Memorial Day Rails to Trails Ride

Pat Daddy • June 17, 2023

8 Friends Peddling Through the Heartland

                                Saturday Morning stocking up with bike supplies at Backroads Bicycle in Marysville

The idea came to me during the doldrums of winter.  While MLW and I reminisced about our bike trips, the snow and cold fell outdoors and it seemed as if bike riding season would never return. It was then I began searching various maps and websites for a two-day Rails to Trails ride which we could do over Memorial Day weekend. If you are unfamiliar with Rails to Trails it is an ever-increasing network of multi-use trails which are made by converting abandoned rail lines and spurs all over the nation.


While searching the trail maps, I found three connecting trails which travel from Marysville Kansas to Lincoln Nebraska. The three trails: the Blue River Trail, the Chief Standing Bear Trail and the Homestead Trail are all on the same former rail bed and travel roughly 90 miles between Marysville and Lincoln with the town of Beatrice Nebraska just about in the exact center. This would make the daily ride about 40 to 45 miles a day, a perfect ride for Memorial Day weekend.


Next came the logistics.  We would need places to stay, the first in Marysville for the night before the ride, the second in Beatrice after riding half the trail and of course then in Lincoln after finishing the trail. I also needed to resolve the challenge of how to get our vehicles to the end of the trail . Thankfully Kristi  gathered up, or rather coerced, five of her relatives to come down to Marysville and drive our vehicles up to Lincoln on Friday night.


Friday morning May 26th dawned cool and clear here in the Castle Rock area.  Our group consisted of four couples: Michael and Angie, Stephanie and Dave, Kristi and Steve and of course MLW and I. Kristi and Steve had to leave a bit after us, so the three couples remaining met in Franktown on Friday morning to begin the drive to Marysville. We took Hwy 86 out to Limon Colorado and then went east on I-70.  At Colby, KS we left I-70 and went northeast on Hwy 83 ultimately ending up on Hwy 36 which travels east and west along the north edge of Kansas.



Lunch was found at the Town and Country Diner in Norton, KS.  This local gem is nothing special to look at, but serves up delicious food at reasonable prices.  When we arrived the late lunch crowd was there, a mix of older folks and farmers.  While we were surely the outsiders here for lunch, the hospitality was warm and welcoming.  After a great lunch and a quick stop for gas we were back on the road.  Three hours later we’d arrive in Marysville.


Marysville Kansas is a small town of about 3,000 people. When we arrived there the temperature was still in the low 80s and the warmth felt wonderful as we had not yet had temps in the '80s at home. Our lodging, Trails End Suites are three units each of which is a two-bedroom suite with a kitchen and living area. They are strategically placed at the beginning of the trail. The layout and rooms cater to bicyclists. The back of the property has two lovely decks,  an upper and a lower, that give you some privacy and a great place to store your bicycle.


After settling in we had dinner at the Wagon Wheel restaurant. It was there that we would meet our drivers coming to take our vehicles. After a nice dinner we handed our keys to our drivers and watched our vehicles being driven away to Lincoln. For me, that is a part of the trip I look forward to. It's then that you realize you are reliant on yourself and your bicycle to arrive at all the destinations on your trip.


We walked back to the Trails End Suites and on the way we started taking pictures with Marysville's black squirrel statues. There are 50 of them spread out in the town, each custom painted by it’s sponsor. Marysville has resident black squirrels. As local folklore goes, in 1912 a visiting carnival came to Marysville and one of the side show attractions was a large cage of black squirrels. A young boy felt that the squirrels needed to be released from the cage and did so. The squirrels that were not caught then flourished in this small town.


We arrived back at the Trails End Suites and our group got together for a game of cards. After one game it was time to turn in for the night. The beds were quite comfortable as the eight of us fell fast asleep.  We awoke Saturday morning and rode our bicycles a few blocks to the Empty Cup. The Empty Cup is a coffee shop and café with a full breakfast menu. The eight of us enjoyed our breakfast and then headed over to the bike shop in town.


Backroad Bicycles is run by Mark and Renee Hoffman in downtown Marysville and is located right near the bike trail. I had contacted Mark several weeks before when it looked like our plans to move our vehicles to Lincoln were falling through. Mark was extremely helpful and then followed up a week later to see if we still needed help moving vehicles. I explained we did find drivers and then said we would see him on Saturday. On Friday evening my phone rang again. It was Mark making sure that we had arrived safely and checking if we had everything we needed.


