photo courtesy of Maddie
When I was little, maybe either in 1978 or 1983, my parents traveled to Kansas for my dad's high school reunion in El Dorado where he grew up until he moved away to Ohio just before his senior year. When they came back, I have distinct memories of my mama making a Very Big Deal about how awful driving through Kansas was: flat, boring, awful, you name it. I've never been in Kansas until today (NEW STATE FOR MY LIST!!!) and as we were driving through, I realized I was driving with an odd feeling of apprehension as I waited for the terrible to present itself. And then I realized I have lived on or near the plains for so many years it just looked normal to me, and that my mama who lived in Ohio her whole life simply wasn't used to it. Haha.
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We did NOT have the urge to stop and see the Biggest Prairie Dog in the World (eeek!) or the five-legged cow (double eeek!) along the way today. Or the baby pigs and live rattlesnakes advertised by roadside sign as an exciting attraction.
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I have never heard of Fort Hays State before, but it is very well promoted throughout the interstate system. Actually, I've decided all Kansas colleges and universities are very well promoted throughout the interstate system. I have never seen so many higher education billboards in my life.
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I thought a lot about Grandma and Grandpa Rinehart today while I was driving.
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Ellie (poor sweet Ellie who suffered through five days in the kennel wondering if we were yet another family to abandon her) was a little perplexed about this drive we went on, because she associates car time with Medicine Bow National Forest, Curt Gowdy State Park, and Vedawoo. But she was so happy to be back with us she played along nicely.
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It took all I could do not to bail on the plan and veer off the road to visit Little Sweden about an hour before we stopped for the night. Another time, Lindsborg, Kansas, another time.
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We're staying at the Homewood Suites in Wichita. It is a fabulously wonderful dog-friendly hotel. As I was explaining to Deanna, after Ella died we made the conscious decision never to stay at another cat-friendly dive hotel ever again. Dogs are far more popular on the hotel circuit than cats... Ellie even got a gift bag. Heh.
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Tomorrow: leaving the wheat fields of Kansas, driving to the humidity of Louisiana. Hopefully I won't be off the grid too long!
