I’m Going to Kansas City / Kansas City Here I Come

I’ve seen very little of the United States. My family didn’t travel a lot when I was a kid, so I never acquired the taste for road trips. I love going to new places—especially exotic ones—but most of my travel has included long fly-overs. I’ve seen the Rockies from the air. Russia from the air. A plethora of Pacific islands from the air. Miles of Midwest wheat and corn…from the air.

I couldn’t help wondering, “What’s down there?,” and sometimes, I would think about finding out. Mark and I have had many conversations about day tripping in Ohio, for example, and I’ve talked a good game about getting out there and seeing our state and our country. But it wasn’t until I drove to Florida that I started really getting the itch. I realized the other day that the longest I’ve spent outside of Ohio was my eight-week stay in St. Petersburg, and that seems a little pitiful to me. So this year I’m going to start actually traveling through the country instead of hopping from coast to coast. But where to go first? Why, Kansas City, of course!
A couple things conspired to put Kansas City on the map for us. First and foremost, it’s the home to two friends, Alex and Kristy, from my grad school days. They relocated from Columbus about the time that Mark and I moved into our new home, and we’ve seen them once or twice since then, but not for several years now. I’ve been starved for “academics” conversations like the ones we used to have when they lived in Columbus. Second, but not less important, while Mark and I were talking about a visit to see Kristy and Alex, we got an invitation to the Kansas City wedding of a couple we don’t know. “Yeah,” we thought, “we can go to that, too! It’s kismet!”

Okay, bear with me now; this explanation gets complicated. Our friend, Theresa, met her husband, Gil, when she was at a conference in Kansas City (oddly, around the time that Alex and Kristy were relocating). Gil’s daughter from his first marriage, Gillian, is the bride, but we’ve never met Gillian. However, we think that Theresa and Gil coaxed an invitation for us because Theresa is going to be in a pinchy position. Gil doesn’t have a lot of family, and Theresa doesn’t really know his ex-wife and her family. She’ll be largely on her own, and we think she wanted her Columbus friends to come so that she’d have some company. In addition to Mark and me, our mutual friend, Diane from Galesburg, will be at the wedding, and we’re giddy to be their “dates.”

So we’re going to Kansas City to see Kristy and Alex and to attend the wedding of two strangers. The third reason we picked Kansas City is that it’s pretty much at the outer limit of a one-day drive; we’ll spend ten to twelve hours on the road. The Florida trip taught me that that’s about my limit. (I’m writing as Mark drives, but I won’t be able to post this until we get to the hotel.)

Since we’re driving, we’re also going to take the opportunity to see our friend, Sue, in St. Louis. We met Sue through Galesburg Diane on one of our Thanksgiving New York trips, but unfortuantely, that’s the only time we’ve spent with her. She’s very neat and very fun, and we share an interest in music and literature. It will be great to see her on her home turf when we’re not all bundled up and huddling from building to building to stay out of late November weather. Maybe we’ll be able to get her to come to Columbus, too.

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We’ve arrived at the Drury Inn (very nice) and are heading down to the complimentary bar to meet Theresa and Gil. Here, though, are a few shots I took on the drive. (We were moving, so forgive the shakiness of some.)