 Backroad Bicycles is a full service bicycle shop. Mark was able to supply us with last minute bike supplies as well as he has an array of T-shirts and jerseys. Our crew loaded up on supplies and t-shirts while Mark gave us the latest trail conditions and a summary of what to expect on our ride. After loading up and checking out of our rooms, we took a few more squirrel pictures, well more than a few, then a quick stop for some air and to thank Mark at the bike shop and we were off. As we left Marysville, more than one rider in our group remarked about the welcoming people of Maryville, it’s clean and quaint streets and a sense of civic pride that was palpable.

Nebraska, here we come.  The Blue River trail is 11.7 miles long as it travels north to the Kansas/Nebraska border.  It is well marked and has mileposts every ½ mile.  MLW and I started a tradition where we ring our bells at each mile marker, celebrating another mile completed and one closer to our celebratory beer at the end of the rail.  The temperatures started in the mid 60’s that morning an approached the low 80’s.  The humidity was not high and there was a slight breeze going north.  Perfect conditions.


The trail wove along the Blue River, sometimes right next to it, sometimes not. After 11.7 miles you cross into Nebraska and the Trail name changes to the Chief Standing Bear Trail. There are 4 rest stops along the two trails as they weave their way to Beatrice.  All four have pit toilets, the middle two have potable water. 


Shortly after you cross into Nebraska you come to the Town of Barneston.  There is one restaurant and bar in Barneston and while we hoped we could get some lunch, it was closed.  The next two towns were Wymore and Blue Springs.  The several mile side trip into Blue Springs was determined by the group to not be worth the extra miles so our lunch that day consisted of our energy bars and treats we had packed on our bikes. The trail was often covered by a tree canopy near the river and as you moved away front he river you could see the green landscape of  early season crops.

 

We pushed onto Beatrice and arrived about 3 pm.  The trail conveniently comes out on the main east-west street, Court street and 3rd Street where the Stone Hollow Brewery is located. It is tradition to stop for a celebratory beer upon arrival at our destination.  They had a great selection of good beer, the overall favorite of our crew was their pickle ale, served with dill pickle in it.  After a rest, we pressed on north a few miles to the Holiday Inn where we would spend the night.


Lodging was a bit of a challenge in Beatrice.  I could not find any B&B’s, nor VRBO’s and the majority of the hotels are on the north edge of town by the airport.  Reading their online reviews I could not readily find one with consistent reviews but the Holiday Inn, which also was the most expensive.  To get there we followed the trail through town and exited on Sergant street, rode a ¼ mile west to North 6th Street which is also Hwy 77. We could not get to the hotel on frontage roads and spent about ¼ mile on Hwy 77.


The holiday Inn was nice, relatively new, clean and nicely appointed.  After a cleanup and rest our crew was ready for dinner.  The front desk person knew of no in-town transport.  No Uber, No lift, no taxis, and no hotel shuttle.  Our destination there was La Herradura Mexican grill. Just under a mile from our hotel, we decided since adult beverages were going to be involved, riding on HWY 77 was not an option so we walked.  Once in the restaurant, they let us know there was a cab in town.  We were seated and enjoyed a fun filled dinner.  After dinner we ordered the one and only cab in Beatrice.  A 7 person minivan arrived driven by a highly spirited driver in need of a shower.  We piled in, putting Dave in the cargo area and me straddling two seats for the 1 mile ride back to the hotel.

Sunday dawned sunny and perfect again with a breeze from the south.  After a nice breakfast at the hotel we loaded up our bikes and headed south on N. 6th street to the Walmart.  We knew there were no restaurants near the trail today, so we loaded up to make sure we all had a lunch.  We also learned there’s a very nice shoulder on the west side of N. 6th street. From Walmart, frontage roads took us back to Sergant street and back to the trail. In Beatrice the trail name had changed to the Homestead Trail and it would take us north to the southern outskirts of Lincoln.


Courtland, NE would be out midpoint that day.  As you approach Courtland the trail parallels Hwy 77.  In Cortland we found two minimart gas stations, across the highway, that were more than equipped to provide us with lunch foods.  A block behind the minimarts is the town park and community center which was a great place to rest, enjoy lunch and it had clean bathrooms to use.  After a nice rest we again crossed Hwy 77 and rejoined the trail. The trail follows Hwy 77 until Pickerel, NE where it begins to make a north easterly turn away from the noise of the highway. At this point we were getting close to the end of the Homestead Trail.


