Wichita is renowned for being incredibly flat. There are no hills or high rise buildings. It really is flat. And barren. These are the two best words that I can think of to describe Wichita. But it is also the real mid-west of the USA and brimming with some seriously great people watching opportunities. People are cowboys by nature and carrying a gun is considered a birth right. Don't even think about blaspheming or using any biblical names in vain if you want to keep your life. The food is served XXL and, as a consequence, most of the local community appear the same size too. Having said that, the people that I met were immensely kind and down to earth, and the weather was absolutely fabulous; apparently Thomas and I visited at their best time of year, which was a nice bonus and a welcomed change from the drizzly weather that we experienced in Chicago.
The long:
Thursday:
Thomas and I got up at 5:30am to catch our 8:25am flight from Chicago to Wichita. I had the worst night's sleep that I have had since exams, all because my subconscious knew that in a few hours I was going to see my No.1 woman and there was no way in hell that I was going to allow myself to sleep through that alarm (not that that ever happens anyway). Thomas and I boarded our flight with stifled laughter as the plane was so tiny that it was only 12 rows long and I hit my head on the overhead luggage bin a good 5 times before we landed. When I saw mum waiting for us I had to run and squeeze the life out of her; God only knows how much I have missed her. We waited at the one and only baggage belt for our bags whilst appreciating our new surroundings and the lifestyle that is custom in the state that we were now in:
^ Just brilliant.
En route to our hotel mum took Thomas and I into a little gem of an authentic cowboy shop to give us the grand tour.
There was a lady steaming cowboy hats to mould into the buyer's desired shape, and at $350 a pop for one made of the finest beaver's hair, they don't exactly come cheap! I think Thomas and I definitely pull them off, perhaps I will wish for one for Christmas.
The shop was brimming with cowboy boots and belts dripping in glittering rhinestones; very stylish indeed.
We continued our drive back to the hotel during which, much to my delight, we passed a policeman that had pulled someone over who was strolling around in a cowboy hat. I loved it. After speedy showers we headed out in search of some lunch, which we found at a really rather nice restaurant located close to our hotel. We had a delightful fill of food before parting ways, as Thomas had kindly offered to hang back and allow mum and I to have a proper girly catch up day, which was hugely appreciated.
So, mum and I left him at the hotel and headed to her office so that I could meet and greet everyone that I've heard so much about over the many years that she has worked there. Koch Industries is more than well-known within Wichita, which is hardly surprising since it is the largest employer of people in Kansas, so I probably should have expected the office building to be as gargantuan as it was.
Apparently people power walk the 6 miles of corridor with weights in their lunch break; fairly fantastic if you ask me. I must have been introduced to at least 60 people, from the young to the old and the junior to the senior; it was so nice to finally be able to put faces to names. It was even nicer to hear all of the wonderful words of praise and compliments that people had for mum, none of which came as news to me, but it was lovely to know that others appreciate her as much as I do. A guy from the legal team that she has worked with for over 10 years was particularly keen to inform me of just how much of a rock mum has been to him, which was actually very touching for both mum and I. I was even fortunate enough to partake in the daily "pop flip", where those that want a can of "soda" gather together and flip a coin for who should buy the round of drinks for everyone. Unfortunately for mum, I lost - so much for beginner's luck! Once I had been introduced to all the people mum wanted me to meet, I must admit that I was pretty exhausted and, once she had finished half an hour's worth of work, was quite content to just return to the hotel and chill for a bit.
On our drive back to the hotel, however, mum spotted the one and only shop that she likes to shop in in Wichita out of the corner of her eye and we decided to "pop in" quickly. It was 4:40pm when we rocked up to the shop, which (usually) shuts at 5pm. But not that day. Mum and I kept the poor girl behind until 6pm with our shopping antics but, then again, she hopefully wasn't too miffed when you take into consideration the commission that she must have earned on our numerous (beautiful) purchases.
Re-energised from shopping success we decided to celebrate with Thomas in the hotel's outdoor bar, which serves free wine and beer between 5-7pm, would you believe. The hotel grounds are actually rather gorgeous and we chatted, drank and nibbled away whilst listening to the live band and watching the sun set. Pretty idyllic if you ask me.
Mum and I then left Thomas behind once more, with an XXL beer in hand and seafood to be ordered shortly, and made our way to Chester's Chophouse & Wine Bar across the road, supposedly the best steak house in Wichita. We had cosmos, red wine, calamari, fillet steaks, red skin mash, fresh corn, mushrooms and creamed spinach. Holy cow.
The quality of the food was mind-blowing and I savoured every mouthful. That steak may well have been the most tender piece of meat I have ever had - I certainly can't recall ever having better.
We had the BEST time gossiping and catching up on everything that we have missed in each other's lives the last 8 weeks, plus some great DMC's, before calling it a night and making our way to bed. As it turned out Thomas had also had a great night making his way through various alcoholic beverages and watching Rush, so I'm glad that we all had an enjoyable night.
Friday:
I had a slightly broken night's sleep due to mum waking up at 6am to get ready for work, although she was so kind as to offer me a cup of tea, I had to politely decline. Since mum had to work until lunch time Thomas and I relaxed in the hotel's outdoor seating area and watched an episode of Orange is the New Black in the glorious sunshine. Our wonderful chauffeur arrived bang on time at 1pm and off we toddled to visit an incredibly cute set-up outside of a church that was selling pumpkins.
