Kansas City vs Kansas City

We arrived last Saturday and set up the rig for the week. We found a place for dinner, and once again, acted like old folks as we left for dinner around 4:30pm. It's ok though, it was nice to get back to rest. 

Worlds of Fun is an entertainment complex with more than 235 acres. Not only does it have an amusement park, but also a water park. It is the largest amusement and water park in the Midwest. In 1973, Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman opened the park to the public. Lamar Hunt used to own the Dallas Texans in 1963 and moved them to Kansas City and renamed the team "Kansas City Chiefs. Oceans of Fun, the water park, opened in 1982 and if you buy a ticket to get into the amusement park it is also good for the water park.  

And before you ask, no, I didn't go on this ride.

Hubby put his drone footage on his YouTube Channel if you want to go and check out the park.

Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun

Ridding the Rollercoaster at night. Can you hear the screams?

Missouri welcomed us.

When I went to check in for our site, they already had Halloween decorations up.

Site for the week.

Sunday, we took off around 12:30pm to pick up appetizers and head over to some friends that I haven't seen in probably fifty years. When I was in 5th and 6th grade, we lived in Taft, California next to my grandma and grandpa. Right down the street lived the Duke's. Duke, Ann, Rob, Lane and Melissa. They were very nice people, and it was fun to visit at their house. One day Rob, Lane, some other people, we couldn’t remember, and I were playing football at the park across the street from where we lived; and I was running for a touchdown when Lane tackled me. Well, long story short, I broke my arm. It was so wonderful catching up with them and meeting Lisa, Rob's lovely wife. It really didn't seem like that many years had passed. We talked for over five hours. It was a truly blessed afternoon.

Hubby and Ann in the front. Lisa, Rob and myself in the back.

Monday, I was able to catch up on some laundry, so that was good. It was also the only day I fixed dinner. The rest of the week was full as you will soon see.

Hubby took a beautiful picture of the clouds at the RV Park.

Tuesday, we met up with friends and went out to dinner. Mitzy and I went to high school together in Lemoore, California. She, her husband, Vaughn, and children came to visit us when we lived in Katy, Texas and that was the last time we saw each other. We had a great night, got caught up and time flew by. It is so funny how the years pass so quickly, but the way we were able to visit, it was like no time had passed.

The beautiful sunset as we were driving to dinner.

Here we are.

Fun fact: Mitzy works at Target and one day she met Travis Kelce. 

He needed some help finding something. Let's just 

say Mitzy likes watching football now.

Hubby, Vaughn, Mitzy and myself.

The moon on the way home.

Wednesday, we went out to eat with some of hubby's co-workers. It is funny, they have never met in person, just over work calls. We had a blast and I probably talked too much, but it was a fun night. We did laugh a lot.

Dave, Joy, Jeff, me and hubby.

So, a little more about Tuesday and Wednesday evening. We are staying in Kansas City, Missouri but both nights we went out to eat in Kansas City, Kansas. We didn't step foot in downtown Kansas City, Missouri until Thursday. So, the question is why is there a Kansas City in both states? The origin of modern-day Kansas City, Missouri, dates back to the 1830's, when John McCoy founded the settlement of Westport at what is now Westport Road and Pennsylvania Avenue. McCoy chose this area to open an outfitting store for pioneers on the Santa Fe Trail. 

John McCoy

He then established a river boat landing on the bluffs at the bend in bend of the Missouri River, just two miles north of his settlement. This Westport Landing was connected to the settlement of Westport by road and sparked development in the area.

Westport Landing.

I can't even remember a 3 cent stamp.

A group of 14 investors, including McCoy, formed the Town Company in 1838 to buy up property along the riverfront. This area included Westport Landing and in 1850 was incorporated as the Town of Kansas. City founders derived the name from the Kansas (or Kaw) River which was named for the Kansa Indians. The state of Missouri then incorporated the area as the City of Kansas in 1853 and renamed it Kansas City in 1889. John McCoy’s settlement, the old town of Westport, was annexed by Kansas City, Missouri, on December 2, 1897.

Kansa Indians.

During this time, other settlements were developing across the river on the Kansas side in Wyandotte County. Some of these small towns incorporated as Kansas City, Kansas, in 1872. By naming this town after the growing city on the Missouri side of the state line, city leaders in Kansas were able to capitalize on the success of Kansas City, Missouri. It’s also possible that the people in Wyandotte County felt that they had more right to the name “Kansas City” than the people of Missouri had.

Downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Downtown Kansas City, Kansas.

Today Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, remain two separately incorporated cities but together, along with a several other cities and suburbs, as part of the Kansas City Metropolitan area.

Thursday, we went to the National World War I Museum and Memorial. We didn't have enough time to go through the museum, but we did go up in the memorial tower. Walking up to it, it looked a little intimidating, but going up the elevator and then walking the 45 steps to the top was fine. "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 (NASB). 

