The Kansas bloody Benders

In an attempt to find more about Louise Brooks and her life in Kansas we stumbled on this little interesting museum with a fascinating and creepy Kansas history that had nothing to do with our search but it was interesting nonetheless.




Cherryvale Museum where we found out about the bloody Benders

Here you can find more information on this little interesting museum in Cherryvale, Kansas.
The bloody Benders had absolutely no relation to the life of Louise Brooks, besides the town of Cherryvale Kansas.
In the early 1870's, the Benders posed as a family of German immigrants, the older couple in their 60's, John and his wife only known as "ma", and their children, a young couple in their 20's known as John (also known as Thomas) and Katie.

Kate Bender, also self-proclaimed clairvoyant

John Bender, Jr.



Old Mrs. Bender, knows as "ma"

John Bender, Sr.





















The older couple spoke little English and the young couple spoke English with a heavy German accent.
They owed a small grocery store in the outskirts of Cherryvale, Kansas, precisely 50 miles north of the Oklahoma border.
The real relationship among the four was never certain or understood with clarity, some people say only the two women were related, some think they were truly son and daughter of the older couple but maintained an incestuous relationship others believe John Bender Junior (also known as Thomas) and Kate were actually a married couple with no blood ties.
They sold common grocery items of the time such as sardines, crackers, tobacco, candles and gun powder, they also provided meals for the travelers.

Katie Bender claimed she was clairvoyant and could cure the blind among other things

Their store's dinning area had a large table and a bench set strategically in front of a large cloth so they would lure some traveler who had money or valuables for a meal and when the person was distracted, one of them would hit the innocent person with a hammer to the head.

One of the Benders would hide behind a tarp that divided the room and attack the victim with a hammer



The Bender murders used in sexist criminologist opinion in the 1950's

Women more fiendish in crime, really? well, if you judge by some of my former female bosses... ok, just kidding! just kidding! and don't even think about leaving me hateful comments :)
No, really, I am just kidding! but I have had some evil witches as bosses in my past, I swear they were far meaner than any male boss I ever had, maybe just a coincidence, who knows!

The Benders would bury the bodies in their orchard and wait for the next victim with their valuables.

Many bodies were discovered at the Bender property's orchard

Until one day a prominent Doctor from Montgomery County, Dr. York, came looking for a man and his infant daughter who had disappeared in the previous winter, Dr. York was also murdered and never returned home, so his brother Col. A. M. York leading a party of fifty people came to the Cherryvale area looking for the Doctor, they passed several times by the Bender's cabin and didn't suspect a thing.
The Benders appeared innocent enough, went to church and town meetings and kept to themselves...
Looks can certainly be deceiving and I am always suspicious of people who go to church all the time anyway!
I even found a book about the Bender's saga.

Puck Geary's book on the bloody Benders Saga

You can find more about their creepy existence  HERE and HERE , we certainly found much more than we though we would in this sleepy little Kansas town, birthplace of Louise Brooks.


Ray

An unexpected detour into the life of Louise Brooks!

Gil asked me if just for fun we could drive thru the town where she was born, Cherryvale, Kansas and try to find the house her family used to live. He has read a lot about her life and heard a lot about her town in Kansas.
One of my true pleasures in life is to make Gil happy, so off our route we went, he was truly excited and so was I to see how much that meant to him.

Gil has always loved everything related to the 1920's, movies, fashion, music, art, architecture, cars and he has a had a quiet admiration for a great silent movie actress, Louise Brooks, who had a fascinating life, she popularized the bobbed haircut among many other things in the 1920's.

Pandora's box was Louise Brooks only true success in her silent movie career



Here  you can find a little bit more information on Louise Brooks and her importance to Hollywood.




Louise Brooks popularized the bobbed style haircut in the 1920's

Below is a regional map with Oklahoma and Kansas so you understand our detour driving back home to New England we usually would have to drive straight East or North East, but we took a detour straight NORTH right into the heart of Kansas.


Cherryvale, Kansas, birthplace of Louise Brooks

 We found Cherryvale and saw a typical town that had a boom growth in the 1920's and a decline later in the century, but many beautiful homes from the era remained standing and many in very good condition.

