Salina, Kansas

 Hailey had traveled to Salina, Kansas (pronounced with a long i) for an orientation week and Jordan and I drove up to get her. It was a five-hour drive and I actually drove the ENTIRE way! I drove through the City on I-44 and then took I-35 to Wichita, Kansas and then 135 the rest of the way to Salina. The drive there actually wasn't too bad. We timed it so I wasn't driving through rush-hour traffic and before lunch-hour traffic started in OKC. Driving back, though, I ended up in Saturday evening traffic from OKC to Moore on I-35 and that was REALLY intense for me. I would prefer to never do that again....

Anyway, Salina has a beautiful downtown with lots of little shops. The city really promotes the arts and has murals and statues everywhere. Most notably, though, they have an annual sculpture tour downtown where they display several sculptures and you get a ballot and vote on your favorite. This year, there were 24 to choose from. Each year the sculpture that wins the most votes is purchased by the City of Salina and put on permanent display. We enjoyed looking at and discussing the various art. In the end, Hailey and I chose the same one and Jordan chose another.

   

The Sheaf by Paul Reimer from Canada

My favorite part from Glimmering Wings by Sunday Mahaja from Indiana

the complete Shimmering Wings, which received mine and Hailey's vote

The Muse of Art by Jodie Bliss from Colorado. Her mermaid tail is actually a paint brush. This one almost received my vote.

Steel Melodies by Dee Warren from Kansas

Lumenfly by Kirk Seese out of Maryland. We're pretty sure the head lights up at night.

The Grand Candy Heist by James Bryant out of Kansas. I thought this one was really cute and almost voted for it too.

Bird of Pray by Keith Dorn out of Minnesota. This was the other one I almost chose, mainly because of the play on words.

Mom Can I Keep Him by Susan Geissler out of New York. This one received Jordan's vote. That is one huge cat!!

Poised for the Dance by Sondra Jonson from Nebraska. This one almost received Hailey's vote. She was fascinated with how real it looked even down to the muscles in the girl's arms.

Art Alley with lots of murals in addition to the ones peppered around town.

They had two really nice bookstores downtown. Ad Astra Books & Coffee House had a great vibe. They had coffee on one side and shelves of used books on the other with cute, intimate tables through the middle. They even had a gorgeous little patio area in the back. You could play games from their several games too. They regularly host events such as bingo night or drawing night. If I lived in Salina, I would hang out there! The other bookstore, Red Fern Booksellers, had a more bookstore vibe and was a little more on the posh side. I snapped a few pictures of books I was interested in buying later or finding at the library, but didn't purchase anything.

Red Fern Booksellers

We also stopped at a cooking ware store and the toy store right next to it. Hailey bought me a nice blue trivet and I also got an interestingly-shaped skillet spoon. It was long and the entrance was flat like a spatula, but the rest was shaped like a spoon and it had a nice wooden handle. It has to be hand-washed, but it seems like it would be useful. Next door, in Familia Toys, they had a large selection of games AND had demo ones for you try out. They had the Tenzi dice game that a friend had told me I would like. We played it for a few minutes. It's quick and easy. Each person has ten dice. You roll them and the first to get them all the same number is the winner. However, you can buy cards to make it more interesting. Some of the cards have patterns that you have to get, or you have to roll four dice, add them, and then roll the other six dice to have the same sum. I decided it was a fun game and could easily be modified for the classroom as well and ended up buying the cards. On the way home, we stopped at my classroom and picked out several sets of ten dice to bring home to play with. 

Next door to the toy store was Baron Mushmouse. It had absolutely beautiful antiques and the prices to match. We drooled but left without buying. Jordan found a cute blouse in one of the thrift boutiques and was extremely happy with her buy. For lunch, we ate at Jose Pepper's Mexican Restaurant. I had the Monterey Chicken burrito with a side of fruit instead of rice and beans (LOVE that they do that!) and it was absolutely amazing. We left around 2:00 and made it back to Norman around 6:30. Hailey ended up staying to pack for her summer trip and see her boyfriend one more time while Jordan and I headed home. It was a busy first road trip for the summer!

Jose Pepper's Restaurant