The Homestead Trail ends at Saltillo Rd and becomes the Jamaica Trail. From the Jamaica trailhead you are 1.3 miles from Corn Coast Brewery and your end of trail beer.  We traveled north on the trail until it intersected with S.14th street.  Turned right on 14th and a ½ mile ride on this road without much of a shoulder, brought us to the brewery. Another fine selection of brews, a short rest, and it was time to get to our lodging for the night, the Roger's House Bed and Breakfast.


Getting back on South 14th got us back on the trail and it was then I had to change the only flat tire of the trip and it was mine.  A quick tire change and removal of a goat head sticker from the tire and up the Jamaica Trail we went for just a bit less than a mile to where we switched onto the Rock Island Trail. This would take us on a slow arc from going northeast to a little northwest where it stopped at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo.  From there the Roger's House B&B was only 5 blocks away.


We arrived at the beautiful B&B and were met by Kevin one of our hosts.  He showed us to our rooms in this beautiful former mansion.  We were sad to learn it’s days as a B&B were numbered as it had been sold and would be a private residence in the fall.  Nonetheless the home was beautiful and the rooms well appointed.  Dinner was in the Haymaker District of Lincoln that night.


In the morning our host made us a wonderful breakfast in the east sunroom of the home. It was there we had our last conversations.  David and Stephanie had to leave before breakfast, Kristi and Steve would be staying in Lincoln and Mike and Angie would be our caravanning buddies on the way back home.  As we packed up the bikes and our gear, we chatted with Kevin and Mel our hosts.  We loaded up and all headed our separate ways.  We had a weekend of funny memories, many laughs, new places explored, new people met, and friendships expanded.  Which is why we love these kinds of rides.

If You Go:

Trails End Suites:  805 Jackson Street, Marysville, KS.  Nic and Sarah Stoll 785 713 6106

Backroads Bicycle, 706 Broadway, Marysville, KS.  Mark and Renee Hoffman 785 562 7163

The Wagon Wheel Restaurant, 703 Broadway, Marysville, KS. 785 562 3784

Empty Cup aka Toledo's Coffee and Deli, 723 Broadway, Marysville, KS  785 562 3354

Stone Hollow Brewery, 301 Court Street, Beatrice, NE. 402 806 4664

Holiday Inn & Suites, 4005 N. 6th Street, Beatrice, NE. 402 288 7000

La Herradura Mexican Restaurant, 590 Sergant Street, Beatrice, NE. 402 806 4145

Corn Coast Brewery, 1433 Dahlberg Dr., Lincoln, NE 402 413 2288

Roger's House Bed and Breakfast, 2145 B Street, Lincoln, NE. Kevin and Mel, 402 276 6961

The Very Human Eulogy

By Pat Daddy • May 9, 2026
Last Thursday I went to a celebration of life for a friend's husband. While I didn’t know her husband, I had worked with my friend for close to 25 years. I didn't know what I was going to hear that morning, but what I did hear was a tribute to a very human, human being. Our departed, a man who in the end fought a terminal illness, was only about 67 years old. He had a hard life. I don’t know the details and I don’t need that much detail to understand. What we would all learn was his early life changed dramatically and he was adopted before he was 5 years old. He didn’t grow up in a perfect home, he grew up and put up walls, the kind that protect you, but later, also help to alienate you. He served as a Marine for 4 years and that experience left both good and bad imprints on his life. He lived life hard, and was as hard on the people around him until about 15 years ago. It was then he realized he was far from a good father, and friend. When his daughter had a little girl, he worked harder to make those amends. He reconciled with his family, became a grandpa that his granddaughter loved. As he made those amends, he became again a member of his own family. This is not a unique story, but I found his service very unique because instead of sugar-coating this troubled life that had its bouts with substance abuse, it was real, a bit raw, but amazingly beautiful. The service was basically secular, the eulogist came from the funeral home. But the eulogist was amazingly raw and told of the decedent 's life troubles with an honesty I ‘ve never heard before. His delivery walked the fine line of talking about a man, but not judging him. Giving you just enough to understand that a human life comes with baggage, some you’re given, some you collect, but in the end, you can let go of that baggage if you truly want to. The speakers, his daughter, son and granddaughter all had a common theme, he was annoying, but we loved him. During the open mic, his brother in law got up and talked about how much he disliked him when he first met him, but he was a better man when he made the transformation from A**hole to Recovering A**hole. As the eulogist wrapped things up, he pointed to all the work the decedent did to make amends, and then used that as a reminder that the sooner we start making peace with our past the fewer amends we have to make. It was a beautiful service. Beautifully human, beautifully real and a beautiful reminder that we all walk a different path for many reasons, but we all can be loved, missed, and a gift to others. And it really can be a compliment to be called a recovering a**hole.

