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!