Day 42 - 8/1

 We woke up this morning in La Crosse, Kansas. My great-grandparents on my mom's side lived in La Crosse when they retired from farming in nearby McCracken. The town is very small and the park we slept in was nice. In fact, the park was called Grass Park because it's the only place (it seemed) that has grass. We went to different houses and places that were of ancestor significance. We saw the house that my great grandma Swisher lived in. She would keep a beautiful flower garden and grow giant flowers that contrasted with the Kansas atmosphere. We also went to the old farmhouse that they lived in when they kept a farm. Many of these old houses are collapsed or are very unstable. However, it was interesting that we were able to see the house that my ancestors lived in. We also found their burial spot in the La Crosse Cemetery.

The other place we went to was the Nickel Cemetery. We did some more grave rubbings of the Swishers and the Nickels. The Nickels also lived and farmed in Kansas. We had a minor crises when we couldn't find the last piece of special grave stone rubbing paper, but we managed to be creative and make it work out. While doing the grave rubbings, the wind picked up a lot. It was so windy that I could barely see through my hair that was blowing in my face.  I'm glad that we had the opportunity to visit those places and make our own ancestor record. My mom likes to do family history work, so have the grave rubbings are really significant. Many of my ancestors didn't live in Washington so it was nice to be able to visit these places as we go across country and back. Kansas isn't so bad after all.

We finally arrived at my dad's cousin's house near Denver, Colorado. It was her birthday, so we were able to celebrate with her by having a cake. It was nice to be able to rest and relax after traveling all day in Kansas. The area was also serene and peaceful.