Great Plains Nature Center, Tuesday June 9, 2026 After a late morning, and another nice stretch of time spent at Watermark Books, we headed for the Great Plains Nature Center.  This was a building adjacent to the Parks Department building on Chisholm Creek Park.  Meg had been here before.  She said it was small, but … Continue reading 15 – 2026, May29-June10 – Empire Builder/Chicago/Wichita →

Keeper of the Plains, Wichita KS  - October 2021 Flashback Keeper of the Plains, with the Ring of Fire lit. I can’t believe I haven’t done a post about the Keeper of the Plains.  In 2021 I came out to visit my cousin Meg in Wichita, KS.  One of the first things we did was … Continue reading 14 – 2026, May29-June10 – Empire Builder/Chicago/Wichita →

Exploration Place – The Sedgwick County Science and Discovery Center, Wichita, Kansas – Monday, June 8, 2026 As always, I’ve been enjoying spending time in Wichita with my cousin Meg.  Meg has two large breed rescue dogs.  They are young – 2 and 4.  She does a lot of training with them and has been … Continue reading 13 – 2026, May 29 – June10 – Empire Builder/Chicago/Wichita →

Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, Kansas – Sunday, June 7, 2026 Today started with a bang.  Meg has 2 dogs (Great Pyrenes mix, and a Greyhound).  Both were outside in the backyard when I hear her yelling ‘Leave it!  Leave it!  Leave it!’ with the voice pitch getting progressively louder.  When I look out all looks … Continue reading 12 – 2026, May29-June10, Empire Builder/Chicago/Wichita →

I've been to Wichita a couple of times now to visit my cousin. I like the Midwest. It's beautiful, and has more sky than I'm used to seeing. The gently rolling hills and lack of tall pine trees really open the land up. It has it's own beauty, very different from the Pacific NW. Meg … Continue reading 11 – 2026, May 29 – June 10 – Empire Builder/Chicago/Wichita →

Chicago Buildings The Hilton Hotel I really needed to do a special post on the buildings and architecture in Chicago.  The buildings are nothing short of amazing.  Everyplace you turn there is some kind of detail.  Sunday night, coming in from the Train Station, I just was trying to look everywhere at once.  On the … Continue reading 10 – 2026, May 29-June 10 – Empire Building/Chicago/Wichita →

Chicago Architectural Details I have so many pictures of buildings! I think what was the most interesting about Chicago was that every place you turned around, there was some interesting detail to see. An ornament, a fountain, the shape of a window. While I'm still working on the building post, the following are just several … Continue reading 9 – 2026, May 29th – June 10th – Empire Builder/Chicago/Wichita →

Friday, June 5th, 2026, Chicago It’s 11:15 am, and I’m sitting in the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago’s Union Train Station.  This place is huge!  I had heard that it was spectacular, and it is. I found lots of architectural detail that I would like to draw.  This trip will certainly keep me busy for awhile … Continue reading 8 – 2026, May 29th – June 30th – Empire Builder/Chicago/Wichita →

Skylight in the playroom at Frank Lloyd Wright's Oak Park home. Thursday, June 4th, 2026 – Chicago Today was divided into two distinct parts.  The first was a morning tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park.  The second was a visit to the Lincoln Park Conservatory. We started with Frank … Continue reading 7 – 2026, May 29-June 10 – Empire Builder/Chicago/Wichita →

Wednesday, June 3, 2026 – Chicago We covered a lot of ground today, and now we are tired. We began by catching the hop on hop off bus and riding it through the first part of the route – the Museum Campus and Lakeshore Drive.  Once we crossed the river, we got off at the … Continue reading 6 – 2026, May 29-June 10 – Empire Builder/Chicago/Wichita →