Louise Brooks family's home when she was born, Cherryvale, Kansas

The train station is still standing and it is operational, no longer offering passenger service but still has quite a bit of cargo trains in and out of town daily.

Cherryvale 1920's train station

Bustling cargo business still active thru Cherryvale, Kansas.

Finding Cherryvale and the house where Louise Books was born was fun and Gil was able to see the places he read so much about, it brought the stories up to life, it helped us understand what kind of background Louise Brooks had while growing up and made Gil super happy and excited.
While looking for Louise Brooks land marks, we found a museum with an interesting and creepy Kansas true story.


Returning home-no more MARRIOTT for us!

After two days dealing with a stubborn kidney stone, (that hasn't passed yet) an afternoon at the Hospital, Asparagus, Coca-cola overdose, White Bread , and many Oxycontin pills later I decided to get back to describing our WONDERFUL TRIP  to the Midwest in the early summer.
So, we drove my sister Deborah to Oklahoma City's Will Roger International Airport, had breakfast with her and watched until she was passed the security screening area.
For some reason, after my sister left, I actually started to realize how tired I was, we had stayed up all night talking to her on the last night she was here which was right after the deer accident and the horrible storm with Tornado threats and power outrage, I was in no condition to drive and neither was Gil.
I told Gil sitting in our car at the Airport's parking lot, find us a Marriott, I want to lock myself in a Hotel and sleep until I feel recovered enough to drive.
We have always stayed at Marriott's because they are everywhere and it is very comforting to be in a somewhat familiar place when you travel for work so often as I do, all over the world.
In return I have accumulated a gazillion points with them and can always stay free and have lots of perks at any Marriott family hotels.

I have grown bitter towards the Marriott chain after I watched the Mormon's fierce, persistent and HYPOCRITE declared WAR against gay rights, the Mormons of all religions should shut the hell up about marriage and try to fly under the radar, but I guess magic underwear and living isolated in the desert makes you silly and stupid like that, yeap, I am not easy on them bastards and have no respect for their disguised evil cult.
I will be using up all my Marriott points and switching to the Hilton family hotels ASAP.
See, the Marriott is owed by a Mormon family and I can't possibly keep supporting a company who have ties with people fighting against my family's basic human and civil rights, not fair to Okie, not fair to Gil, me or our future children.

Bye bye Marriott, Hello Hilton!

I have enjoyed Marriotts worldwide thru my work related travels for almost 20 years, Budapest, London, Rio, Sao Paulo ( I love the one a at Vila Nova Conceicao), my all time favorite East Side Marriott in New York city (the only one with a bidet-my Brazilian soul talking here), NO MORE Marriotts, sad, but necessary.
Now, all we are doing is taking advantage of all the points I collected and staying at Marriotts for free until I run out of them darn points.
Ok, so we checked into a Marriott closest to the Airport, Gil was driving, I was exhausted from screaming children, deer crashing into our truck, watching for Tornadoes and talking to Deborah all night, not to mention, we had been on the road for a whole week.
I rested my head on a pillow on Friday morning and never left the room until Monday afternoon.


Oklahoma City skyline

We ordered room service, pizza, chinese and even sushi.
I sleep the whole time, I never realized children made me so tired, Gil read and worked on his PC.

Bricktown area of Oklahoma City

On Monday Gil asked me to take a detour on our way back home, an exciting detour!

Being disbarred from the Gay kingdom?



Absolutely NO CARBS in the Gay Kingdom :)



Seriously, if our people (the gays) find out, we will be disbarred from the Gay kingdom for good.
We bought WHITE BREAD today, we haven't eaten white carbs in ages...

Gil's newest attempt to pass these darn kidney stones, we are desperate, can't you tell?

God help us!

Gil read on the Internet today that WHITE BREAD and CRACKERS with Mayonnaise will help you pass the darn stones, so off to Stop & Shop, our local grocery store to purchase items never found inside our pantry.

Crackers with Mayo should help you pass kidney stones

Yesterday's Coca-Cola/Asparagus diet did move the stones a bit, he could actually tell they moved from the left side of his abdomen to the middle, so we hope they are on the way out.
So, today, I had to throw out the rest of the 6 cans from the Coke 12 pack case out into the drains, our drains will be running great now, we don't usually drink soda, much less regular, with that much Corn Syrup.
Today, the saga continues, white bread with Mayo, crackers with mayo, and mint tea, that is the diet of the day.




