Quality Inn Manhattan

I arrived in Manhattan KS on Sunday the 4th. Monday the 5th, we started to work on Custer Hill, which is on Ft. Riley. We are working with the 2nd Brigade which just returned from a year in Iraq. HUA! The first Saturday, I visited my wife's cousin, who lives in the thriving metropolis of Herrington KS. (500 pop.)? The next Saturday we were treating to tailgating at Kansas State, and witnessing them whup up on Texas A&M 62 to 14! This weekend I ...

... So it was on to Colorado Springs, home of the Air Force Academy, the Olympic Center and Pikes Peak. This afternoon, we rode the Pikes Peak Cog Train to an elevation of 14,100 feet. It was 26 degrees on the top and it had just snowed last Monday.

Since we took a bit of a detour, it's time to figure out where to next.

News from Sara:

We got up extra early today and left Manhattan :) for Denver. We ...

... when there is hardly any little towns every 20 miles or so.

We arrived at the Super 8 in Manhattan, KS at 9:20pm, a little tired and weary from the drive but doing ok. Our room was great and there was no smell and the King bed was very good. The next morning there was a Monday U.S.A. Today newspaper under the door (this is a first) and we also could have waffles from the waffle maker in the breakfast room which was very good.

What a day....

Another day to the city that never sleeps, the weather forecast was hectic showers all day. It was so humid and warm with rain showers every couple of hours. We walked though the Lexington Avenue Spring Festival from 42nd Street up to 57th Street. The New York Fairs are held most weekends in different parts of the city. It's just like a huge flea market. We ...

... be queue but didn't think it would be that bad, gosh it was. The queue went half way down the block. We ended up having pizza at another place down Front Street. The pizza was great, not because we were hungry ! Making out way back, we walked through Brooklyn, passing Cadman Plaza Park. This is a massive memorial in the park that honours Brooklynites who served in the World War II and is one of the largest monuments of New York City.

We thought we were going to leave Colorado Springs but that grinding noise in the front end caused us to stop by the Ford repair shop before heading into Kansas. Four hours and four hundred dollars later we had a new carrier bearing for the front axle. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, Linda (Susan's sister) came to our rescue and we all went out to lunch ...

... an 'appetizer' plate of foot-long eggrolls in Salt Lake City, and shao long bao in Shanghai. New Green Bo reigns supreme. That said, my other contention is that the world's best pastrami sandwich can be found at Katz's on E. Houston St. It's a shrine that defines what a deli should be. Most others make the attempt to create the ambiance and flavors that ooze without effort ...

... challenging day! We drove by Kansas City, where "our" Vikings played football yesterday - and lost : ( ... and we drove right by Kansas International Speedway, where the Nextel Cup guys will be racing this coming weekend! Timing is everything, as they say!) Of course we passed through lots of very flat country, reminding of an old poster I had: SKI ...

I was in Manhattan, Kansas and I did see the wheat field swaying in the sun when I was a young man. I also liked piano music... A very long time ago. In a small town called "little apple" for it was also named Manhattan. They took me to a small mound of a hill and proudly told me "on a clear day, you can see all the way to Wichita". All I saw was a flat land golden with ripening ...

... at 4:37, only to find out that it had closed at a very early 4:30. We are talking about a National Park Site so when we say closed we mean really closed, lights out, not an employee in sight to beg to let us in...poor Paul, so many stamps within his reach but no stamps for him. He took it on the chin and we let Abby out to kick around and have a good stretch. Then we were off past Kansas City (no stop) and then on to State #7 of the trip ...