The tower is 217 feet tall and at night is lit up with a flame effect. The effect is made with steam and colored lights. The site for the tower was dedicated in 1921 and building began in 1923 and was complete in 1926. It reopened in 2002 after some restoration work.

Memorial Tower

It was so beautiful at the top. I enjoyed walking around the tower and looking at Kansas City. 

Kansas City, Missouri.

Union Station.

The lawn.

Us enjoying the tower.

Our Missouri picture for the map.

The carved Guardian Spirits around the top of the tower are: Honor (northeast), Courage (southeast), Patriotism (southwest), and Sacrifice (northwest).

The Guardian Spirits.

The Sphinxes guarding the south entrance are: Memory, facing the east towards the battlefields of Europe. Memory has its eyes shielded from the horrors of war. Future, faces west away from war towards peace. Future has its eye shielded symbolically to the unknown future.

May we never forget the horrors of war.

May God go before us as He leads us into the future.

The Tower from Union Station.

The Tower at night.

It was a beautiful memorial and I am glad we were able to go. "Keeping it real" as we were planning to go up into the tower the volunteer told us that at this time, they have a wasp infestation as it was wasp mating season. So, knowing me, I thanked the volunteer for letting us know and told him I wouldn't scream. I also had to look up some information about all of this. Hold on to your hat, it is (to me) very strange. There are over 30,000 identified wasp species (who knew), today we will talk about the eastern yellow jacket - Vespula maculifrons. This is an easy to identify wasp due to it black and yellow striped body. This wasp has pestered many picnics and backyard BBQ's, since it loves sweet and sugary foods. The yellow jacket life cycle begins with a fertile queen, who builds a nest and uses stored sperm to create worker wasps. These workers continue building the colony and die off at the end of summer. The life cycle continues with newly created queens hibernating through the winter to start the life cycle again the following spring. 

The Yellow Jacket. "Anger is as a stone cast into a wasp's nest." Pope Paul VI

Around the end of the summer, the queen starts to run out of that stored sperm and she needs to find males to mate with. So, she stops laying eggs that are becoming unfertilized females and starts laying special eggs that will become new queens and young males. These young males are laser-focused on finding the new queens. After the males mate with new queens, they die off in a process known as suicidal reproduction - yikes.

Eggs, nest and wasps.

Friday, we went out to dinner and then to a movie, Nelly Don. It wasn't hubby's style of movie, but we traded out lunch at Whataburger for him and a musical for me. It happened right here in Kansas City, and it was full of scandal. She was kidnapped by the Mob, had a child out of wedlock and then adopted him, and she shattered many glass ceilings. She basically created/invented the house dress. Nelly Don Inc. was a clothing manufacturer and distributor from 1956 to 1978. It was founded by Nell Quinlan Donnelly Reed in 1916 as a brand of the Donnelly Garment Company. The Donnelly Garment Company was renamed to Nelly Don after the founder retired and sold her interest in the company.

Logo created in 1921

Nelly Don

The company was headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri and had additional factories in that state. During World War II it designed the pattern for and made many of the uniforms for women in the military and factories and made all of the underwear for men in the US military.

Apron Dresses, 1922

Nelly Don and co-workers.

Dresses from the 1940's and 1950's.

Nelly Don manufactured 75 million dresses from 1916 to 1978 making it the largest dress manufacturer of the 20th century. They were one of the first companies to apply assembly line techniques to clothing manufacturing. It was reported that she only had to dismiss one employee in the entire history of the company.

By 1947, the company employed over 1,000 people, the majority of which were women. Due to favorable working conditions, nearly 400 individuals worked for the company over 20 years.

After the sale of the company in 1956, the brand declined in popularity over the next 20 years and ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 1978.

Dinner before the movie.

Nelly Don and me.

Nelly Don.

Saturday, we headed to Wellington, Kansas to spend one night. That was our 48th state. I will show you pictures on the next blog.

Today, we head out to Wichita Falls, Texas to stay for a week at Jelly Stone Park. Funny to think that this year, we will have stayed in three different Jelly Stone Parks. One in Delaware and two in Texas.

Another new state! Here are the state bird, tree, flower and motto for Missouri.

 
*Missouri: Eastern Bluebird (Bird), Flowering Dogwood (Tree), White Hawthorn Blossom (Flower), " Salus populi suprema lex esto" in Latin it means "Let the good of the people be the supreme law" (Motto). 

The happy couple, Eastern Bluebirds.

Flowering Dogwood.

White Hawthorn Blossom.

If there is something special you would like me to take a picture of, please let me know!
 
Drop a comment for me and let me know your thoughts on the blog.
 
God, the RV & me...