This is the only item I could find in my pantry from today's attempt to pass Gil's kidney stones


He is feeling much better, the narcotics for pain are a real blessing, I need to remember to say a prayer to Oxycontin before I go to bed tonight.
It's amazing how Okie seems to understand what is going on, he always, ALWAYS is super excited to come  ride in the car with me, even if I am going for a short trip to the grocery store, he will want to come with me.




Okie is always ALWAYS ready to go everywhere with me! Not today!





 

 NOT YESTERDAY, NOT TODAY, I couldn't believe my eyes, but he stood next to Gil the whole time, as if he was saying:
-YOU GO, I will watch him and make sure he is OK.

Okie refused to leave Gil behind today! He was clearly torn between the car ride and his duty as a loyal companion!

These are the times I start to think and wonder for how long in history of human kind these little creatures (dogs and cats) have been around us, bonding, developing a strong relationship and taking care of us at times like when we are weak and or sick.
I love our dog OKIE and I always want to have a dog near me.
Now, let's hope we can pass these darn stones and finish this white bread quickly before our secret is out to the community and we get disbarred, whatever that means, have our speedos, gym membership and anything with the rainbow flag confiscated! (Not that you would find any of those things at our household, we are not your typical gays remember!)   ; )






God forbid our secret is revealed to our people



I had this weary feeling today that everyone was looking at me and they knew I was doing something wrong!

 
Ray

Tough guy rushed to the Emergency room!

Gil woke me up this morning and told me we had to go to the Hospital ASAP!
I had chills running down my spine, because he hates Hospitals, doctors, medicine, needles and will pass out before I realize there is something wrong with him, he is really tough with pain.
When he called me this morning with a plead to drive him to the ER I knew it was serious.
I jumped out of bed and was ready in less than 2 minutes.
I filled Okie's (our dog) water on the way out, kissed him good morning, he licked my nose and I couldn't miss the scared look in his little eyes, I had to lie to assure him "Esta TUDO BEM, Okie!" "Esta tudo bem!", he understands half English and half Portuguese and this is one of the things we tough him in Portuguese, when he can relax we say "It's all right" in Portuguese, "Esta tudo bem!"
I was out the door driving Mr.Tough Guy to the ER closest to our home in about 5 minutes.
It was pouring down, a very heavy rain and very windy, I had to hold the steering wheel with both hands, we got to the closest Hospital in 6 minutes, according to our GPS, I didn't even know where our local Hospital was until today once Gil only goes to his favorite doctor in Cambridge, close to downtown Boston.
It turns out he had Kidney Stones, I will write more about our experience today on my next post, but here goes a recipe to help you pass kidney stones.





Gil has one large one that has passed half way thru and several other little ones...

  His doctor gave pain strong pain pills ( narcotics) and anti nausea medication and sent us home, he is supposed to drink a lot of fluids and wait for the stones to pass, ouch!
This is in no way medical advice of any kind, it is simply what we found on the Internet and decided to follow ourselves to see if it helps Gil pass his stones and a way to kill time while the darn little boulders take their sweet little time.

Ingredients:

6 cans of Classic Regular Coke ( it can't be diet)



You should drink the cokes at room temperature, 6 cans in 2 hours


1 Bunch of Raw Asparagus




Enough Asparagus to produce 8 ounces in the puree form


How to:

Gil needs to drink 6 cans of coke within 2 hours.
At the end of the 2 hours he needs to drink the Asparagus, steamed and pureed.
I am running the cooked Asparagus thru the Food Processor (Centrifuga).
He will be drinking the 8 ounces of Asparagus puree at the end of his Classic Coke Marathon
You are supposed to expect to be home the following day in case you have the runs, if you know what I mean.
Let's keep our fingers crossed, we are in for an Oxycontin, Classic Coke, kidney stones marathon tonight!


Ray

You Killed "Bambi"!