Showing Up

By Pat Daddy • May 1, 2026
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to show up. Showing up for someone is probably one of the most overlooked—and most important—things we can do for one another. This idea really came into focus a few months ago. A longtime friend found out that I was studying to become a Stephen Minister. He asked if there would be some kind of commissioning service. I told him yes—on the Sunday after Easter at 9:00 a.m. “I’ll be there,” he said. I must have looked a little surprised, because he added, “That’s something important in your life. It means a lot when people show up to experience it with you. I want to be there.” Before I could chalk that up as just one friend’s thoughtful quirk, our friends Michael and Angie heard about the commissioning and said the same thing: “We’ll be there.” I hadn’t thought much about it before, but knowing that friends were planning to attend made me unexpectedly happy. As we made final preparations for a brunch at our home afterward, my wife and I looked at each other and said, “Maybe we should invite a few more people.” Even with short notice, five more people came—beyond my immediate family. Then, just days before the commissioning, the idea of “showing up” took on even more meaning. That Friday, our youngest son, Smooch, was being sworn into the Colorado Air National Guard. The support he received from our friends Angie and Michael was incredible. When we learned that, as retired military, they could actually perform the swearing-in ceremony, it became yet another moment of people saying, “I’ll be there”—and meaning it. When we gathered at Buckley Space Force Base that day, there was his brother and sister-in-law and niece, who had taken time off work. My wife and I were there, of course, along with my brother, who came across town. And Angie and Michael had arranged their schedules not only to attend, but to play a meaningful role in marking the beginning of this new chapter in our son’s life. I’ll admit, I feel a little embarrassed. I’ve always tried to support people by attending important moments, but I never fully appreciated the power of simply showing up. But when I really think about it, giving someone your time and attention—especially when it costs you something, like rearranged schedules or time away from other responsibilities—is no small thing. The gift of presence may be one of the most meaningful gifts we can offer. I guess the best way to close this is with a thank you, to all of you who show up and support all the members of our family. You being there, your presence in our lives, makes us better,

1st Trip in the New Camper

By Pat Daddy • April 14, 2026
After three weeks of setting up the new camper we finally decided to go out and give it a try We left on Thursday afternoon and headed down to Pueblo State Park. The City of Pueblo is about 90 miles from our house and we were able to make the drive in the afternoon and get through Colorado Springs before rush hour. As we neared Colorado Springs, we saw what appeared to be a wildfire and as we looked it up it was a fire on Ft Carson. It didn't impact our trip but was a stark reminder that our warm dry winter had consequences. Once we arrived at the campground we took our time setting things up. I've seen too many people in a hurry break things on their camper because they were in a rush. Also it was near 90 degrees! Pretty hot for the first day of Spring. Even taking our time, we were set up in a short amount of time. There are a number of things that change when you get a new camper. First you clean out the former one and you are hit with memory after memory. We specifically saved things from our trips, so our 2002 trip to Southern Illinois for family reunion and the cups from Steak and Shake that were still in the camper. The black eyed Pea kids cup with a lid and straw. Games we only played in the camper. The memories were thick and in our minds our two little boys were giggling in their bed. Many of those same things made it in to the new camper, it made it feel like home even though we were still getting used to it. Chat GPT has been my best friend since we got the camper. Since we did not buy it from Jayco dealer, we didn't get the detailed walk-through and use lesson. So as we had questions like: how to turn on the oven, or how the get the air conditioner thermostat to run, we turned to ChatGPT. In each case a picture of what I was working on and a description to Chat GPT and I got my lesson on how to use this and that. On our first night we decided to see how we liked the recliners and the TV. We used the antenna for a bit but quickly switched over to Kay's phone's hotspot and we watched Paramount plus and started to catch up on some series we fell behind in. That was nice. The night had cooled off an a nice breeze was blowing through the camper as we sat in our recliners. Now we did play some cards that night which is a camping tradition, but MLW beat me terribly at a game of rummy, so the TV was a nice change. On Friday we both had to work. As anticipated, the dining table and the recliners with their lap desks were great places to work from. Having the ability to turn on the air conditioning as the heat got up into the 90's again was very nice. We both were quite comfortable and got quite a bit of work done. When we called it a day we were out on the lake while the other campers pulled in and set up. We had reservations until Sunday at noon, but home obligations called, so we played all day on Saturday and then at 5 we packed up, got on the road before 6 and were home by 7:30. But Saturday included a longer mountain bike ride than we'd had on Friday and some more fun in our kayaks on the lake. While we were on the lake we had some excitement as we got to watch the water tankers that were fighting the fire come across the lake picking up water. Once they came in and we were on the opposite side of the lake but in their path. MLW yelled, are we going to die, I responded I hope not and as soon the worry came, it dissipated as the water tankers pulled up and turned toward the fire. I all we had a great trip and can't wait until we get it out again in late April, when we'll return to Pueblo again, this time with our friends the Colonels.

