Saturday, July 22nd, 2023

Starting mileage: 10,022, Distance travelled: 581

Miles walked: 2

Our goal for today was to get as many miles behind us from Colorado Springs toward St. Louis as possible. Much of the day was spent driving through Kansas, a seemingly endless prairie with farmland and ranch land sprinkled in. We captured some photos to share the essence of Kansas. We did see several wind farms including this first one which was raising a baby windmill.

The most exciting thing that happened was a lane closure.

Actually, another more exciting thing happened, which knowing the history of tornados in Kansas and having seen storm shelters in truck stops, did worry us. A approaching thunderstorm turned the sky an ominous gray, but aside from a short period of heavy rain, we successfully outran it.

The Roadside America website tipped us off to the only landmark on the trip, “Sh-Wheat Jesus,” a billboard of Jesus holding wheat.

One redeeming quality of Kansas was the relatively clear highway, allowing us to maintain the 75 mph speed limit through much of the state. We stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn in Overland Park, KS, just south of Kansas City, MO, which meant we didn’t quite escape Kansas before the end of the day. We went out to Q39 South and had some of the best barbecue we’d ever had and also delicious local beer.