On our last full day in Oklahoma our friends invited us over to the "Quartz Mountain Lake Park" in Altus, OK, an awesome place known by the locals as Altus Lake, the park is around a large reservoir type lake.
My Oklahoma family from my exchange student days rented cabins or stayed at the lodge at Altus Lake and had family reunions almost every summer so this place brought me great memories.
Among those great memories, are those of when my Brazilian family came to visit Oklahoma more than once in the 90's, we all had a great time, fishing, playing bridge, poker, Farko (Gil's favorite), plus GO KARTS and jet ski rides during the day.
Before we left for the park I realized how much of a spoiled big city girl my sister really is when she asked me to run to town and grab her a MAC Technakohl liner, (color JADE WAY) while she jumped in the shower...
Me-Deb!
Sister-Yes dear...
Me-What is "MAC"?
Sister- It's a popular brand of make up, my favorite...
Me-Oh, ok, and you need an eye liner? Jade Green?
Sister-Yes, but it has to be a "Technakohl liner", "Jade Way"! don't you get the Jade Green eye liner, I have that one, I need "Jade Way" which is a type of green with frost...I lost mine in that little road side Motel in Memphis.
Me- hmmm, I don't think they sell that at Walmart...
Sister-Why would you buy make up at Walmart?
Me-well, it is the only store in town...
Sister-THE ONLY STORE?
Me-Yes, Thank God there is a Walmart this far west into the middle of God forsaken no where Oklahoma...
Sister-UGH! OMG, Ok, I guess I will have to use my blue one until my connection in New York sometime tomorrow in the afternoon.
Me-Yes, that is probably better.
Sister-Jeez, I would have to stock up in MAC products if I ever lived here...
Me-Yes, well, maybe, no, you would learn to buy whatever is available at your local Walmart...
Sister-Oh God I love Sao Paulo!


Yes, Deb, that is a real gun with the 8 year old, this is rural America...


Our Brazilian grandmother spent many vacations in Oklahoma when she was younger, she absolutely loved the GO KARTS, she always raced us all and won, time after time, she has always had a young spirit, she took us to "Rock in Rio" in 1985 and "Rock in Rio II" in 1991, she is awesome that way.
One of the reasons we enjoy Oklahoma so much besides our great friends are the animals, miniature donkeys, horses and even the cows, yes, we love cows, our friends cows have names and we get to feed them and do fun things around the farms.




Beverly, my Oklahoma mom putting Scotty, my best friends son on top of a mini donkey




Mama donkey Sofia and her baby donkey Chico at our friends farm in Oklahoma, they love carrots :)





"Lucy" the dog checking on the first miniature horse born in the farm "Pedro" and his mama horse "Dorothy"


