Officially a Missourian

This weekend, after much frustration and effort, I officially became a Missourian...and what an ordeal it was!!!  The amount of hoops that one has to jump through is ridiculous.  However, it is much cheaper to transfer everything over to Missouri (as it should be due to personal property taxes) than it is for IL.  I think Chad paid close to $200 when he switches his registration and license over to IL two years ago.  I paid just under $60 to transfer mine.  However, it did require:  
** A minor odometer inspection on my car (from the local Valvoline shop).  
** A trip to the courthouse and several pieces of paper to prove that we were not residents of MO in either January 2011 or January 2012.  (This is necessary, so that personal property taxes do not have to be paid.)  
** Finally, a trip to the DMV...many of which, in this area, are contracted office and not actually employees of the State of MO.  This means that they can be open the hours that they choose.  This we found out after running around Saturday trying to find one that was open.  The DMV wanted the above two pieces of paper, as well as your insurance, passport, proof of current residency, money...and your first born.  Ha!

I was finally able to accomplish all of the above.  Chad's still working on his.  Here's the end result.  Not too bad of a pic!

After that exhausting trip, we decided to head out to Manhattan, KS to Tallgrass Brewery, which is about a 2 hour drive from KC. This brewery is new to us since our move out West.  They don't currently distribute in IL but will be soon.  They make some pretty good beers.  We read that the brewery is pretty low-key and they weren't kidding.  Manhattan is a college town, and the brewery feels like the local college kids are running it.  Ha!  

When you arrive you must purchase a glass for $5, and that comes with 6 tastings.  The tasting pours run anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of the glass.  Here's our first taste.  I got the Buffalo Sweat, a smooth oatmeal stout, which is their #1 seller.  Chad chose the Velvet Rooster, a Belgian Tripel.

They give tours on Saturdays only.  The tours are only about 30 minutes long, but the tour guide was fantastic...very funny!.  The owners are big fans of the first two seasons of the American Gladiators.  So all their tanks are named after the gladiators.  Hilarious!!!!

Another unique factor about this brewery is that they use cans instead of bottles.  They stopped using bottles two years ago.  They say that they can "can" faster than they could bottle, and there are less reason to shut down the bottling line for reasons such as a broken bottle.   Here's is a write-up on the whole concept...interesting.  They only use the "tall boys"...the 20oz. cans.  Here's stockpile of empty cans...

On our way out we got glimpse of the brewmaster who had come in on the weekend, as he is often said to do, to homebrew.  Guess he can't get enough!  We really enjoyed the beer!  Mine and Chad's favorites were the Buffalo Sweat & Velvet Rooster.


On the way home we drove through a small town that we've seen advertised on many billboards in Kansas...Wamego.  Their claim to fame is the Wizard of Oz museum, which opened in 2004.  There doesn't seem to be a reason why it's located in Wamego, but since the opening of the museum other "Oz related" businesses have opened...Oz Winery, Toto's Tacos.  So since it was the on the way, I had to drive through!  It was quite a disappointment.  Ha!  Here's a couple of pics of the businesses...

On the way back home we swung through another KS town...Lawrence.  They have a Jefferson's here!!!!!  Yes, you heard me correct.  Jefferson's!  Just like back home!!!  The food was just as we remember it.  Hooray!!  Here's a pic of the inside...

Yesterday, we headed to Columbia, MO to hang out with Ben, Calyn & Lehni.  Mom, John and Jerod met us there.  What a fun and relaxing day!!  Lots of eating and drinking, of course.  They just built a deck on the back of their house, which went to great use!  Here's mom play with their two dogs...Darwin & Winston.

Ben set up a Slip 'N Slide for Lehni.  Whoa!  What memories this brings back!!  Lehni had never been on one before.  She kept running, stopping just before the slide and then plopping down on it.  She couldn't see to grasp the concept of running and sliding on her belly.  Ha!  She eventually got it, but here's a couple of cute pics of her practicing!

We spent the night in Columbia and then headed back home this morning.  Today we just took it easy.  I even managed to get a little shopping in and spend the gift cards that I received for my birthday.  Here's one of my many purchases...new kicks!

It's back to work tomorrow.  Makes me wish I would have taken an extra day off.  Ha!  Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!!!