Unusual Thanksgiving Day

We didn't have the traditional Thanksgiving Day. I didn't even fix a turkey.

Our 2 older kids were in Arkansas and Mindy was working, so we went to the Community Thanksgiving Feast, a first for us. A couple churches put this on every year for anyone in the community that doesn't have plans. We went with my parents and Aunt Millie. (I was going to take a picture. Took the camera but forgot the SD card. Oh well.) It was a very good dinner!

Al thought it would be fun to go on a road trip. So we got our binoculars and maps and took off west.

We were surprised how many police were out and about - radaring. Wouldn't that be such a bummer to get a ticket on Thanksgiving??! Where is their heart of compassion on a day that is supposed to be a thankful one anyway? I mean, wouldn't a $200 ticket just rob you of thankfulness? Luckily, Al drove wisely and we didn't get stopped.

Here the sun was just behind the clouds. A very cold, crisp day, but not much breeze or it would have been miserable.

Here was our destination.




"Quivira National Wildlife Refuge is 22,135 acres of prairie grass, saltwater marshes, sand dunes, canals, dikes, and timber. Quivera attracts thousands of migratory waterfowl (including the American white pelican), providing them with food, cover, and a place to rest during exhausting flights between breeding and wintering areas.

During spring migration, Quivira is a staging area for over 500,000 birds. From September to December, up to 1.5 million Canada Geese, Ducks and Sandhill Cranes pass through Quivira on their way to wintering grounds along the Gulf Coast and in Mexico."



There were thousands of ducks migrating this weekend.

Endangered Whooping Cranes were there yesterday. We could only see them from a distance unfortunately. We couldn't get to the other side of the lake.

Blue heron

Prairie dog homes

It was too cold for them - they wouldn't come out to greet us.

We talked as we left Quivera. Wouldn't it be fun to plan a Kansas Day trip once a month? Where should we plan to go? I know we want to go to Gove county and also Barber county. We are open to suggestions for where to go. Kansas is just a state with so much beauty!

We went back to Hutch to grab a bite to eat. We were so surprised to see no restaurants open!! We were getting hungry! Finally we saw that Burger King and IHOP were open. We chose IHOP since we don't have one of those in our town. After a yummy meal, we drove to Pretty Prairie to spend the evening with Al's dad.

It was such a wonderful, although not traditional, Thanksgiving Day.