Our Oklahoma friends are blue in the face OSU Pokes fans, they have OSU Tiffany lamps, Orange Christmas trees, Christmas ornaments, bed spreads, OSU Pool table, Bath towels, mouse pads, Shirts, pajamas, socks, glassware, toys, you name it, they go all the way decorating the house during game season, like right now, ok, we lost last week, but they had a blast just decorating the house.
My Oklahoma mom used to spend an average of U$1000.00 in OSU merchandise every time she visited Stillwater, OSU's headquarters, they saw that as a way to support the school and have fun while doing it, it is catchy, I will tell you the orange blood will be running in your veins before you know it.
My all time favorite Oklahoma gift received from Beverly, my Oklahoma mom, is a hand made wooden horse and wagon-music box that plays "Oklahoma" , ok, ok, my music box sounds more like this "Oklahoma", but the music stays in my brain for days every time I hear it, I love Oklahoma, this song has a special meaning to me, all the people I love, friends that I shared great happy moments, tragedies, births, deaths, marriages, dear loyal friends for life, many vacations and a huge part of my life since I was 17 years old up to this day.
Ok, back to the day at the park (jeez, I can side track like it's nobodies business), I am lucky I am not a child of today or I would be raised on Ritalin or whatever they give children for attention deficit disorder these days, so, focus, we decided to go to Altus Lake's amusement park and take the children on rides, we had the entire little park all to ourselves, we were in a group of 14 people so it was perfect to fill the rides, have fun and at the same time there were no lines, it was great.
It got dark around 8 pm, we were all exhausted from racing the GO KARTS and playing around all afternoon, so we got all the children in the cars, my best friend from my High School days brought his 3 kids to ride in the Expedition with Deborah, Gil and I, we had a full car of screaming children and people chatting away...I tell you, I don't know how you parents do it, 5 minutes with children in the car and I am dreaming of a Valium pill and a Margarita.
Well, before I could finish spelling Margarita in my day dream wish, driving about 30 miles per hour, a pack of about 5 deers jumped out of the woods right on the side of our car, it was starting to rain, I slammed on the brakes but there was no way to avoid them, they actually hit us from the side.
All the were crying and screaming, "UNCLE RAY KILLED BAMBI"... it was a surreal moment, it felt as if it all happened in slow motion.
Two deers actually hit us, one slid across the front wet hood and kept running into the woods and the other hit my front driver's side headlights and fog light...the deer kept running into the woods, we didn't see them again, so we assumed they were ok, it was another story trying to convince the children that mean uncle Ray had not murdered BAMBI or his mama, UGH!
I was really shaken up, we checked the truck, the only apparent damage was one busted fog light and a slightly crooked bumper, the car was perfectly drivable, we were starving, so we headed to town looking for a place to eat.
As we drove off the park, a typical fierce Oklahoma spring storm developed and believe it or not, distracted us from what had just happened, the lightening, thunder and wind really scared Deborah, not used to  Tornado alley type storms, Gil and I were much more concerned than just scared, we knew the real danger of a Tornado in Oklahoma during that time of the year.
We were just outside of town but it felt like an eternity to drive 10 miles thru such strong wind, I had to hold the Expedition's steering wheel firmly with my two hands, had the radio on for weather emergency updates and didn't blink my eyes with every lightning in case we spotted a Tornado in the dark.
Deborah wanted to eat at Applebee's, not our first choice of restaurants, we would go with a local hole in the wall joint, but she wanted to compare with the Brazilian Applebee's, so we managed to relax a little, have a nice meal and catch our breath to take the road again back to our friends place some 30 miles away.
To our surprise, the town of Hobart was completely in the dark, we were supposed to pack and get the car ready to drive to the Airport, Deborah was catching her flight out of Oklahoma City at 6 am the next morning, so she finished packing with flash lights and candles.
We left in the wee hours of the morning, headed to the Airport, had breakfast with Deborah after she checked in and got a Hotel room in Oklahoma city to rest and get ready to start our LOOOONG 3 day drive up to New England.
We love Oklahoma and you can tell us it's not a natural choice or ideal vacation spot for a Brazilian gay couple from New England, but we are not your typical Brazilians or typical gays for that matter and we will take a lazy day at an Oklahoma farm over an exotic beach any day.

Bye "Dunkin Donuts Lattes", Hello "Sonic Cherry Limeades"

Driving from Memphis to Oklahoma went smooth, Gil and Deborah chatted the whole way, made me laugh and kept me awake, not to mention a whole group of friends who were keeping up with us via facebook and sending messages of encouragement with each state line conquered in the middle of the night, I will tell you, traveling in the age of facebook and smart phones is a whole new experience, a good one for sure.
It used to be that the further we got from New England the harder it was to find good coffee, I mean, that is a matter of taste, I know, but in Gil's eyes, good coffee means coffee extracted from an ESPRESSO maker period, Cappuccino, Latte whatever, it has to be made from Espresso, we are big city people, not snobs, we need our real coffee, we had always called the typical American coffee, dirty water, until we started traveling away from the east coast and had no options for coffee but the good ol'dirty watered down coffee served on road side cafes across America, it was definitely another level of getting acquainted with our new country's culture.
However, back on the east coast, all Dunkin Donuts have had Espresso makers for many years now, however as you get west of Pennsylvania it gets harder to find our favorite beloved Dunkin Donuts.

