More on KC

Our trip to Kansas City, MO or the KC as the locals call it, started roughly. We began with more than a two hour delay at our local airport because the driver of the fuel truck which gassed our plane pulled away while still attached to the aircraft. Moronic, some may say. I didn't comment or even flinch as I could see myself doing this sort of thing in a similar job. It all worked out, however, and we were eventually cleared to fly, but the delay caused us to miss our connecting flight in Chicago. We ran like O.J. through the Chicago O'Hare airport trying to make it, but the plane had actually left a bit early so we were rescheduled on a flight 2+ hours later. To make a long story short, we arrived at the hotel in Kansas City twelve hours after leaving home.

The second day we toured around on foot, visiting among other places, Union Station and the Lincoln Memorial. We also hit several caches this day. We took a cab to "The Plaza" and did some shopping, site seeing, and picture taking. KC has some fantastic green space and architecture in addition to their fountains. We took a ton of pictures.

The third day my girlfriend started her conference so I did some geocaching, but mostly rested. I took a two hour nap.

On the fourth day, my girlfriend skipped a morning session of her conference and we visited Hallmark. My girlfriend was all smiles as we perused old cards manufactured during past wars and other notable historic times. Even she, a carrying gold crown card member, said the tour was a bit anticlimactic, but I'm not sure what she was expecting from a greeting card company. From our hotel, we could take "The Link" which connected several hotels, shopping centers, and ultimately Hallmark to one another. After questioning the purpose of the "The Link", I could only surmise that it was used to protect visitors from the rough KC city streets. There seemed to be a shooting or a hostage situation each and every night of the week. Even one KC resident warned us that the streets weren't safe at night. Comforting. At any rate, on this day I also discovered the heated outdoor pool and fitness center which I visited twice and it was one of the things I was looking forward to doing during my visit to KC.

The fifth day was a half day for us. I hit one last cache, bringing my KC total to 7 and we were at the airport before noon and back in the warmth of our own home by 7pm or so. To sum up the KC trip, I'm glad I went, but I wouldn't want to go back. Here are some more pictures.