# 72 — Tour the Harley Davidson factory in Kansas City

... CHECK!!!!!


We finally did it! I've been thinking about doing this for EIGHT YEARS and have finally done it. :)

But the down side was we had to wait for about 1.45 hours for our tour. :( They said show up 15 minutes before the tour, but they were all full .... the *trick* is go to early in the morning, but the place is not very near where Erik's parents live ... and due to Erik's later schedule and not being up early, we didn't get there until about mid-day.

If you're interested in information to tour the Harley Factory, CLICK HERE.

My advice is go EARLY so you don't have to wait. It totally stinks that they don't take reservations in advance. It would have been a MUCH better experience if they did.


Erik took over picture taking. It was hot and I was grouchy about having to wait .... so he took a bunch of detail shots. :)















I took this one:

To pass the time, Erik's dad, Vern, headed out to the car to learn how to program the radio. :)



Erik saw and took this shot ... I LOVE IT! Awfully moody + dramatic.

On the road — Manhattan

A few weeks ago, I woke up and suggested to Erik that we go play some disc golf in Manhattan. We'd been wanting to go to Tuttle Creek ... but it just hadn't happened yet.

But Erik was a bit skeptical ... it looked like rain. I checked the weather channel's Web site .... and it wasn't supposed to rain until 4 p.m. We were GOLDEN. Or so we thought.

We were approaching Manhattan when it started raining. OOPS. I lost "wife points" there. So we went to Target, then kicked around the mall ... THEN ate at Coco Bolos. By the time we'd wasted about 2.5 hours, it FINALLY stopped raining.

Yay! Disc golf time. :)

We arrived and this was what we saw:


I lost even MORE "wife points" after we saw it was a marshy mess!!!!!!

I've been known to lose a disc in the water, but fortunately for me, I avoided it .... Erik, on the other hand ... well ....











But we got into a groove:


Well, mostly .... ;)


The biggest change on the course was that they no longer have their red flags, which was too bad. They were SO much easier to spot than the white and purple flags. I know it's Manhattan and all, but .... yeah.

Smoky Hill River Festival 2009

I'm going to break this up into three sections in one post .... so bear with me!

Friends + their kiddos

Erik had a thing about taking photos of our friends' kids ... I admit they're cute and all .... but there are a TON of photos of the kiddlins.

Maybe he's trying to show me up? ;)









The View

About a month ago, Erik and I hit the River Festival (ok all you Wichita people, there are RIVERS other places than JUST Wichita. This is SALINA'S River Festival. Got it?)

We went first about 3 years ago, shortly after we started dating ... and it's been a nice annual event. :) Awesome time to just kick back, listen to some tunes and catch up with friends.


Such as this little fella. He hung out with us for a portion of the afternoon. ;)

I got a big kick out of the Kinsey Sicks. They dressed as 1950s housewives ... and were a barbershop quartet. What a HOOT!

Oh, except for the view.


THIS is what we saw during their Stage II performance. Pft. Thanks boogerheads for standing in our way. Even after someone VERY NICELY asked you to sit down (it wasn't me. I was irritated and couldn't have asked in a "very nice" manner).

Oh, and ps-the person on the right is a dude, and he was wearing the most dangly earrings I've ever seen ... sup with THAT? Oh, and guy on the right, your pants are too low and crack in public is NOT a good thing. :(

But we did get a TINY glimpse (of the crack, we got MORE than a tiny glimpse.) :(

Ok, so Kinsey Sicks ....


More photos to follow!

Erik's perspective

Well, this is Karen and I have no idea what Erik's perspective was, but after a buddy mixed him a few drinks ...


... he was taking photos of everything — and eveyONE in sight ... even if we didn't know them. Um .... embarassing! Or moreso because it was dark and the camera flash was employed.

Um ..... I can't explain most of these, so I'll just let you see a piece of my husband's mind.

If there's an unflattering photo of you below and you want me to remove it, lemme know. Sorry for my husband's insanity.








When the camera was pointed in my direction, I was understandibly NOT amused.


Then I wrestled the camera away from Erik, and he had a good pout.


Then the people behind us were talking .... and of course Erik took THEIR photo, too.


Sheesh.

The new K!!!!

We took a few days to go to Kansas City, see Erik's parents and in general kick back. :)

But of course, we had to go see "The New K" :)

Somehow, I remembered my friend's husband is also a big Royals fan. Soooooo, we opted to get our husbands together for a playdate for our husbands.


(Me, Erin, Paul, Erik)



We got a bit wet taking this photo.


As you can see, Erik just swallowed a lemon before I took this photo .... ;)



Whatever, it was HOOOOT.


Also, on an absolute fluke, we ran into some fellas I used to work with. I knew Brian goes up a few times to see the Royals play ... so I hoped I'd see him there, but you can never be sure.

After Erik and I checked out the New K, we were walking and I saw Ryan and Jimmy. Soooo, we chatted and it was fantastic to see both of them. :)


(Jimmy, me, Brian).

Also, random fact: Erik interviewed in Independence, but opted to not work there .... yet another opportunity for our paths to cross, but they didn't ... it was evidently not the right time and right place for us...