I’m going to indulge in a little road trip story. We had to drive from Denver, CO to Wichita, KS. It was the longest day’s drive of our trip. There is nothing but acres and acres and more acres of mostly corn crops from one place to the next. To break up the monotony we decided to go a little out of our way to view the “world’s largest ball of twine” in Cawker City, KS. It was mostly supposed to be a little joke stop to get us a quick little Facebook post. On the way there I said to Diane, 10,15 minutes tops. It turned into an action-packed one hour and 15 minutes. Google Maps indicated we were passing it at around 4:50 PM, so we turned left in what appeared to be a small little center of town. There were two water towers which both said Cawker City and one looked a little like a ball of twine. There was clearly some type of a festive gathering going on. We found some parking and asked an older gentleman with a Cawker City 50-year anniversary T-shirt if he knew where the big ball of twine was. He said we were close and that it was just diagonally across the street from where we were. He mentioned this was the 50th anniversary of these particular festivities and he mentioned we might want to hang out for a little bit. Food would be served at 5 PM. He told us a little bit about the ball of twine, and mentioned that if we had planned a little better we would have been greeted by the “belle of the ball.” We thanked him and proceeded through the gathering towards the now obvious ball of twine. When we got there there was a bride and groom having photos taken of them “tying the knot.” The “belle of the ball” was there and she was having a grand time showing them how to add more twine to the already largest ball of twine in the world. The bride apologized to us for being in the way. All we could do is say, “It’s your day!” There was a neatly written story about the ball of twine and how it got started. The best part was that the Wall Street Journal wrote an article which basically said how pathetic it was that the most interesting attraction in Kansas was this ball of twine. The article apparently had the effect of driving up interest in the twine. We had a very pleasant chat with the belle and she allowed us the privilege of adding some more twine to the ball ourselves after the bride and groom had left. Linda Clover is the belle, and she is a volunteer who also serves as the town Librarian. She cheerfully tells us the story of how Frank Stoeber started the ball of twine back in 1953. Farming often involves purchasing stuff wrapped in twine. He was going to burn it, but he decided to just keep it going. She mentions that the center may have turned to dust by now, but there is no way to tell. It briefly lost its title of “world’s largest” back in the seventies, but soon gained the title back. A woman approached Linda and she connected with us by saying she was originally from Cawker City, but now resides in Connecticut. She tells Linda that she will see her tomorrow at 3 PM for pizza. Speaking of food, we decided that we should eat and feed our dog, and the food at the festivities should work out just fine. We both got pulled pork sandwiches, potato chips, baked beans, and a drink - $8. As we started eating, a live band started belting out some excellent country music. A little girl, about 3 years old ran up to our dog desiring to pet him. Our dog, not wanting to be disturbed while he was eating, snapped at her. “Your dog is mean!” she wailed to us. One moment later her mother showed up. She apologized to us, saying she only took her eyes off her daughter for a second. She took her daughter aside and then came and proceeded to use this as a teachable moment. She explained to her daughter that she needs to ask permission to pet someone else’s pet. I’m not sure her young daughter absorbed the lesson, but I was impressed by her mother’s effort. Before we left, we purchased two of the T-shirts the man who greeted us was wearing. It may have been the bride’s day, but Cawker City made our day too.