Last week I attended the annual School Board Secretary’s Workshop in Kansas City, and Chris and I took an extra day in the area visiting friends, relaxing, exploring and thrift store shopping.

Wednesday evening we arrived in Kansas City and settled in at our first hotel, the Sheraton at Crown Center.  It’s part of the walking bridge system they call the “Link” that connects several sites in the Crown Center area so you can walk between them without traffic or weather.  We walked all the way to Union Station, which we had never visited before, and took some pictures along the way.

Sheraton Crown Center Interior, Viewed from Mezzanine

View from Our Room

Ceiling and Windows at Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri

Thursday was my workshop and Chris ran a Basic Fantasy game at the Cardboard Corner Cafe in Overland Park. The conference ended at 3:00pm and Chris picked me up and we left the downtown Kansas City area for the Stony Creek Inn in Independence. The friends we were visiting live in that area so staying there was very convenient.

Stone Tables at the Stony Creek Inn

View from Our Window at Stony Creek Inn

Thursday evening we met our friends David and Angie at a Corner Cafe (no, not the same as the game venue, just a coincidence) near our hotel that they had introduced us to last year. Afterward we spent the rest of the evening visiting and keeping David up way past his bedtime. They are very good friends that we only see about once a year, but it always seems like we were just together last week.

Friday morning we really didn’t have any plans, so we decided to do one of our favorite things, thrift store shopping. We didn’t get very for from the downtown Independence area as we were meeting Taylor and her friend Sierra for lunch at Up Dog. Up Dog is a hotdog shop that also has smash burgers.

Up Dog Restaurant, Independence, Missouri

Up Dog Interior

After we enjoyed a nice lunch with the girls, we all spent some time exploring the beautiful and interesting historic Independence Square. I even got a little birthday shopping done for Taylor and Tristan.  They really went over the top with Halloween decorations, as the skeletons had definitely invaded, standing all around the square and even hanging from some of the buildings!

The Skeleton Invasion of 2024, Independence Square

After a very enjoyable time together we parted ways with Taylor and Sierra so they could go check into their B&B and get to the concert they were going to later. We didn’t have a lot of time until we would be meeting up with David and Angie again, but we did have enough time to get to a couple more thrift stores, including a Goodwill Outlet aka “The Bins.” The Bins are hit and miss and I thought this trip we were not going to find anything, but as we were getting ready to leave I spotted a cast iron Lodge biscuit pan! Cast iron pans are something I am always on the look out for, so I was happy to find a piece I did not already have. The optimist that l am, I thought if there was one pan there might be another so I looked a little more and found a John Wright alphabet cookie mold pan. I had never thought about getting any of the John Wright pieces, but it was only $5.00 so I thought why not. After I was sure I had found all the cast iron they had, I went to check out and the cashier told me if I got one more pan it would only be $5.00 instead of $10.00. I went back and grabbed a small baking sheet and paid my $5.00 for my finds and left for an evening of visiting.

Once again we had a great evening with even better friends.

Saturday was going home day, and we slept in a little then had a relaxed breakfast at the hotel. It was a lovely fall morning and we were not in a harry so we took a walk around the lake that is in the backyard of the hotel.

The Lake behind Stony Creek Inn, Independence, Missouri

The Bass Pro Shop lies just across the lake

Reflections in an arm of the lake

The reflections were really very cool

And then there was a waterfall

Our plan for coming home was to take our time and explore a few small towns on the way. We left our hotel about 10:30am and by 5:30pm we were only about 40 miles from where we started, but we had explored the Liberty downtown square, Richmond, and Lexington. We did finally get home about 9:00pm. We discovered some interesting little downtowns, met some very friendly shop owners and had a very good day enjoying the fall weather and one another.

Cast Iron Stairs in Liberty, Missouri

Shelter Sign and Light on Clay County Courthouse, Liberty, Missouri

Lafayette County Courthouse, Lexington, Missouri

Mums on the Sidewalk in Lexington

There’s a Civil War cannonball up there in the Lafayette County Courthouse

Pretty Scene in the next block from the Courthouse in Lexington

War Memorial just outside of Lexington

I always look forward to this conference because it is very informative and there are other Board Secretaries I have met and enjoy seeing again, and Chris can go with me. It is great to have a good job that I like, most days, but even more important is a good partner to go through life with, and I have that with Chris. We don’t have all the same interests, but we share enough to have a great time together traveling and exploring.

Sunday was a day for resting and laundry, but I did get my biscuit pan stripped of it’s old seasoning and two coats of new seasoning applied. It will need at least one more coat of seasoning, but it is looking great. The alphabet pan did not have any seasoning on it except the factory seasoning, so all I have done with it was wash it.

Until the next adventure…

One of the reasons Tracy and I started this blog is to help us remember where we went, and when, and what we saw (and might want to explore further).  To help with this we’ll be retrieving some of our older posts from 犀利士
Facebook and sharing them here.  Even if you’ve seen this post by Tracy on her Facebook page, you may find a couple of new pictures below.

Yesterday was Chris’ birthday and we have been celebrating him. Last evening we went to the Balloon Glow at QU and met Taylor, Tristan and Sierra there. We enjoyed an evening of fair food, family, friends and glowing balloons.

Today Chris and I took the day off and went on a road trip. Our first stop was for lunch in Ottumwa at Canteen Lunch In The Alley. If you have never been you need to go. It is an amazing little place that has been in business for almost 100 years. To find it you need to know that it has had a parking structure built over it. It is in the alley under the parking structure. The first time we found it was pure luck. They only serve loose meat sandwiches and pie, but they are so good it doesn’t matter.

Our next stop, and real destination, was Oskaloosa, Iowa for a little exploring. We have been there before, but had never taken the time to explore and enjoy the down town area. Today we took plenty of time to explore and enjoy.

Oskaloosa has a very pretty park in the center of their square, which features this statue of Chief Mahaska:

And the very pretty bandstand behind it:

We went to the Smokey Row Coffee Shop and I took this photo from the balcony.  It’s a really neat place.

Among their decoration is this telephone booth:

Here’s a photo from the front.  It’s a very inviting place.

Here’s the coffee shop from the front.  The Book Vault next door is a really interesting place, a bookstore in an old bank building.

Their county courthouse, unlike most around here, isn’t in the middle of the square but instead is off to the side:

And this is one of several alleys they have redecorated as outdoor gathering and eating areas.