^ Never before have I seen baby pumpkins!
Mum's so on trend that she even colour co-ordinated her handbag for the occasion. Apparently there are also loads of different types of pumpkin, which are so ugly that they become quite attractive, some of which mum is holding in the picture above and can also be seen below:
The girls selling them were dressed in little aprons and assisting families and kids in choosing the perfect pumpkins for the fast-approaching holiday; it was very cute. The kids ran around posing for photos with the pumpkins and the famous "money shot" that we were told all children have, so Thomas and I jumped on the bandwagon and re-visited our missed childhood opportunity:
I must say that I really, really wish that England celebrated Halloween the way the Americans do. If people would only put the same amount of joy and effort in at home as they do over here it would be such a fun day for all ages to enjoy; I don't think I've ever even carved a pumpkin! I plan to entirely make up for lost time this year, however, as Thomas and I will be in NYC for Halloween and visiting another mutual friend from summer school, so it will hopefully be a very fun and all-out evening.
We then visited the one and only mall in Wichita. It was due to be a quick stop, just to, you know, say that we had been. Instead, Thomas and I left ladened with shopping bags a few hours later. I bought virtually a whole work wardrobe for the impending big day in February, plus a huge amount of sale items from A&F; I mean, who can refuse a good bargain? Thomas decked out his snap back collection
and it was happy days all round except, perhaps, for mum's credit cards. At least we all had an excuse for a stiff drink.
Since we couldn't allow Thomas to leave Kansas/"cow city" without sampling their famous steaks, we went to Red Rock Canyon restaurant to satisfy all of our needs. Thomas ordered a 9oz fillet steak with all the trimmings, which I am pleased to say that I had a bite of and was just as good as the one mum and I had the night before, so we all got to experience the best!
A bottle of chardonnay (plus some) later, we realised that time had flown by sharing some cracking stories and laughing our heads off, which was only ever so slightly irritatingly interrupted every so often by Thomas' new best friend, the barman, who was a Chelsea fan and thought it appropriate to butt in with football chat whenever he could, much to our amusement. In our merriness we really had lost track of time though and were due to arrive at Abi and Rick's house for dinner, some of mum's oldest and closest work colleagues, in just under half an hour.
We did a drive-by of our hotel and rushed to get there on time. We arrived 10 minutes late to the most lovely welcome of Abi and Rick's two little girls waiting for us on the front lawn, who had sweetly become very worried that we were forever lost. The girls were so polite and lovely, quite literally the perfect kids, and rushed around showing mum and I their rooms, diaries and homework, which we were more than happy to give a helping hand with.
Seeing as mum sees them all so rarely and when she does there isn't usually a camera stalker on hand, I thought it only apt to have a little photo shoot.
Abi and Rick put on a delicious spread, so obviously received top hosting marks in my books. They cook with healthy alternatives so everything is lean and tasty; you can't really ask for more! They even had me eating blue cheese, which is really saying something. It was a homemade spread mixed with low fat cream cheese and candied walnuts, so perhaps that's the cheese way forward for me:
Nibbles was followed by a starter of a light, fresh salad that incorporated dried cranberries and fresh small slices of apple, served with a side of freshly baked sweet corn bread that had jalapeños in it; it was an absolute winner for me.
The main course consisted of Rick's famous chili, made with extra lean turkey meat, which I happily mopped up every last morsel of with another slice of corn bread. However, they really did save the best to last, and overwhelmed with a gorgeous apple pie served with vanilla ice cream. I had firsts... seconds... and thirds. I got the guilts later upon realising that they may have wanted leftovers the following day, and I had quite literally eaten every last crumb of it, but hopefully they took it as a compliment. It was a really nice evening and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Abi and Rick better. A round of cocktails later, the three of us said our goodbyes and climbed into bed with our morning flight in mind.
Saturday:
Mum woke us up at 5am. Some mumbled chatter and an arm tickle later though I thankfully managed to return to sleep. But not for long. Mum woke us up at 7am, for good. We discussed the blog, our favourite photos from my trip so far and my future travelling plans, before making ourselves presentable for the outside world. We met Thomas outside and drove to the airport all together, as mum was catching the same flight as us to Dallas from where she was then going to get a connecting flight back home. We boarded the plane and mum and I decided to entertain ourselves by flicking through Sky Mall magazine, apparently the most successful mail order catalogue in existence, although God only knows why, since the products on sale and their accompanying descriptions are nothing but laughable. Before we had even taken off mum and I were in hysterics with our poor neighbours giving us awkward sideward glances. I had to take photos of our favourites for you to see for yourself:
If you don't find those funny then there is either something very wrong with you or very wrong with us because at one point I was genuinely gasping for air. The flight was only an hour long and the dreaded time to say goodbye to mum came round far faster than I would have liked. I gave her a big fat cuddle and with teary eyes walked away to baggage reclaim. It was SO good to see you mumma and I must thank you for the best 2 days that I could possibly have hoped for! See you in 2 weeks super mum. x
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