I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come...and come..and come....

Day 22

We left Colorado with continental breakfasts in our bellies, a a full tank of gas, a freshly washed car. The western drive put so many bugs on our windshield we could hardly see. We're a bit disappointed to be leaving Colorado without passing through mountains, but home is calling.

Kansas is a drive we've been dreading all trip. The first impression is good, however. The visitors center is the most impressive we've seen, with tons of brochures on things to do. Strangely, we didn't find anything of interest to do here when we searched on the Internet. We grab some brochures and head out. We won't hit Kansas City until almost sundown, despite an early start.

...

Most states out west let you drive 75 mph, but Kansas slows you to 70. You need to slow down and see the corn...

I-70 stretches on forever...endlessly straight...

They're experiencing a heat wave today. It's hot in To-pe-ka...

At least the Garmin is working. We're heading East....

This makes east Wyoming scenery seem fascinating...

Suggested Slogan, "Kansas! We're in your way!"

We're changing drivers almost every hour. The scenery here just numbs your mind...

We drove across a stretch of highway where the stripes had been recently painted. The lines in the center were warped into s, comma and c shapes along a curving path. Whoever was running the painting machine clearly wasn't paying any attention to the road. Even the DOT falls asleep on this road...

There are signs here advertising free land for industries. They're giving this state away just to get people to come here...

See the five legged calf and the world's largest prairie dog...

We pass a camper towing a model T with a sticker that says, "Pike's peak."

Rest stop. Change Drivers...

Scanning brochures for things to see, we come across an advertisement for the biggest mall in west Kansas, with 25 stores!...

We pull off in Hayes for lunch. We're hoping for a nice local place, maybe some Kansas BBQ. The town is very quaint and picturesque. We drive all over looking for places to eat and end up at Long John Silver's...

Get me off of this highway...

Suggested motto, "The 'Oh my God I'm in Kansas' State!"

Still driving to Kansas City...

MarKay reads from a newsletter we got at the visitor center. A visitor talks about how much he loves coming to Kansas. He is a storm chaser...

Our windshield is covered with bugs again...

We pass a camper towing a model T with a sticker that says, "Pike's peak."

The whole state smells like cows...except where a skunk has died on the highway...

Rest stop, change drivers...

Actual brochure quote; come see the house Eisenhower was born in, "you'll be surprised how small and humble it is!"

Lot's of historical markers about pioneers and settlers. I wonder how many of them died trying to cross this state...

Every brochure advertises locations with "big city amenities, small town charm"...

A small change in scenery occurs ad we approach banks of wind generators. Like Texas, these are just west of Abilene. How I miss the spectacular scenery of west Texas...

We pass a camper towing a model T with a sticker that says, "Pike's peak." I'm driving on some kind of Mobius strip that loops back on itself without a noticeable beginning or end...

Rest stop, change drivers...

This state is so flat...so unnaturally and inescapably non-euclidean in its lack of dimension...

MarKay finishes the Lewis and Clark book Audrey gave us. Their long journey is at and end, but ours drags on...

This state is an argument for bullet trains. My soul is dying...

Keogh's horse, Comanche--lone survivor of the Little Big Horn Massacre--is here in a museum, stuffed. He survived Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, but he couldn't survive Kansas...

Rest stop, change drivers...

MarKay reads a road sign; This section of I-70 was the first piece of the interstate system completed in the US. Of all the places people wanted to get through quickly, they knew Kansas was the top priority...

Visit the Museum of Independent Telephony...

Leaving the highway at last! Garmin is going to route of north of Topeka to the airport in Kansas City, where are hotel is booked. Scenery at last!

Garmin lost satellite signal as soon as we left the highway. We are now lost in Kansas...

An hour later, we are still driving east toward Kansas City on back roads. The Garmin has not found signal in all this time. I will die in this state...

MarKay and I will soon fight to the death over what route to take...

Kill me now...

We arrive at the hotel at last. Garmin acquires signal long enough to announce that we have reached the hotel. If I owned this machine, I would smash it...

Wireless not working, won't be able to post tonight. What did I expect?