Salt Storage

We saw this building, but didn't know what it was until we toured the Salt Mine. Come to find out, it is actually a salt storage facility for the mine. The shape of the building is very specific to salt. The slope of the roof is the exact angle at which salt naturally piles up. Fascinating!

Underground Salt Museum: Storage Facility (Part 2)

In the Salt Mine, they have a vast storage facility. Because the air is so dry, it is an ideal place to store movie reels and props, important documents, and computer data. They don't let people tour the actual storage facility, but they do have several of the items out on display. We got to see some props from the original Superman movie, Troy, Twister, Jack Frost, Batman, The Matrix, and Men in Black. Wow!

Underground Salt Museum (Part 1)

Sandra and Carl took me to the Underground Salt Museum after our trip to Yoder. This was probably one of my favorite spots we've visited so far. The mine is still active, although they don't take tourists to the active portion. It's 650 below ground-deeper than the St. Louis Arch is tall! The air is so strange down there. Normally caves or mines are sort of damp and musty, but in a salt mine the air is incredibly dry. They even use the salt to make the concrete for the floor, so they won't let people bring anything to drink down there.

The giant block of salt in the third picture weighs 3 tons! The last picture is of a pile of salt rocks. When you pay to go on the Dark Tour, they let you take one the size of your palm or fill a little bag. Pretty cool!

Yoder, KS

On Saturday, Sandra and Carl brought me to Yoder, KS. It is an Amish and Mennonite community near Hutchinson, KS. We went in several stores including the hardware store. We saw a few Amish or Mennonite people riding tractors, but as it was Saturday I'm sure they prefer to stay home and avoid tourists. They believe it is a sin to create likenesses of human faces per God's commandment not to make an graven images. For this reason, they do not like to be photographed and their children's dolls have no faces.

We ate lunch at Carriage Crossing, where several of the waittresses were dressed in the more traditional "plain" clothes of the Amish and Mennonite faiths. The pie here was excellent, although I was surprised that they didn't warm up the peach or apple pies. (I'm wondering if that's a Texas thing?)

The Mercantile in Downtown Florence, KS

This is The Mercantile in downtown Florence, KS. They had a big Father's Day steak dinner here on Saturday with 80 people in attendence! We didn't go, but I heard great things about it. I did buy some Jalapeno Honey Mustard, Mixed Berry Jam, and chocolate rocks for my mom's birthday. I also bought myself a chocolate raspberry truffle. As you can see from the picture of the wrapper, it didn't last long! Yum!

Florence, KS

These are pictures from Florence UMC. The pastor, Moon-Hee is Korean and is so sweet. She and the children's coordinator, Sara were our go-to people, and we so enjoyed their company.

I didn't get a picture of the outside of the building. Since I didn't have my camera until mid-week, I just never got the chance. These are pictures of our set and the decorations the church put together. The second picture shows menus made by some of the kids in the church before we came. The were too cute!

Because of scheduling, we didn't end up staying with hosts in Florence but instead commuted from Salina each day. It was about an hour's drive, but it worked out just fine.

The children in the church really touched us. It was an emotional, but wonderful week. A lot of ministry was done. It was a real reminder of why we do what we do. VBS makes a difference in the lives of these children and their families.

Florence Stats:

-Population: 400

-Total VBS Enrollment: 27

-Sunday Lunch: Yummy Church Potluck

-Most Happenin' Place in Town: Florence Swimming Pool



Fort Larned

These pictures came from Fort Larned. They are the only ones I was able to take because my camera ran out of battery JUST after I took the one in front the of big National Historic Site sign. As it turned out, I left my charger in Coldwater and had to have it mailed to Salina. What a pain! Thanks to the Merritts, though, I was back in business before I knew it!

The Fort was only active about 19 years around the time of the Civil War. There were 4 re-enactors on duty that day, which was fun to see. The second to last picture is of a blacksmith, who made a wall hook for one of the visitors who was watching like we were. The last picture is of the bunkhouse. What we would consider slightly wider bunk beds would sleep 4 grown men! Visiting Fort Larned made me very thankful for our modern conveniences!

Coldwater, KS

This is Coldwater UMC. The pastor is Gary Merritt, who along with his wife Cindy were kind enough to put up with our team hanging out in their house nearly 24/7. If you look at the picture of our set, you'll notice the tape on the floor. The duct tape was to keep the children away from the beam of the projector so we could show everyone the music videos for our songs. The blue painters tape was added later to try to keep our curious little ones from finding out who was behind our raccoon puppet named "Scraps."

Coldwater Stats:

-Population: between 700-900 (depending on who you ask)

-Only place to buy postcards: Comanche Motel

-Day 1 Attendence: 20

-Day 2 Attendence: 40!!!

-Total VBS Enrollment: 51
-Favorite pasttime for the team: Going to Coldwater Lake
-Most Well-Traveled Citizen: Wanda Booth (my fantastic host, who's traveled everywhere!)

