Going to Kansas to see Oklahoma

We went to Wichita, Kansas (the real place) to see "Oklahoma!" (the musical). My lovely niece got the lead as Laurey and the family was thrilled. Happily, we were able to show our support by attending a performance. It became our mini-adventure. Here we are outside the Wichita Art Museum; I'm taking the shot....

Spoiler warning: I should note that there was no knitting on the trip. I didn't have the presence of mind to contact the airlines about bringing knitting needles on board and, I decided, I would give my wrists a break and do something else. I read three mystery novels over the long weekend, including a knitting mystery set at an alpaca ranch in Colorado.

Getting to Wichita: there are no direct flights to Wichita and we had a two-hour layover at the Denver Airport. After the security ordeal at San Francisco's airport, we made sure not to leave the secure zone for passengers. Imagine our delight on discovering that Wolfgang Puck had a cafeteria in the airport. Salads and sandwiches were made to order and were very filling. The other offerings--soup, mac-and-cheese, pasta, or pizza--though cooked ahead were still tasty and comforting to a weary traveler. (In fact, one of our party was looking forward to our return and a chance to eat at Wolfgang's again!)

While there was no knitting, there was a lot of commotion around cats. Our home security cameras have an internet feature so we were able to log on during the trip to check up on the house. We also got a glimpse into the daily lives of our cats. They're comatose most of the time. The highlight was seeing one of them eating at the kitchen feeder. I can't quite believe that we traveled all those hundreds of miles to watch grainy images on a computer of cats sleeping. DOH? Not on a computer screen was the beautiful weather outside. It was hard to imagine that it was still tornado season.

It was very interesting to get a glimpse into the nomadic life of professional actors. The cast was young and from all over the country. They put on a great show. It was rewarding to see my niece mature as an actress and take this step to grow professionally. It was a good opportunity for the extended family to spend time together. We were able to do a number of things in the Wichita area and enjoyed the city. I can even make recommendations. If you're ever in Wichita: have breakfast at the Good Egg, visit the Wichita Art Museum to see the Chihuly glass installation, and go to Riverfest (in mid-May).