The National Weather Service office in Chicago did an outstanding job of issuing tornado warnings the evening of the 27th. Well done!

 With the potential of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in the Kansas City area yesterday, this sign was next to the check-in desk. What a wonderful idea! The name of the county was presented for their guests along with the Zip Code needed for any apps.

☆☆☆☆ 1/2 Kathleen and I wanted to take a trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary this year. However, with all of the issues with flying recently -- and, as it turned out more than 1,100 flights were cancelled and 6,000+ delayed when we would have had to fly -- we wanted to find someplace in driving distance of Wichita. So, we chose the River Spirit Resort and Casino in Tulsa. We are very glad we did. This hotel complex is extremely well kept and the staff is polite, friendly and helpful with a few exceptions (see below). The rooms are very nice and both Kathleen and I thought the beds were extremely comfortable.  River Spirit has first-rate entertainment with Travis Tritt tonight and Trevor Noah tomorrow. There is live entertainment in the evenings scattered through the hotel. The casino is huge. I'm not much of a gambler, but because everyone asks, "How did you do at the slots?" when you vacation at a casino, I put $8 into them, won $14, for a net gain of $6 -- more th...

We had an amazing family vacation. Amazing. Every odd-numbered year, we take the entire family on a vacation and each seems better than the last. The above photo was taken at one of my all-time favorite restaurants, Blue Moon Fish Company in Ft. Lauderdale. In the past, we went there for the incredible food and atmosphere. This year, I also thought the girls would enjoy the boats (people dock their boats at the restaurant and dine) and drawbridge. That turned out to be an accurate forecast. We loved the Westin Ft. Lauderdale beach hotel . While I have a couple of tiny quibbles (I believe this is one of the hotels where the thermostats are " rigged "and I wish there was more variety to the restaurant menus), I would give it an enthusiastic 4.8/5 stars. In addition to being a well-maintained facility, the people are incredible. They want to please their guests. I haven't been that happy with hotel service in years. Then, the airlines... After being an incredibly fr...