Who We Are

Thursday, April 02, 2015

Why It's Called "The Kansas Ocean"

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie.  Since we have some relatively new readers to the Ao4 Digest (WELCOME!!!), we have been getting a few questions.  The most frequently asked one revolves around the Kansas Ocean, also known as the KSO.  Yes, it's true.  Many people don't realize there is an ocean right here in Kansas.  We thought we'd take today to explain how it came to be here!

It all started with our extremely cool great-brother Zim.  (Any of the wording in this post - or others, for that matter - that have the color that the words "great-brother Zim" do in the previous sentence are hyperlinks to take you to other posts on our blog.  They will help tell the story.)  Zim was an amazing, wonderful brother to us; he had such a love for adventure and a zest for life!  Along with our other great-siblings Storms, Ammy, and Davy, he started this blog back in 2006.

Upon reading other blogs, Zim learned that many of our fellow bloggers got to explore at this cool place called "an ocean".  It sounded mighty wonderful to him and he wished long and hard that we'd get an ocean here in Kansas.  It's a long story, involving this Giant who kept leaving his Tonka toys around and stuff, but lo and behold, one day Zim and Ammy were out walking Mom and BOOM!  There it was!

Here is a photo of Zim discovering the Kansas Ocean:

"Wowzers!"

The Tonka toys had been cleared out, and where only dirt, dust, and scraggly grasses had once been, there was a bunch of water!  It HAD to be the ocean he'd been longing for!  Needless to say, he was thrilled with his discovery! It was one of his most favorite places to go. He loved animals of ALL species and always delighted when different ducks, geese, and other birdies would visit the "KSO"!

Eventually all of the members of the original Army of Four visited the ocean - they loved going there, too! I'll never forget the first time I got to walk there - and then when Maggie was finally big enough to make the walk there! It's such a wonderful place!

We walked by there the other evening and I had Mom take some photos! Here we are, on the approach:

IMG_6203MagsCamKSO
"There it is, everyone!  The Kansas Ocean!"
"Are you getting this, Mom?"

We just love taking in all the sights and sounds and smells as we cross over the trans-oceanic bridge:

IMG_6207MagsCamBridge
"Looks like we're here at low tide, Cam!"
"The water has been dreadfully low due to our drought."

The area has been built up a lot since the early days of the Kansas Ocean, but it's still a lovely spot to stop and just enjoy life! Mom often gets us to pose along the boardwalk:

IMG_6219MagsCamKSO
Maggie and me, on the boardwalk

So basically, our adventure-loving great-brother Zimmie wished for an ocean here in Kansas, then (eventually) BOOM, there was a body of water where one had not existed before!  It HAD to be the Kansas Ocean!

IMG_6214MagsCamKSO
"Complete with a trans-oceanic bridge and a boardwalk!"
"And you can even see across to the other side - so it's a very special ocean!!!"

And that's the story of how the Kansas Ocean came to be! I hope you enjoyed hearing about its history!

Cammie!

15 comments:

  1. we think it is so cool that you pups have the KSO complete with beach boardwalk :) Zim was pretty pawsome at discovering some fun things. You know, there is a raging river close behind our house...what's that mom? it's an irrigation canal? whatever...

    Pip, Smidgen, Minnie, HOllie

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  2. Loved hearing about the ocean! If you can't have a bigger one, at least you have this one. I love seeing your photos of the walks you take-there is always so many interesting thing to see.
    Sending wags, pets and kisses your way. May you have a wonderful weekend and Easter.
    Noreen & Hunter

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  3. Cool and BOL, BOL that is what we call any heavy equipment..Tonka Toys and we got some this morning making a racket way too early for us bed heads. Have a tremendous Thursday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  4. you are all very lucky to have that right in your back yard :)

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  5. We commented but then it went away......we are afreared to comment again, cos if it is really on here it will make our mom look even more stooped...anyway what we said was.....we always wondered how your ocean came to be, cos when we first became your bloggy friends Zim and Dave would talk about their ocean, and because my mom is a pretend blonde she even looked it up on the map, just in case, somewhere in Kansas there was a body of water by that name that she had never heard of........silly mom.....stella rose

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  6. We think it is so awesome that Zimmy wished the ocean into "being"!!
    We also love seeing you two looking so wonderful on the boardwalk, in the evening sun!!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  7. Ohhhh I LOVE IT!!!! Thank you for explaining it and for making me smile! I had just mentioned on Oz The Terrier's blog today and another one that lives by the ocean, how jealous I was. Now I don't have to be! We have the Michigan Ocean right in our apt/condo complex just like you have the Kansas Ocean!!!! I LOVE IT!!

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  8. Wow, how cool is that…you've got your very own OCEAN discovered by your intrepid explorer great-bro Zim.
    Thats one of those legends you pass down the generations isn't it, an ocean heirloom!
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

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  9. Your own personal ocean - what a great place to be able to visit

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  10. BRAVO..... WELL told and WELL explained..
    We Knew and Loved Davy in the Gravy and Zim... they were a couple of really FUN guys!!!!

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  11. We've known about the Kansas Ocean for a long time but we loved hearing the story again. Hi angel Zim♥

    Love ya lots♥
    Mitch and Molly

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  12. We loved learning about your Kansas Ocean!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  13. We love your ocean. We don't have any ocean near us but we do have a Great Lake!

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  14. "Army of Four Digest" has been included in our Sites To See #428. Be assured that we hope this helps to send many new visitors in your direction.

    http://asthecrackerheadcrumbles.blogspot.com/2015/04/sites-to-see-428.html

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  15. See...wishes do come true...it can happen to you! That is a wonderful Kansas Ocean and I am glad you all get to visit there often!
    Oz

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