From Texas with a Camper. Part II

By Pat Daddy • February 21, 2026
We awoke Monday morning and prepared to go see the camper. Freedom RV was 38 minutes from our hotel between the towns of Bonham and Dodd City. We got a little worried when Waze our direction app, took the last two miles of our trip and wove us through a quasi neighborhood of acreage properties, some pretty , some not. But we popped out onto another main road and there was Freedom RV. We pulled up and the owner was working on a small trailer and like everyone there, knew we were coming. We met Brenton our sales guy and while he showed us the trailer, the owner hooked up our weight distributing hitch. Brenton showed us around the camper, but they are not a Jayco dealer so there were a few things I taught him that I learned from my reading. But in all the trailer was in great shape. So after about an hour of poking around, we went inside and purchased it. At about 12:30 we pulled off their lot and headed to Amarillo where we's stay the night. Going from a 19' pop up that you can see over and tracks exactly with your vehicle and going to a 26' hard side was a big change. The Ford pulled it great. It has a towing setting that you put the info from the trailer into and then once you switch the transmission to heavy towing, it's amazing. The other thing the dealer got me ready for was the noise a weight distributing hitch makes. At slow speeds it pops and groan worse than aunt Betty getting out of bed at the home. About 39 miles down the road we stopped and got some lunch. The highway was more full than it had been on Sunday and to make matters a bit more challenging the wind started up. So down the road we went with a 30 mph+ cross wind. Even in these conditions the trailer pulled well, but there was a learning curve. Also where I usually drive about 5 mph over the limit, now I was driving 5 under the limit. The wind didn't let up and we finally got to Amarillo about and hour later than we anticipated. Our camping reservation was at the Big Texan RV park, just a mile away from the big Texan Steak House where you can try to eat their 72 oz steak. We pulled in and found our site. Hooking up was easy, but this was my first time unhooking a weight distributing hitch. The dealer explained what to do and after a try or two it actually worked! We had the trailer set up and we needed a quick run to Walmart and to get dinner. We decided instead of going to the Big Texan for dinner we'd eat in camper. So off we went. At Walmart I bought an extension mirror to make my rear view a bit better. We bought breakfast food for the morning and some beer to go with dinner. Then it was off to get dinner. At the urging of son #2, Smooch, who reasoned, you're in Texas, you have to eat at Buc-ee's! So 2 exits down I-40, gleaming in the glow of fluorescent light was Buc-ee's. It's 108 fuel pumps beckoning low gas tanks and it's brisket beckoning low stomachs. So in we went and we came out with our three-meat sandwiches, sides and some dessert. The back to the Big Texan to have dinner in our new camper. Colin was right, with a cold beer and a hot Buc-ee's sandwich, we were in camping red-neck heaven. In The morning we ate breakfast and packed up quickly. But the wind was already ramping up. As we drove toward the Texas/New Mexico border, the wind got stronger. A few times we would cross a semi coming the other direction and the wind wall it created was intense. One I hit I watched my hood almost ripple under the intense pressure of the wall of wind. It makes you start to appreciate what a trailer goes through in it's life. It's like a house that undergoes a several hour earthquake every time you use it. One we got onto highway 87 after the town of Hartley, we were on a 4 lane highway. The wind kept getting stronger but it seemed manageable, but as we closed in on the town of Texline, yes the town on the state line, we drove into a dust storm. Buffeted by the winds and the tumble weeds were now traveling in herds. At this point the wind reached a speed where it got scary. Plus you have to remember while we getting hit by winds of almost 50 mph, we're also traveling at 60-ish mph. so that earthquake your trailer is going through has now added at times, hurricane wind pressures with the two speeds of the wind and your traveling speed colliding. So in Texline we pulled over and snuggled up between two parked semis at the only truck stop in Texline. We pulled out our computers, moved into the camper and did some work. We sat in Texline for about 2.5 hours and the wind continued to buffet us and pelt the truck and camper with sand. Texline has little other commerce, so even though the wind was blowing hard, we pulled out of Texline to make the 18 miles to Clayton, NM a larger town. We white knuckled it to Clayton. There we found a nicer newer truck stop, some lunch and a place to park where we were still buffeted by wind but no sand. By this point I was watching the wind forecast for Clayton, Raton, NM and into Colorado. Earlier that day a dust storm in Pueblo, CO had a 30 car pileup with fatalities. The highway there was closed. I got mor work done as we waited, but it looked like at 5 pm the winds would be at 30 mph or lower, the gusts would be no higher than 40 mph and they were forecast to go down the rest of the evening. As planned we headed out at 5 pm, the winds were strong but not unmanageable. I drove about 10 miles under the 75mph speed limits ad as the time and miles ticked away, the drive got better. By Raton, the drive was pretty normal and the winds on the pass were manageable. An hour later we were detoured around the carnage that was the pile-up from earlier. There were still semis and cars piled in the highway and ditches. We couldn't help but think of the people who lost their lives just trying to get somewhere. While we were 7 hours behind schedule, we still had all our equipment in good order and we were fine. Our 775 mile 2 day trip to pulling the new trailer ended at 9:50 pm as we pulled into the driveway. I turned on the heat in the trailer as the temperature was supposed to dip below freezing. On Wednesday I'd winterize the water lines as colder weather was on it's way. Now we start making it our trailer. Packing, outfitting and prepping for our next trip is the fun and hopefully we'll get out in the second half of March. But when people ask "what did you do or Valentine's Weekend?" We can respond we made a great memory driving for 4 days and 1600 miles to bring home our new trailer.

