Big Brutus

With Labor Day over, summer has essentially come to an end. It's an opportune time to look back at what we did for vacation.

This year, the Weis family stayed in Kansas. In July, my Dad and I enjoyed the US Senior Golf Open in Hutchinson. In August, my family visited friends in Pittsburg, KS. On the way home, we stopped to see Big Brutus, the second largest electric shovel in the world.

Brutus is 16 stories tall and weighs 11 million pounds. Located in southeast Kansas, Brutus was the symbol of the Kansas coal strip mining industry in the 1960's and 70's. What's fun about Brutus is that you can climb through him--up through the second story (the orange painted section).

Then on Sunday evening-Monday afternoon, the family went camping for the first time. That had all the makings for a big disaster, but we made it easy on ourselves by driving only 20 minutes to Kanopolis Lake. One part is run by the state; the other side is operated the Feds.

Can't say that sleeping on the floor of the van was my idea of restful sleep, but we had fun swimming, grilling, and watching a gorgeous Kansas sunset. With the first attempt a success, I dare say we might try camping again next summer.

What did you do this summer? I hope you were able to carve out some time for refreshment.