it was back to the straight and boring interstate. Oh well, some other time...