Day 3 - Topeka to Boulder

I hate Kansas.

So we left Topeka around 10:30am after getting some Panera and hitting up Wal-Mart. At first the scenery was actually really pretty, until we got to the middle of the state. Then wheat fields abounded. Luckily, we passed the time playing the cow game. If you have never played the cow game before, the point of the game is to locate the most cows. If you see a group of cows, you yell “COW!” and estimate how many cows are there, which are your points. If you pass a cemetery, someone yells “DEAD COW!” and everyone else’s points are erased. We also passed the time by locating hilarious signs throughout the state, such as the “Pornography kills families” billboard right next to the adult megastore.

We also got distracted by several roadside attractions. Hunter and Fraser decided to set off fireworks in some random abandoned farm. We then decided to go to Lucas, KS where we saw the Garden of Eden (www.garden-of-eden-lucas-kansas.net) and the Worlds Largest Collection of the Worlds Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things. I don’t understand how people aspire to do these things. Anyway, on the way there we had a little run-in with the po-po. So we’ve ben driving 85-90mph pretty much the entire trip. As we’re driving on a 65mph road, I say “you know, I’m really surprised we haven’t been pulled over yet.” LITERALLY a second later, we pass a sheriff. He turned around. Fraser got a ticket.

We also decided to stop at Prarie Dog World. There we found a huge cage of rattlesnakes and a field full of prarie dogs, goats, raccoons, coyotes, peacocks, boars, baby pigs, sheep, and cows. They had 2 6-legged cows and a 5-legged cow. It was strange.

We hit a storm on the way out of Kansas. It started pouring, and it was so windy that my windshield wipers were pulling off of my windshield, thereby not wiping water away. The sky looked like something you would see on a storm chasers show. I booked it to try to get the hell out of the state, because I hated it so much. The storm clouds literally ended at the state line. As soon as we saw the “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” sign, it was sunny and clear. I HATE KANSAS.

It took a few hours to get to Boulder, and eastern Colorado is completely empty. We reached Denver and it seemed to kind of appear out of nowhere. We checked into our hotel and met up with Stevie, who I went to Thailand with last summer. We hit up a sweet bakery then went up a mountain, where we could see the whole city. Much cooler than anything you could do in Cincinnati.