So I have been looking forward to our next stop on this trip since we started out. We’re heading up the road a short ways, to Wichita, Kansas, to spend a few days with my childhood friend Isabel and her husband Bill. It’s been more than 30 years since we’ve seen each other in person. Pretty excited!

Once we got Wanda 2 settled in the driveway – she is much bigger than the usual occupants and had to back in carefully to avoid the carport’s roof – we had the evening for cocktails, dinner and catching up.

It’s a rare a wonderful gift to have a friend who has been with you all or most of your life. Isabel and I were born around the corner from each other in a cozy small-town neighborhood in Connecticut; my mother used to tell me that she and Isabel’s mother would meet up walking their daughters around the block. Before we started school, my family moved to another part of town, so Isabel and I didn’t attend elementary school together. But we did cross paths once in a while through Girl Scout activities. When we started what was then called junior high school, we found ourselves in the same classes. We both joined the band and played trombone, we continued in Scouting together when our troops merged, we both taught ourselves to play guitar and played and sang in a quartet (this was a big thing to do back in the 60’s). Life took us in different directions after high school was over, and there were gaps in our contact, but we always managed to pick up where we left off. I was completely enjoying reminiscing and filling in some of the details I had missed out on over time. It ended up being a pretty late night.

On the Town

The next day Isabel took us out to see the sights of Wichita. We began by meeting the Keeper of the Plains, an iconic sculpture of a Native American guarding the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers downtown.

For something entirely different, we hunted down the Wichita Troll who lives in a storm drain on the riverfront walk that accesses the Keeper of the Plains. The sculpture is almost impossible to see during the day, but at night it’s illuminated by a sickly green light that plays up its grotesque appearance. We never did get back to see it lit up, but the daytime view was quite a surprise, and hard to capture in a photo.

Another local treasure that we visited was the Nifty Nuthouse. Yes, a store full of nuts (the edible kind), treats made from nuts, and all manner of old fashioned candy. We came away well-supplied for our future travels! Still working through it!

Eventually we arrived back home to walk the dogs – Isabel and Bill’s Siberian Husky named Sadie, and Gracie – around the neighborhood, and have dinner with Bill, who had arrived home from work. (Hasn’t shown an interest in retiring yet …).

Making music

Isabel belongs to a viola da gamba consort, and invited me to play harpsichord with the group during their weekly rehearsal. I had a blast, having been a long time since I played a harpsichord at all, let alone with a group of fine musicians! We worked our way through a delightful suite of dances by the French baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, which we came back to again having enjoyed it so much the first time through. I hope I get invited back on my next visit!

Cosmosphere

One day of our visit included a trip to the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas. This museum, devoted to the history of the US Space program and the history of rocketry in the 20th century, is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. It has a fascinating history itself, starting out as one woman’s project to create a planetarium in the poultry exhibition barn on the Kansas State Fairgrounds. If that doesn’t sound unlikely enough, visit the link above and follow the complete story in the “About” section. It’s amazing!

One of the most compelling parts of the museum to me was the series of exhibits telling the story of the development of rocketry. It was chilling to realize how much Hitler’s war effort invested in the development of unmanned rockets used to launch destruction on enemy targets, particularly in England. And the role that forced labor played in the construction of these weapons.

After World War 2 ended, there was a race between the US and USSR to obtain people, documentation, and actual weapons from Germany’s rocketry program to support research in the respective countries. It was quite ironic to discover that the foundation of the American space program was built on technologies first developed by the Nazis.

The history of the space race between America and Russia is well represented by the museum. Those of us who lived through those years, and the Cold War tensions that went with them, remember the setbacks the American program experienced as the Russians launched the first satellite, sent the first dog and the first man into space. Yet the museum reminds us that the American program eventually achieved success, sending manned vehicles into orbit and eventually to the moon.

The Cosmosphere proudly displays two panels from the Berlin Wall, dismantled in 1989. These celebrate the role that the space program played in ending the Cold War.

Our visit to the Cosmosphere concluded with these inspiring artworks.

Touring the neighborhood

Isabel and Bill live on the edge of Eastborough, a city, or enclave, within the City of Wichita. It offered us fine opportunities to walk our dogs and admire the scenery. The neighborhood was mostly developed for an earlier generation of business leaders in the community, and it has a lot of interesting architecture. The pathway that wends through it has been partially restored recently, and was coming to life with spring blooms and wildlife. Very pleasant walks!

Cocktail hour

At the end of the day, it was nice to relax on the deck with something cool to drink and a few noshes. The lap sitters were not drinking!

One more day

The wind kicked up a ruckus the day we were planning to move on to our next stop, giving us the gift of another day with Isabel. She had plans to meet a friend for lunch so we tagged along. Maria is a colleague from Isabel’s working days. We had lunch and good conversation at a very good Thai restaurant, and then a tour around Wichita State University’s campus, where Maria works for Bill (for just a short while longer – retirement beckons!).

Tea lovers all, we made a stop at The Spice Merchant on our way back home. This has to be one of the most extensive inventories of tea I’ve seen. We ended up adding to our stash of tea for the road, along with a few other goodies.

And then the next day we said goodbye to Isabel and Bill, and many thanks for such a great visit! We hope we can do it again much sooner rather than later!

❤️