Movie Night

The same day we went to the airshow, Chiton and I decided to check out Coldwater's movie theatre. It operates every Satuday and Sunday with an 8pm showing each night. They play current movies, with the same movie shown both nights. I spoke with one of the owners (who was working the concession stand), and she told me that they received a tax credit in order to restore the building. It's beautiful on the inside, with a pressed tin ceiling and stage in front of the screen. There's a balcony, but it was closed the night we went to the show. We saw the cartoon movie "Rio," and had a good time. The theatre was full of mostly kids, but they were all well-behaved. The little girl sitting next to me did spill her whole water bottle on the floor by accident, but thankfully I didn't get wet!

(Thanks, http://signal9.yolasite.com/resources/RioPoster.jpg)

Day at the Airport

(me in the front seat of the helicopter)

These are photos from the airport outside of Coldwater. They had an air show, and I got to ride in a helicopter and a two-seater propeller plane. It was awesome!

The red circle shows the camper Mr. Pat let us borrow. We got to roast marshmallows, go swimming, and use the paddleboat there.

The yellow circle shows the Coldwater UMC.

The pink cicle shows the Comanche County Museum.

The green cicle shows the Comanche Motel, the only place in town to buy postcards!

The orange arrow points to my host, Mrs. Wanda's house, which isn't in the picture. :)

Comanche County Museum

This is a picture in front of the mural outside the Comanche County Museum in Coldwater. It's small but we enjoyed it. It's always neat to see the history of these small communities.

Nice Outfit, Boys!

This was the picture one of our sweet VBS kiddos colored for us. She brought it from home and was so proud of it. Notice how each one of us is labeled, including the boys!

The Big Prank

This picture was taken at the Kansan Pueblo Nuevo restaurant in Greensburg. The boys were hungry so we stopped here on the way out of town. We walked in a little after 9pm and asked if they were still open. The staff told us to come on in, so we did. Later we realized that they actually close at 9pm. Chiton had just gotten a refill on his big glass of Coke when he started telling a story and knocked the ENTIRE cup into Jessica's lap. There was a huge mess so I told the waitress I'd clean it up.

Later, the manager came over and asked for my name. I thought he was mad at us for making them stay late and making such a big mess. As it turns out, they boys told him it was my birthday when I had gone to the bathroom! Soon, all the staff was singing "Happy Birthday" and the manager brought me a big bowl of fried ice cream with whipped cream on top. I was in total shock! The manager scooped up some whipped cream and acted like he was going to feed it to me, but instead put it all over my face! It went all up my nose and everywhere! The whole group was dying laughing!

We took a picture with all of the waitstaff right before they left, and they all hugged me and said Happy Birthday. They were so sweet, I just couldn't break the news that it wasn't my birthday!

(Although, my half birthday is in only 2 days.)

Art Gallery-Greensburg, KS

We stopped here to take a picture because we saw two men standing on top of their car with a tripod. We thought if they were taking a picture of it, it must be something we needed a picture of too! As it turns out this building is an art gallery built by KU architecture students as part of their capstone work. This building was the first in Kansas to receive a LEED certification of platinum. LEED is a rating system for sustainable building practices, and platinum is their highest honor. I was told by the husband of the woman who runs the gallery that Greensburg has 5 buildings with this rating, making it one of the highest cities per capita for such buildings.

The two men standing on their car ended up being from Budget Travel Magazine. I gathered that they were doing a piece on the coolest places to visit in the U.S. They were really nice. You never know who you'll meet!

Meet Greensburg, KS

We stopped in Greensburg on our way back from one of our VBS helper's middle school basketball game in Pratt. We weren't expecting to drive through Greensburg in the daylight so this was a treat. Sadly, the city of Greensburg was nearly destroyed by a tornado several years ago. The amazing thing is that when the city rebuilt, they went to great lengths to build in an eco-friendly and sustainable way.

The historical marker above tells about where the city got its name. I'm standing next to the World's Largest Hand Dug Well, with the water tower in the background. The building housing the museum for the well was completely demolished in the storm, but the posters on the well said that the new building will be finished next summer.

Yum, Yum!

This is one of the many wonderful meals that we've been served for lunch at Coldwater UMC. That's a lot of PB&J!

Wilmore Federated Church

This is Wilmore Federated Church. The community of Wilmore consists of about 50 people. They had an ice cream social for us with REAL homemade ice cream! It was so wonderful! In return, we held a mini talent show. Afterward, all in attendence sang hymns.

The Talent Show Entertainment:

-Chiton: "Hey There Delilah" parody about Samson and Delilah

-Dallas: Ping Pong Ball "magic" trick

-Me: "Mary Had A Little Lamb" on a plastic Dollar General recorder

-Jessica: "Amazing Grace" acapella

-Dallas & Chiton: "Hot Kool-Aid" skit

On the Road Again...

This is a random place we stopped on the way to Coldwater. We didn't have time to go into the museum, but everyone is our group is a sucker for historical markers. According to Chiton, this is the Barbed Wire Capital of the World!