On the Trips to Kansas

Growing up, my family would often take road trips to Kansas to see family. My Mother and Grandmother were born in Kansas so most of my Mom's family was there, including my Great Grandmother.
My family and Grandparents would caravan all the way there. My Grandparents in their big red conversion van, and my parents in our white minivan. As a little girl it was obviously more fun to ride with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma definitely spoiled us and would bring lots of snacks, candies and drinks. Including mud tea, a family variation of lemon tea, which tasted delicious but made for very frequent potty breaks.
When we would finally get to Kansas we would stay at Great Grandma's house, in her finished basement. Two things I always remember about her house are her grandfather clock and her old TV in the basement. The grandfather clock would play a song on the hour and always startled me because I wasn't used to it. The TV downstairs was old, really old. One particular trip we took we watched a documentary on a type of ant that could kill humans. It scared me so badly I had nightmares and didn't want to watch TV for a while. I was also skeptical of all ants for a while, just to be on the safe side.
We always had fond memories of staying with Great Grandma Stucky. She loved to bake and cook, even in her old age. As per our tradition, every trip we took to visit her, at least one day she would make sugar pancakes for breakfast. A thin crepe that we would lay out on our plates, literally coat in sugar, roll up and eat. Okay so they weren't the healthiest option, but it was tradition and they tasted amazing.
And you can never leave Kansas without stopping at a little German buffet called the breadbasket. It's only fitting that a German family like and eat German food, and this was the best place to get it! All your favorite, traditional German food in one buffet. I can remember most of the family getting together and sitting in the back room of the restaurant, casually offending everyone around us because of our noise. It's hard not to offend other people when most of the people in the family "yell-talk" which means their "normal" speaking tone is a yell. And screaming is just raising your voice a little bit. I'm so sorry to anyone who ever got stuck near our tables...
Good thing they're family!!