Discoveries of All Kinds

When we started out this trip, we had no idea what we might find along the way.  I had done a little research on the path to take and what me might see, but nothing was set in stone.  To help us choose sites, I had a folder for each day with a map to our goal for the day...usually this meant the next hotel.  Then I wrote on the folder "options for the day" with locations of interest.  Sometimes we would go to these stops and other times we would make discoveries on the fly.

Last fall when we moved to San Antonio, we discovered the Witte Museum (If you are ever in the area, it is great place to visit.) and it cost less for our family to buy a annual membership then pay the entry fee.  I jumped at the chance because not only did it cost less, but it also had a reciprocal museum program throughout the nation.  This came in handy when I was trying to find places to visit.

One such place was The Science City at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri.  On the third day of travel, we drove almost 300 miles with two other stops along the way.  To be quite honest, I did not think much of it...we drive that distance without the blink of an eye in Texas.  However, we had found this amazing museum that would be closing at 5pm, so we hurried ourselves through the rest of the day to get there in time to explore.

We were not disappointed!  It was a great place to run and play with lots of hands-on activities.  The children especially enjoyed the Mr. E. Hotel which was full of illusions.  The sky bike was also interesting.  They even got me to ride a bike that was attached to a wire 20 feet high.  I was scared to death as I do not balance well.  However, they assured my that it was impossible to flip.  I learned going backwards was not as scary as going forwards!

Brendan and Zaira liked playing with the engineering display because there were balls to roll around.  Everyone liked the dinosaur exhibit and the live animals in the nature room.  There were also cute "nerdy" t-shirts in the museum store.

Not all of our discoveries were found in buildings.  We were intrigued by the towns that picked up on painting themed objects.  We have seen this before...painted horses in Kentucky...painted trains in College Station....and even painted tomatoes in Jacksonville, TX.  This is usually a way for some group to raise money for a special project.  Running the roads of the Midwest were no different.

We found painted bison in several states...starting in Oklahoma and then later in Kansas, Missouri, and South Dakota.  The little town of Custer, SD seemed to have the most with one at every corner of the midway.

When we arrived in Tulsa to see my Aunt Peggie, one of the first things she showed us were her photos of the painted penguins.  The local zoo wanted to have a penguin exhibit, so they raised funds by having businesses paint penguins for their front lawns.

Then in Cheyenne, Wyoming we found painted boots.  We are not sure why but maybe it had something to do with all the ranchers roaming the prairie.

We decided Fort Collins, Colorado just likes to paint anything they can get their paint brushes on.  They painted sides of buildings....generator boxes....and then random pianos were found scattered around town just for fun!  It does seem to be an artsy town with a small university.  Also, my mom says it is an up and coming retirement area.

The last painted objects we discovered were back in San Angelo, Texas.  We stopped to go to Mass at the cathedral (hoping to see our friend Bishop Sis) and have a bite to eat before making the final dash for home.  And, there they were...painted rams!

We also discovered a sunken garden with art pieces scattered under bridges and the dips of a park in San Angelo.  Henry told us that he WAS GETTING OUT OF THE VAN for this photo opportunity.  So, the rest of the family enjoyed a playground while he and Michael explored the modern art garden.  They also discovered that our little LEGO guys should not be set up by snapping turtles!

We did enjoy one other discovery center along the way.  We were trying to find a stop between Cheyenne and Estes Park.  I had Michael pull up our trusty list of reciprocating museums, and he found the Ft. Collins Discovery Center.  What a special treasure for our scavenger hunt of fun spots along the way!  We had so much fun!  We only had an hour to explore but two hours would have been a good amount of time to spend in this museum.  Even though you could feasibly see what you needed in a morning or afternoon, it was one of those places the children would beg to go back to often.

The main exhibit the children enjoyed was the sound experiment room.  There was every kind of musical instrument simulator imaginable.  All the children were drawn to the guitars. Henry got to try the trumpet, which was his new interest right before we left for our trip. There were also a few odd sound experiments to try.  One experiment demonstrated how sound can be heard through your teeth by placing your mouth over a metal tube (covered by a throw away straw) that had music played through the interior.  Amanda had me try this without telling me what would happen.  It was definitely a surprise!

There was also an exhibit with all the creatures (past and present) found in Colorado.  Sean especially enjoyed seeing the insect collection.  There was a very interesting blue beetle that I watched for a while as well.  This beetle is actually black but secretes a blue powder when it is in the sun to protect itself.  Would that not be an awesome feature on a hot Texas day?  They also pretend to be dead to avoid being eaten!

Brendan and Zaira  loved the ball run puzzle and the wind wall.  Then there was a little cubby of a room that had a waterfall image that you controlled with round mats.  Brendan found it hard to leave the molecule building puzzle area.

I say the children enjoyed it, but I think the adults enjoyed it as well.  Amanda liked the wind wall also because it sparkled.  (It made me think about Christina with her love of sparkly things!) Amanda also enjoyed the tornado chamber!  Michael was playing along with the children and found it frustrating that there were so many things we did not get to see.  My mom was also seen enjoying the instruments with the children.  And, I just loved watching everyone having fun!  I took as many pictures that I could but it was hard to get them to sit still long enough to not have blurry pictures!


Do you think you have heard it all?  There is so much more!  Tomorrow I will have a post about our time with Laura Ingalls Wilder!