Catch up: Missouri and Kansas

So, we are currently in Colorado! We arrived yesterday (Monday) in the early evening and we've had a great stay here so far. We haven’t had any internet connection in a few days, but I was writing a bit as we went along. I only have a few minutes to be online, so today I'm just going to post my (previously-written) account of our trip from Hannibal MO through Kansas and into eastern Colorado, which took place over Sunday and Monday (8/21-8/22). Later in the week, I'll do some more writing and make an entry all about this beautiful, beautiful place known as Colorado.

The Mark Twain Riverboat, Hannibal MO

We left Missouri on Sunday morning bright and early. It was foggy but the Mississippi was beautiful, at least from our vantage point at Lover's Leap, a cliff outside of town. The story (naturally) goes that forbidden lovers (an Indian warrior and a princess from a different tribe) were chased here, and chose to jump to their death rather than be separated. It was very romantic for me and Kels, but we had to move on before the fog burned off to get to Kansas City for the Sox game.

Lover's Leap, Hannibal MO

So although we were taken with the town of Hannibal, we kept on truckin, and it was really only a short (but beautiful ride) all the way through Missouri from end to end (We started at the Illinois boarder and went straight through to KC on the Kansas boarder. We made it in about 3.5 hours). The rolling green hills and vast farmlands of Missouri were so beautiful and three dimensional, spotted with trees and going on as far as the eye can see. I sort of fell in love with it.

Kauffman Stadium, home of the KC Royals

We got to Kauffmann Stadium right on time at around 12:30pm, purchased some sweet left field tickets at the gate, and settled into the Midwestern sunshine, FACE FIRST, to watch Jon Lester and the Red Sox handily beat the Royals, 6-1. We worked on our tans while cheering on our team- it felt like it was about a million degrees as we melted in the heat of the day, but eventually the sun went down a bit, we moved into the shade, and got to enjoy a nice afternoon out of the car. Lots of Sox fans in Kansas City.

The game got out around 4:30pm, and looking forward, our next true destination was Dillon, CO, a town in the Rockies where I have an old friend. Unfortunately Dillion is about 10 hours from Kansas City. This is where the story gets kind of interesting. I knew ahead of time that it was going to be best if we could get a jump on the drive to Colorado and make some progress after the game, so I researched if there were any good parks around the area of Rt 70 going through Kansas. Turns out there is one, and it's Kansas' largest National Park, called Kanopolis (on Kanopolis Lake). It is smack dab in the middle of nowhere, but very beautiful, and about another 3.5 hours west of Kansas City. It was getting late but we decided to go for it, and we raced the sun all the way there. Once again got to our destination just in time to see the sun going down over the lake. GORGEOUS.

Sunset in Kansas

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to enjoy the scenery for very long, as we had to quickly figure out where the campgrounds were in this absolutely MASSIVE park and camping area. We found the sites I had read about just in time to set up our tents in the last of the daylight. Although the campground was well-developed, the area felt more or less deserted. There were a few RVs with horse trailers down the way from us, but we sorta felt like we were all alone- not a good feeling. It was a Sunday night, and the weather was looking questionable, and I think that's why it was so quiet. With the exception of dozens of white-tailed deer, roaming around everywhere you looked, we didn’t actually ever see any life up close. It was unsettling. It was also 80 degrees at 10pm, and we really didn’t want to seal ourselves into our sweltering tent, but we had to retreat in order to get away from the beetles (giant junebugs?) divebombing our lights. They even continued to try to get to the light through the tent, so we had to shut out our lantern and just...pretend to be tired. Really we were both actively trying to keep the creepy “we made a mistake” feelings to a minimum. Needless to say, it wasn’t our most comfortable night. But we both managed to sleep eventually, and when we woke up in the morning, safe and sound, we saw the sun rise. Then we promptly hit the road, anxious to leave Kansas and the memory of Kanopolis behind us.

Thank the Lord Baby Jesus

400 miles later, and we finally did cross into Colorado. Another 100 miles and we were in Denver, finally done with the endless miles of plains, and we began our climb into the Rockies. It’s unbelievable how they crop up out of nowhere- you’ve been driving on a straight and flat road for like, 500 miles- and suddenly you’re at 9,000 feet of elevation.

As we climbed, the temperature dropped from an oppressive 90 degrees down to the low 70s, the breeze picked up, and the air really felt so clear it was like breathing for the first time. Dillon, where my old friend Jess Plourde lives, is a sweet little ski town just about an hour west of Denver. It's absolutely spectacular. We've had an amazing 24 hours here so far, but I'll save that account for the next story, as we'll be in Colorado for a while and I'm sure I'll have more to share about it in a few days.

Unbelievably, we only have 8 days left. We plan to see about 5 more big national parks in Colorado, Utah and Arizona. I'll hopefully be able to access the internet again tomorrow night or Thursday :) Until then, know that I'm missing and loving all my east-coast people from here, about 2200 miles away from home, but I'm really happy to be here and looking forward to the rest of the trip. Much love to all... xo Cory