weekend adventures, II

after exploring the refuge my mom tricked me into driving out to a casino. she has a bit of a gambling addiction--thankfully not full blown, i just like to tease her about it. some folks go to movies, shows, blog, etc but she loves to go play bingo and gamble.

we all have our vices so when i finally caught on to her reason for wanting to go to Rulo, NE, i kept driving. it's not very far from here at all and to the horror of both of us there is a rather frightening looking bridge going into Rulo. i doubt my mom will bother to go back.

Rulo is a sad looking town, we drove through it on our way to the casino. i walked in with her but came out to the car after she lost $20. i can't stand to watch her throw her money away. (but i'll let her take me out to dinner, buy a baby gate so our blind Wishbone doesn't fall down the basement stairs, etc) so i went out the car and made a few phone calls--amazingly there was reception! she didn't stay long. (thanks mom!)

afterwards we decided to just take a leisurely drive and we ended up in KS. KS, NE, MO, and IA all come together in these parts. in one of the nearby towns was a sign that said there was a lookout tower from which you could see all 4 states. we drove up the torn up gravel road and found this:

not quite a tower but we were likely looking out over the 4 states.

one of the towns we went through was called Red Cloud and i got a thought that perhaps Hiawatha was close by. in Hiawatha is the Davis Memorial and i decided that i needed to take my mom to see it.

there are 2 stories--one is that Mr. Davis was so hateful that he didn't want his wife's family to get any of her money when she died and so he built a crazy expensive memorial to her and their lives together.

the other story (and the one i subscribe to) is that he was so heartbroken by Mrs. Davis' death that he built a crazy expensive memorial to her and their lives together.

mom was in awe when she saw it. it's hard not to be--which is why i tend to think he must have been heartbroken, otherwise he could have found other ways to squander her inheritence.

i didn't have my camera, so this is what i got w/my cell phone,

it's a bird's nest on inbetween the angel's wings. i don't know why but i found it particularly moving that new life was likely born in this memorial.

in our quest to find Hiawatha, KS we got completely lost. it turns out that we turned away from the town when we were only 5-7 miles away from it! ugh! however, the drive was beautiful and we talked and laughed and i wouldn't want it to be any other way. it was terribly fun and funny!

last--here is a picture of my mom and i. i was getting ready to head out for church and she was preparing for a long drive back to CO. i love you mom! thanks!