My so loved New England addiction



The best thing to happen in Massachusetts since Boston Harbor's Tea Party


And we would like to take this moment to thank our Sweet Baby Jesus for the best news for travelers in America since the invention of Highways, ALL MC DONALD'S in the US have ESPRESSO MAKERS, ( not yet in Canada as we later found out)  from sea to shining sea, from California to the New York Island, you will now find and enjoy your lattes and Cappuccinos made the right way with powerful espresso makers. There is a God!   :)




Now from California to the New York Island from sea to shining sea  :)


Dunkin Donuts is always our first choice but they get scarce somewhere in Ohio. Starbucks is horrible and expensive, so it is our last resort. McDonald's new line of coffees is just right and you can find it everywhere.
We are familiar with most of the speed traps along this route, we learned the hard way over the years and they start at the Oklahoma state line, if you are driving on I-40 in Missouri the speed limit is 75mph, as soon as you hit the Oklahoma state line the speed limit drops to 65mph and there is a Police cruiser hiding behind a road sign, just like you have seen in the movies hundreds of times. You really need to pay attention at your speeds in Oklahoma, as well as Florida for that matter, but that is subject for a whole other post.
One thing I have always loved when I crossed the Oklahoma state line is finding a Sonic every mile, ok, not every mile, mile, but they are everywhere and where I can find a Sonic I can find Cherry Limeades and Tater Tots...not exactly a healthy food, but it reminds me of my High School days and it's in my opinion one of life's simple delicious pleasures.

Sonic Cherry Limeade



Sonic Tater Tots


In New England for some strange DMA (Designated Market Areas) mishap they advertise the hell out Sonic but you can't find one within 750 miles from Boston, it drives me crazy to see Cherry Limeades and Tater Tots on TV everyday knowing there are no Sonics around here!
Back to our driving, our mother made asked us to give trip updates via Facebook often, our parents have always made us keep in touch often.
We always felt protected when our parents know where we are, sometimes we called and all laughed together on the speaker phone, we really love our mother and wish she was healthy enough to enjoy these moments on the road with us, facebook and skype is keeping us close for now and we are thankful for that.
The next few days we did what we always do in Oklahoma, we enjoyed family and friends, we ate delicious home cooked meals, visited some great friends from my high school days, drove our obnoxiously large 4X4 SUV on some awesome trails and into creeks, we had a great time.
Many friends invited us over for barbecue or just to sit by the fire and drink beers, eat pizza and remember stories from our High School days, Gil and Deborah learned a lot of fun stuff even I had forgotten about those days when we all used to drink ... a lot...and do silly things only 18 year olds can do.
Deborah drove a combine and harvested wheat and had a blast!
Yeap, the girl who rides the subway to work everyday, enjoys wearing MAC and L'Occitane took off her high heels and climbed up on a combine to harvest wheat. She drove it for about a whole hour at sunset and took some amazing pictures of the wheat fields, the mountains and the sunset.
Gil and I picked ripe apricots and plums from our friends orchards, we made homemade jelly and learned all about canning it so we could bring it home to New England.
We never tasted apricots that good, I had known Oklahoma wild plums for a long time, but I didn't remember how fresh Apricots could taste so good.
Gil would sit under the apricot trees with a book and eat fresh apricot and read for hours, we would completely forget about him...he loves to go stealth sometimes, it's his so needed alone time.
Deborah panicked for a couple hours when she realized her cell phone and laptop had no signal, but she relaxed and went with the flow when we got her hooked up via land line at the farm, she is not paranoid but she was running her business via cell phone and laptop the whole trip so her managers could contact her if they had any troubles back in Sao Paulo.
Yeah, you can get Espresso coffee in far Western Oklahoma but God forbid you need your 3G network to have any signal, good luck.
That reminded me that when we were kids and went on vacations, our father would be completely OUT of touch with his work, no contacts with the office what-so-ever...no Blackberries or cell phones in the 70's and  80's, there were advantages and disadvantages to the way things were in my opinion.
The main advantage was that our father would completely change his mood for the better as the vacation progressed, he was 100% there with us, no interruptions.

Today, we have technology on our side with all the interruptions, however, we can take more vacations  because we can manage our businesses from a distance in great details and we learned how to multitask, well, some of us did.
I was amazed to find out dentists were emailing Deborah patients x-ray's and she would be able to analyse them and write reports and email them back quickly so the work never stopped in her Sao Paulo clinic just because she was away having fun in the plains west of the Mississippi, all happening in real time.
We would continue about our vacation day without a glitch, you gotta love technology, it will free you if you put it to work for you!