Bbq So where in the hell have I been? I left for a weekend of Meet-The-Folks and came back to find two weeks worth of ASAP emails and ToDos! I was swamped and couldn’t catch my breath, as the fearless leader of the Barry Manilow fan club used to say.

I left sunny Southern California on Friday and arrived in Kansas City just as the blizzard did. What an interesting ride to our hotel in rush hour, slipping and sliding around the roads with the poor commuters, except we weren’t grouchy because we were on vacation.

While I was in town I met my significant roomie’s mother, sister, brothers, nieces and nephews (everyone was very welcoming and friendly; however, there’s a short story in there somewhere), had some delish BBQ (I’m a vegetarian; I dipped my fries), and the best milkshake I’ve ever had at Winsteads.

Another highlight of the trip was touring the Steamboat Arabia, a riverboat some treasure-hunting yokels dug up in the yard of a farmer. Yes, you heard me: a river boat sunk deep under some dude’s corn field. The boat hit a snag and sank in the 1800s; and then the river up and moved. No foolin. Definitely worth a trip to see.