Saturday, 11-29-97

We got up late as usual. I spent the morning reading the Sunday paper. It was decided we would all go to NuWay’s for lunch. Donna suggested we try the original NuWay on Douglas. When we arrived, the parking lot was full and there was a line of people waiting to be seated. With Donna on crutches, this definitely was not a place for our group to eat. So we drove over to the NuWay near Jim and Donna’s place. This NuWay was also packed full. It was then decided we should go to Chili’s for lunch.

The seven of us took up two booths at Chili’s. Donna was able to prop her splinted leg up on the booth seat. During our time at Chili’s, we had an opportunity to have a nice visit with Michael and Cindy. It has been very nice having Cindy with us on this trip to Wichita. Again, as usual, I ate too much and came away stuffed.

From Chili’s we headed out for a visit to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Museum in Hutchinson. The road we took had been under construction when we visited last Spring, but now the completed highway is probably the smoothest road surface on which I’ve driven.

As we were driving by the big grain elevators in Hutchinson, I was about to point them out to Cindy when I noticed both she and Michael had fallen asleep. They were awake a few minutes later as we approached the Cosmosphere, but too late to see the grain elevators.

In the Cosmosphere there were more articles on display than when we visited last Spring. The Apollo 13 display is still under construction, but we could see more Apollo 13 stuff than during our last visit.

Maury in front of a Lunar Lander

We didn’t see much of Jim and Donna at the Cosmosphere. Donna was in a wheelchair and Jim had to use the handicapped ramps and elevator to get her through the building. As a result our paths did not cross much during our tour. We finished with our usual trip to the gift shop. I always enjoy seeing all the scientific toys and space goodies. As we left, I took a picture of the Cosmosphere from across the street.

The Kansas Cosmosphere

On the way out of town, Cindy finally was able to see the "World's Longest Grain Elevator." I think she was underwhelmed by the site.

When we got back home, I called my mother to see if she and Lana could come over. My mother said that she wasn’t feeling up to it and she informed me that my sister Lana was ill.

Michael and Cindy

Michael showed slides of his trip across France last summer (1997). He sure took a lot of very nice pictures on his trip.

After the slide show we still had some time left, so Kay and I went to an old fashioned bowling alley to watch Jim bowl for a while. Steven was with us and while we were there he decided he wanted to bowl. So I took him home to get his bowling equipment. I say equipment because he brought a big bag full of stuff. The bag must have weighed almost as much as he weighs.

We stayed a while longer, but I finally succumbed to the heavy level of smoke in the air. I also was getting tired from our day of activities. We went home and retired for the night.