Monday, July 11, 2011

the davenport trail – day 9

We had decided the night before (last night in fact since I’ve finally caught up to myself and we are still experiencing Day 9 as I work on this post) that we wouldn’t try to push through to Colorado today.  The reasoning for this was twofold: 1) there are no Hampton Inns in Colorado until you hit the one in Parker that we’re going to stay in for a few days before our stuff arrives and 2) why should we drive a ton today and have a short drive tomorrow when we could just have 2 even days that wouldn’t be too rough.

As a result we probably took too much time getting out of the hotel and getting to the Kansas Cache Across America.  It unfortunately was nearly 11am and already over 90 degrees out when we went looking for it.  The complicating factor of CAAs is that you need a photo to document it so I couldn’t just send Will off on his own and hang out in the car.  So he put the babe in the Ergo and I dug out my running shoes and off we went.

DSC_6324 DSC_6325
Will’s checking the coordinates and then sets off.
DSC_6326
DSC_6329
DSC_6331
A thistle. 
DSC_6335
This part of our search was not fun.  Those grasses were high and sharpish. 
DSC_6336
Yay! He found it!  All that heat was worth it… well, I guess so anyway. 
DSC_6337
This was supposed to show all the sweat that was pooling in the sunshade of the Ergo.

After this we took a long lunch break at Panera for everyone to cool off so we didn’t end up actually leaving Manhattan until like 12:30.

The wind turbines along the side of the road were our excitement for awhile.
DSC_6343 
DSC_6346 

We stopped at a random rest area to feed the baby and from the behavior of others it would appear that it is perfectly acceptable to wander around rest stops without any shoes on.  GROSS!

But there was kind of a neat rundown house that I walked over to take pictures of.
DSC_6349
DSC_6351
Given the state of the rest stop, Will elected to use a somewhat secluded picnic bench as a diaper changing station.  DSC_6352
DSC_6353
Her resting face is one of mild concern and/or befuddlement.

DSC_6354
So… the interstate decided to be only one lane in either direction… at least it was only temporary for road construction but still odd. DSC_6355
Proof that Kansas is boring. 
DSC_6359
We saw this guy twice.  If you can’t tell it’s a semi-trailer tow truck towing not 1 but 2 similar tow trucks AND a Jeep Liberty.  I found this highly amusing.  Clearly, I am overwhelmed by boredom. 
DSC_6360
Nom, nom, hands taste yummy…
DSC_6363
But this is more what I do. 
DSC_6365
Will’s been doing most of the driving.  He’s my hero. 
DSC_6366
DSC_6367
We finally got smart and decided to use a cart.
DSC_6369
Baby’s not supposed to look at screens… oh no!
DSC_6372
Will’s running from the storm after finding a cache in the Wal-Mart parking lot. 
DSC_6373
The storm approaching. 
DSC_6376
The view from the hotel in one direction is just, you guessed it, more corn.  The other direction is the interstate. DSC_6377
Accommodations in the Hampton Inn in Colby, KS – an actual porta-crib.

No comments:

Post a Comment