SUMMERS END

"EVEN IF YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT

TRACK, YOU'LL GET RUN OVER

IF YOU JUST SIT THERE".

Will Rogers

     Time has this way of running faster than you are expecting.  The sure sign that Fall is about here is the ads for the new 'hit' TV shows, the messing with the schedule's of the shows you do like, and the ads for the State Fair.

     It also is the realization that all the places that I have wanted to visit in rural Kansas are still unvisited.  Part of the reason on my part is the health challenges that I have been confronting the last two years.  It is getting harder for me to make road trips.  I love the little out of the way cafes and dives that are sometimes the only link for a former town and the ghost town status.

      Hearing on the Kansas Sampler Foundation's Facebook about Mo's closing in Beaver shook me up.  Everyone has the right and sometimes no choice, to retire at some time.  Apparently the hamburgers at Mo's are no more.  I have been so close when traveling the back roads, which is my preferred way, I have always wanted to be able to take that jaunt over to Beaver for the hamburger.  Normally it is when I am going to Bunker Hill or Lucas that I whiz by.  I can understand how frustrating it is for Marci Penner to update her Kansas Travelers guide.  You want all these cool places and experiences for those who will be using the guide for the next decade.  It is so hard to guess what will still be open when the third edition is done.

     I have been wanting to get to Marquette for years. The chance finally came up when the South Central Kansas Tourism Association had it's meeting there.  The frustrating part for me was the pain from the drive took it's toll on me and I never had the chance to get into the Motorcycle Museum.  There was a great antique store that I did not get into.  I did get into the old drug store and the nice people allowed me to use there restroom.  It was a good one, you don't expect that in many old buildings.

     We had a good meal at the Ranch House.  My sandwich was good and the hamburgers looked great.  I will get back sometime and do the things I love to do in small towns.  Even though Marquette just lost their school I think the town spirit will keep this unique community growing.  I am going to try to get up there for the Swedish food festival, but let me serve notice now I will not be trying the Lutefisk.

      Closer to home there is a new steakhouse opened in Attica.  The Crazy Horse, good steaks.