by Mike Wendland | Dec 27, 2019 | Tom and Patti Burkett
By Tom and Patty Burkett We recently saw “Rocketman,” the Elton John biopic, and in one of the grand scenes he’s sitting at the the piano on a rotating stage playing Pinball Wizard. Bells were dinging and that characteristic sound of metal...
by Mike Wendland | Dec 13, 2019 | Tom and Patti Burkett
Driving across Nebraska on highway 4, it’s hard to miss the big building sitting at the top of the hill. From below, it looks like a plow blade cutting through the prairie soil. And, of course, that’s exactly what the architect...
by Mike Wendland | Nov 25, 2019 | Tom and Patti Burkett
By Tom and Patti Burkett The first time we pulled into the Blue Heron Visitor Center the place was buzzing. Food tents were up, children were chasing big metal and wooden hoops down the road, women were walking around in dresses from the early 1900s, and a...
by Mike Wendland | Nov 18, 2019 | Tom and Patti Burkett
By Tom & Patti Burkett Driving across Nebraska on highway 4, it’s hard to miss the big building sitting at the top of the hill. From below, it looks like a plow blade cutting through the prairie soil. And, of course, that’s exactly...
by Mike Wendland | Nov 10, 2019 | Tom and Patti Burkett
By Tom and Patti Burkett For years we’ve had the City Museum of Saint Louis on our list of travel stops, so recently when we went to visit out park ranger daughter in the Ozarks we piled into the vehicle and drove the two hours north. We...
by Mike Wendland | May 28, 2019 | Tom and Patti Burkett, People & Places
By Tom and Patti Burkett We were looking forward to a stop in Lindsborg, Kansas. Many of Tom’s ancestors are Swedish, and we maintain a number of Swedish traditions, especially around holidays. There are a number of Scandinavian heritage...
by Mike Wendland | May 7, 2019 | Tom and Patti Burkett
Southern Illinois is nestled between two of the biggest rivers on the continent. Historically, regular floods of both the Ohio and the Mississippi left the region covered deep in silt, fantastically fertile soil. Until the early twentieth...
by Mike Wendland | Feb 17, 2019 | Tom and Patti Burkett
By Tom & Patti Burkett Off the beaten path travel is all about small towns. The last generation highways and two-lane roads that wind through every state go right down the main street of every county seat, shipping terminal, and stringtown strip built since we began...