To Texas for a Camper?

By Pat Daddy • February 16, 2026
We're sitting in a hotel in Denison, Texas as I write this. About a month ago, MLW and I went to a camper show, looking for our first hard side camper. With the kids grown, our 24 year old popup, while we love it, just isn’t as warm as we’d like it to be and that limits our ability to extend our camping season. When we replaced our old truck in ‘24, we did so expecting that we’d get a hard side trailer in the near future. As we were leaving the show, we found a trailer we really liked. It’s got a Murphy bed in it so you don’t lose all the space of the bed and you get a shorter camper. We liked the camper but they depreciate quickly, so we planned to buy a used one. The problem was this model has only been made since 2023. In 2024 they changed the styling to match the 2026 that we looked at. So I started a search for a 2024 model of this camper. Before we went to the show, I used Chat GPT to help me determine the best trailer weight and size for our truck. Not just weight, but driving it at altitude, what all we normally carry, etc. I got it set up so when I went to the show I just took a picture of the weight sticker and put it into Chat GPT and it would tell me how well my truck would pull the trailer. When I put in this one into Chat GPT, it said I’d pull it very well and why. Then I compared the answers with Ford’s info and confirmed it was correct. There were not any for sale near Colorado. I searched the national dealerships with little luck other than California and Georgia and other places on the east coast. In RV Trader I found one in Dodd City, TX. As I talked more with the dealer, I found that the trailer was lightly used by the one and only owner. The tires on it were made in 2023 and had only lost 1/32nd of tread. Everything I asked him for, proved his statement that it was used 4-5 times by the one owner was correct. I even pulled the VIN to make sure it had one owner and no listed accidents. The dry weight is correct as well. So we put down a deposit and yesterday we left home with the truck and headed to Texas. Our first day was down I-25 to Raton, NM and then south east to Amarillo. We got to Amarillo about 5pm, checked into our hotel and then went out for a Valentine's dinner. That is worth a story in itself, but it turned out well and we had a nice night. This morning we got up, had our very poor free breakfast at the hotel and headed out. First stop, the Cadillac Ranch to take pictures of the 10 Cadillacs half buried in the ground along 1-40 west of Amarillo. Then we headed east toward Denison. Lunch was in Wichita Falls and we got to Denison about 3:30. As we checked into the hotel, the realization that we were here with a check and the intent to buy a trailer, and then turn around and take it back home 600+ miles, I started to get a bit nervous. MLW and I took a nice walk around a lake in Denison and my anxiety dropped. We discussed the next day with our “what’s the worst thing that could happen” method we use often with decisions. And now I’m writing this. The plan is to be at the dealership tomorrow at 11 for our appointment, and inspect the heck out of the trailer, and if all is good, head back to Amarillo where we’ll sleep in it and then head for the final leg home on Tuesday. What will happen? You’ll have to come back and read this tomorrow or Wednesday.

