Royalty enjoys Heartland hospitality in the State of Kansas!

Kansas State University

After the minor league baseball game in Des Moines, Iowa I said goodbye to a new friend in Tige Hutcheson.

I barely survived the 210 mile drive back to my hotel in Lenexa, Kansas which is in the Overland Park area. I was running on fumes but I managed to check in shortly after 2AM.

I had to get up early so I could meet up with an old friend, Dorothy Straney who came with her Mom. I met Dot as I call her back on August 13, 1993. That was one of my many lucky days in life that I came in contact with another good person.

Over the years, we've taken turns meeting up either in the Heartland, in NYC or another part of the country.
Dot and her Mom who is a such a lovely lady both graduated from Kansas State. Her Mom in 1951 and Dot in 1974. They both love their Wildcats. They follow them all over. They always dress up in purple from head to toe.

I always wanted to see a Wildcat football game at their home in Manhattan, Kansas aka the "Little Apple" if you will. I got more than I bargained for. Dot informed me that their volleyball team was home too. They were playing at 1PM and the football game was at 6PM.

Dot told me she would give me a ride to and from the game which was about 125 miles each way. I couldn't be more thankful since I was exhausted and I needed a break from being behind the wheel.

She came to my hotel shortly after 9AM. On the way to Manhattan, she gave a guided tour as we visited Lawrence, Kansas home of the Kansas University Jayhawks. She drove us around their campus.

We continued on our way through the Flint Hills on I-70 as we made our way to the "Little Apple". Once we arrived in Manhattan she drove me around the downtown area which consisted of three or four blocks.

After that, we proceeded to drive around the Kansas State campus which was beautiful. All the buildings were made out of limestone except for two of them. They were made out of red brick. Dot said they received the wrong shipment of bricks that's why they're different then the others.

In addition, she showed me where her and her mother lived when they went to school there back in the day.
Furthermore, we visited the cows in the Dairy Unit. Dot used to milk them when she was in school. We got to see them up close. It was quite a treat for me.

Stay tuned for the special posts I'm going to do about the volleyball game and the football game we saw.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman