There are two reasons for this. Either A: I-70 is just more fun to drive than I-80, which is what I am choosing to believe. Or B: Because I took the longer way I added an extra day which gave me time to stop and smell the roses more frequently, which is much more likely. Whichever it is, here is the story:
That is my chosen path. I didn't use my GPS until I got lost in Columbus. Most of the time I just followed signs, my atlas, and my heart. A good road trip doesn't use a GPS. This is what I've decided.
The beginning was just the same as usual. Go through Wyoming, stop in Little America and get an ice cream cone. I changed this up too and went with Vanilla. It's so easy for me to choose chocolate every time that I've realized I'm missing out the tastiness of Vanilla. I didn't regret it.
I've never driven through Colorado myself before, I've just been a passenger when Dad drove so from here on out everything was new.
I stopped at the Welcome Center to get advice on roads to take info on where to stay. I was basically shooting from the hip this whole trip, which I also don't regret. Can I just say now that Welcome Centers are AWESOME. We stopped at these a lot with FoodPlay and they are always super nice and helpful. The old man gave me this Colorado hat. Such a sweetie.
I had decided to camp out one night and the first night was as good as any. So I went to a KOA just as it was starting to get dark. Unfortunately they don't rent tents and I didn't have one. "That's ok, I'll sleep under the stars." As you might remember, sleeping in my car was SO not an option. We all know that no matter how nice the day is, if you camp it will rain. So I draped a blanket over the picnic table and crawled under it with my sleeping bag. That was to stop any drizzle that may occur. What actually came is what I like to call a downpour. And it didn't stop. As soon as my blanket was soaking wet I decided to get an early start. I shoved my soaking blanket into my packed full car, getting many other things wet in the process and started out at 3:30 AM or so. I didn't get any pictures of any of that for some reason. I guess I was thinking of other things. Driving through that downpour I realized how bad it was. I actually had to pull over and wait it out until I realized it was going the same direction that I was. I ended up driving through it like 3 times that day because whenever I stopped it would catch up to me.
I did get to see the sun rise over Kansas. It was very pretty.
In a small town in Kansas I stopped and took a nap on a blanket in the park. Until the storm caught up with me again of course.
Then I drove til Wamego, Kansas where I hit the OZ Museum!
It was me and one other girl in the museum. Along with a figure of every main character, they also had a lot of really cool information. There was a special case for Sep 11 that had dolls from the store that were sent on 9/10 and an obituary of Judy Garland from 1969 that was found in the wreckage. They believe that one of the workers building the towers was reading the paper that day and left it folded to her obituary inside the walls. Crazy. I tried to look up the story to provide a link but I couldn't find it.
This is the Good Witch. I had to take a picture because it was so creepy.
Yes I definitely set up my camera and took a picture of myself in the museum.
After that I took a smaller highway for a while through small Kansas towns. This is me at an old historic site, but I just wanted a picture of me in Kansas with Corn fields in the background.
In Independence, Missouri I took a tour in the visitors center. My tour guide was a Sister Missionary from Australia so we talked a lot about our missions, the Pacific, and of course, the Pioneers. They have one of the first Editions of The Book of Mormon there, which I was excited to see. She also loved my camping story.
Before I left I checked out the corner stones that were laid for the temple just across the street from our Visitors Center. These are just replicas. In the background is the Church of Christ Temple.
As I drove across "Middle America" I wanted to listen to Little House on the Prairie but it wouldn't work. Instead I listened to Anne of Green Gables and LOVED IT. We all love the movie, but you must read the book. I recommend listening to it because of the way everyone talks. It was so good.
My goal was to get to St. Louis but I got tired too soon so I stayed in a Motel 6. I wanted to get an early start but I accidentally slept in. That didn't prevent me from stopping when I saw this looming at me from the Interstate.
It wasn't planned but I pulled over at the Arches in St. Louis. It was a beautiful morning on the banks of the Mississippi and they had old music playing. So fun. I randomly got a parking spot on the street right in front of the arch. I still don't know if it was legal but a lot of people were parking there and nobody got tickets.
You can take a ride to the top but I didn't do that because of $$ and also time. The line was like an hour and a half wait. I did wait 20 minutes to get in to the museum and look around. St. Louis was the last stop before the wild frontier for a lot of years. It wasn't just trappers and gold diggers that left from here but also the Mormon Pioneers. The museum had a lot of stories and quotes about going forth and paving their own way. In a cheesy way I can say I'm doing that too. I'm venturing out into the world to make my own way even when I know a lot of things and people are going to try to stop me.
Here I am in front of the Mississippi River. The bridge over to Illinois in the distance.
I wanted to stop for authentic food at this point but got lost trying so I changed my mind. Not worth it.
From there on I basically had to hurry because all of my stops had put me behind. I had hoped to make it to Cleveland by 6:30 that evening.
I ended up getting there around 10:30. I unloaded my one bag and the important valuables and went to bed. Until Sept 3 I will be driving around in my crammed Jeep. I am staying in company housing until my apartment is available. Oh how I am counting down the days.
In all I'd say it was a very successful trip. Places were seen, experiences were had, people were met. And a tent is on my list of things to buy.