A Trip to Italy, Venice day 2

By Patdaddy • October 29, 2025
We awoke Friday at 7 am. Our bodies tried to convince us it was actually 11 pm, but we fought through the fog and had a cup of coffee. Once dressed the four of us were off on the search for breakfast. Our first choice was a coffee shop that was full of locals. The dizzying pace at which the Italians got their espressos and pastries, stood and ate them and then paid and left, was intimidating. We were a bit timid and really did not get enough to eat as we enjoyed or coffees and MLW and I shared a chocolate croissant, and then we were off. Our next step was to get our 2 day vaporetto tickets, the ticket to the water bus. Getting the tickets was reasonably easy and then it was time to figure out how to get on the correct vaporetto that would correspond with Rick Steve’s Venice tour that uses the vaporetto. After almost getting on two other vaporetto lines, we finally found the correct one and we were off. He comical part was that as soon as we’d realize we were on the wrong platform Angie who is, uhm, height challenged, compact, not tall, you get the picture, would just walk under the gate and go to the next platform, while the rest of us, awkwardly had to bend over, climb over or some unflattering movement to get on the other side of the gates. The vaporetto was quite busy with Venetians going to work, tourists riding it and other tourists listening to the same Rick Steves tour we were listening to. We had a great overview of the grand canal and a quick history lesson. When we were at the other end of the line, we got off at St. Mark’s Square. We had our tickets to the Doge’s palace and decided to start the tour right then. The Doge’s palace was the palace of the Doge, the leader of Venice when it was a trading stronghold 600 years ago. As we walked through the tour listening to the prerecorded tour guide, the once wealth of Venice was overwhelming as you looked at antiquity after antiquity. What I found extremely interesting was the number of times the tour mentioned that a certain piece of artwork was now in the Louvre in France because Napoleon stole it. The tour ended by going over the bridge of sighs and through the prisons. By this point, 90 minutes or so since we started the tour, we were getting antiquity saturation and a bit hangry since we didn’t have much for breakfast. We grabbed a bit of lunch and checked in for an island tour of Murano, Burano and Torcello. Once on the boat our first stop was Murano, the Venetian island known for glass blowing. Here we had about a 20 minute grass blowing demonstration. First the glass blower made a beautiful pitcher. It had a swirl design to the glass and an elegant handle. He held it up to his audience and after a clapping approval, the glass blower took the vase still attached to his blowing rod and smacked it in the oven dropping the glass back into the molten glass in the furnace. I guess they had enough pitchers! Next he made a horse. Again, in minutes, and again the glass was returned to the molten glass in the furnace. After the demo we were escorted into their showroom. We purchased a few gifts and had just enough time to walk a bit down the waterfront and it was time to get back on the boat. Our next stop was Torcello. Torcello was the first inhabited island of the Venetian islands. It’s claim to fame was a very old church. It had few inhabitants and the stop was basically a long walk to the church and a long walk back. Not much to see in Torcello. Our final island was Burano, the island known for lace making. This island was known to MLW and I because it was featured in the Hallmark “The Veil” series. It’s famous for its brightly colored shops and buildings and of course the women who patiently make beautiful lace. We walked around and I ate my first gelato. Oh my gosh! now I know why everyone told me to eat gelato in Italy. We walked a bit more and then it was time to get back on the boat and return to Venice.

