Started day in Oklahoma City, drove to Wichita, Kansas, where Bill showed me the house where he grew up. A white two-story house of the '50's on a 1/4 acre lot with solid tree canopies, a little bridge over from the street, a deep chiseled rock creek running the length of the side of the property and with an entire hidden sunken grassy play area for the kids off the back yard. He showed me the schools he attended, places he hung out, etc. After lunch we drove from Wichita over to Manhatten which just may be one of the most beautiful areas I've seen. Rolling hills as far as you can see in every direction, covered in soft green grass, elm/oak/fir/real trees everywhere, a beautiful lake, the Arkansas River, and the truly lovely Kansas State campus from where he graduated and was, among other things, the football mascot, Willy the Wildcat. All the buildings are carved limestone, tree-canopied, and with most impressive architecture. K-State ranks first nationally among state universities in its total of Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall scholars since 1986. Along with their beautiful campus, the temperature is 77 degrees with slight breeze! On June 30th!

Bill is, however, a bit miffed that the Townies have not cut the lawn at the fraternity house! Grass is about a foot tall - trust me, the Alumni Center will hear about this in the morning. As a former president of the fraternity, he is not a happy camper with the state of the grounds around that stately colonial mansion.

(The link doesn't seem to be working this evening but if interested, you can google Kansas State University. Worth the time.)