We Return to the Indy 500 and Start a New National Park Crusade

Well, it’s May again and time for us to be singing “Back Home Again in Indiana,” as we head north for our annual pilgrimage to the Indianapolis 500 race. Like we have done for the past couple of years, we headed up the week before the actual race to watch the qualifications for the race. But getting there wasn’t easy. Back in March we took our Honda Goldwing motorcycle to a dealer in Texas to have it converted to a three-wheeled trike. We mentioned that we would be leaving around the middle of May, but were reassured that delivery would occur before we left (he wanted to make sure he had his money!). As usually happens, there were delays, and after some last minute frantic negotiations, we met the dealer halfway to take delivery of our new trike on the day we planned to leave. After we hauled the trike back to our Louisiana home, we dropped the trailer, covered the trike, and jumped in the car to head north. Talk about a hectic start!

Back at the track

We headed to spend a couple of days with our looper boater friends, Dave and Joyce Johnson. It was a wonderful reunion and we reminisced at length about our boating experiences and our families and upcoming travel plans. The rainy weather limited our outdoor plans, and after two great days of visiting, we headed to Indianapolis for the track activities. This year the qualifications had a new format in which the nine fastest cars would compete for the pole position the following day, while the rest of the cars qualified to be in the field. On day two the field was set based on the speed of a single qualifying run for each car, then in the afternoon, the top nine qualifiers had a shootout to determine the pole position and the next 8 places. We weren’t too crazy about the format and thought we wasted a day at the track that we probably won’t repeat next year.

The good fairy, Edie

With the field set we headed to Ohio the next day to visit our nephew and his family. Upon arriving we were greeted by Brain, wife Janelle, daughter Edra, and Janelle’s parents Kevin and Pam Vogle who we had not seen for over three years. It was a great reunion. We cooked out that evening and enjoyed reminiscing about good times gone by. The Vogles left the next morning, and although the weather kept us from doing any outside activities, we enjoyed the next couple of days visiting with Brian and his family. After three days it was time to return to Indy for the race weekend activities. We returned and enjoyed Carb Day activities at the track on Friday, went to a nearby state park on Saturday, and back to the track for our race-day ritual on Sunday. The race turned out to be really exciting with the second closest finish in race history.

On Memorial Day we left Indianapolis and started to head west for a trip that would take us to the remaining 11 national parks in the continental United States that we had not yet visited, and bring our total to 58 of the 59 parks in the park system.

Holy Cross Shrine, Pfeifer, KS

On this trip we would visit 4 parks in Colorado, 5 in Utah, the Grand Canyon, and the Petrified Forest N.P. in Arizona, before heading home and getting ready to visit our final park in St. John, USVI in January, 2015.

Altar carved in Germany

We rolled through Illinois, Misssouri, and a good chunk of Kansas before stopping for the evening in Salina, KS.

Baptismal fount

The next morning we hit the road early and drove west, exiting the interstate at Victoria, KS.

German carved doors

For those who have followed this blog, you may recognize that we are heading back to visit Pfeifer, KS. We thought we had found the community on our return trip last year from Alaska, only to get home and Google the town to find that it was not defunct as we thought. Rather, while the town of Pfeifer’s population has declined significantly in recent times, the farms that surround the town are still thriving.

Beautifully maintained interior

Additionally, the locals have managed to maintain the centerpiece of the community, a magnificently restored and maintained catholic church. The church was completed in 1918 at a cost of $56,000 which was collected from a 2-cent levy on each bushel of wheat the parishioners produced (that’s a lot of wheat for forty-some families at the time).

The parish school

We had arrived early, but one of the locals came and opened up the church for us to view. It was absolutely stunning! We finished our viewing and purchased a book detailing the church’s and community’s history and left a sizable donation that would be used for upkeep of the church.

Y'all come by sometime!

We toured the rest of the community and headed on our way, thrilled that we had taken the time to discover this gem. Pfeifer is only about 10 miles off the I-70, so if you are ever traveling that route between Russel, KS and Ft. Hays, KS, stop at Victoria and see the Cathedral of the Plains (one of the eight wonders of Kansas) then head on down to see the church and community of Pfeifer. We think you will be amazed!

There is no wood in Kansas- limestone fence posts!