A Trip to Italy

By Patrick Jones • October 13, 2025
Part 1. The Trip Begins

Living for the Exhale

By Pat Daddy • December 30, 2024
If you attend enough of my companies meetings, you’ll be shown the scene from City Slickers where Billy Crystal’s character (Mitch) and Jack Palance’s character (Curley) have a discussion where Curley explains that the secret to a happy life is figuring out your 1 thing. This movie and the concept of "your 1 thing" was a favorite of our founder Pete Harman. If you want to refresh your memory, here’s a clip of that scene, I tried shorter versions, but you really need the three minutes:

What's up with the Bees?

By Pat Daddy • November 4, 2024
The more posts I write, the more I learn the most popular posts are about my bees. I’m fine with that because I love my bees. They spent another summer teaching me how to coexist with them and how we can help each other. As our communication improves so does their health and honey production. How did the summer go? You’ll remember I had to start from scratch this spring with 4 packages of bees that I bought as 2 pairs a week apart from two different companies. My luck with the bee packages did not go as planned. I got two “dud” queens and within two weeks they were both missing from the hive, maybe killed by her own subjects. Thankfully in May I captured my first swarm. Capturing my first swarm was a beekeeper's dream come true. My friend and neighbor Steve was telling me there was this big clump of wasps on their tree near their horses and his wife was concerned for their horses. Well I knew something was wrong because wasps all die in the winter but the queen, who has to emerge in the spring and start building a nest. So in the Spring there just aren’t big clumps of wasps. I asked if he'd show it to me and sure enough, it was a swarm of honeybees looking for a new home. To me the swarm was $150 just hanging in a tree waiting for me to give them a lovely hive to live in. I captured them and they happily accepted their new hive as their new home and then a week or so later I merged the frisbee hive with them who no longer had a queen. This hive did very well over the summer. The hive I call the Newbees also had a dud queen and they too were later joined into the hive that I captured. My most incredible hive was the Frisbees who produced two supers of honey that I could harvest. That’s 20 frames of honey. The Air BnBees produced about 12 frames and the Gumbees about 5 frames. In total my three hives produced 95 lbs. of honey or just a bit over 8 gallons. What am I going to do with all that honey? Sell it of course. Interested? You can purchase my honey at the bottom of the blog. I’m going into winter with three hives I feel really good about. In the Spring between buying bees and splitting hives I hope to have 8 hives running next summer. That is too many to have on just our property so I’ve secured a couple of locations to put hives. That of course will mean more capital investment into my bees, much of which I hope will come from honey sales. This was a fun year. I tried a number of new things. I learned how to move hives and how not too. I merged more hives and felt much more confident in the things I did. Of course the more new things I tried, I also got stung more. Some of that was because I thought I had on enough protection and then I did something stupid that made the bees agitated.. It’s funny, ”how many times have you been stung?” is a question I often get asked. Even funnier I can tell you how often I got stung. My first year, zero, my second year, 3 times, this year so far I’m pretty sure it’s been 7 times. Yes it hurts, but not as bad as I remembered and it goes away for me quickly. Unlike yellow jacket stings that just seem to burn and burn, most stings on my hands just hurt for 10 minutes and then go away. We had a very long fall, I could have had another honey harvest had I known we weren’t going to get a freeze in September or October. But it did allow my bees to store a lot of honey for the winter. So as long as mother nature cooperates, I’ll hopefully have 3 hives in the Spring. Here's that link:

Pat Daddy's Sedalia Honey is now for sale!

By Pat Daddy • October 30, 2024
Hello Everyone. As my third year of beekeeping is coming to a close, I finally have enough honey that I can offer it for sale. I ended the season with three hives that all appear to be healthy and ready to make it through the winter. Our honey harvest came in at just over 8 gallons or 95 pounds of honey. My 2025 goal is to expand to 8 hives which means I'm going to be doubling the amount of hive equipment I have and that is going to be a reasonably significant expense. I am selling my standard unfiltered raw honey in two sizes this year, 12 oz. and 10 oz. That measurement is by weight. For a volume comparison 12 oz. of honey is about 8 liquid ounces. Honey weighs about 1.5 ounces per liquid ounce. I am also excited to announce I am selling whipped cinnamon honey this year. This is made with pure raw honey, ground cinnamon and cinnamon oil. Then it is whipped to a consistency that reminds me of marshmallow cream. It's great to spread on muffins and toast or melted and poured over pancakes and waffles. It's absolutely delicious. And it has all the health benefits of my regular raw honey. 2024 prices pictures will change or you can slide them manually using the arrows on the side
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