The Gateway to the West

Today's journey began at 7:30am as well pulled away from our little cabin in Indiana to head to Kansas. After a few hours and a lot of storms, we made it to St. Louis, MO. Kate got some great pics of the Arch. It is a pretty impressive structure.



At this point we realized that we were making really good time, so we decided to go a little further than we had originally planned to. We ended up stopping at a KOA in Lawrence, KS, home of the Kansas Jayhawks. We made our first camp dinner of grilled chicken, squash and potatoes. It was really good, but I smelled like a charcoal briquet when I was done. You can really get a lot of traveling done when you're gaining an hour from a time zone change.

On the way to Lawrence, we passed through Independence, MO. What is the significance of this you ask? Well, for those of you who grew up in the 80's and 90's, it is the starting point of the Oregon Trail computer game. I never made it to Oregon, but I thought that was neat.

It is hot in Kansas. Thankfully the KOA had a pool, so we spent a little quality time there.


They also had a jumping apparatus of some kind. I don't know what it was but it was fun. Kate seemed to enjoy it, too.


My poor wife currently has at least 17 mosquito bites on various extremities. She is so sweet that the bugs can't stay away, but I'm afarid that we're going to need to give her a transfusion to compensate for all the blood loss. She started reading the book Wicked today, which is very appropriate since we're in Kansas at a Wizard of Oz themed KOA. Bet you can't guess what my next post will be titled!

That's all for today. Next stop: Bonny Lake State Park, Colorado. Happy birthday Marin!!!

~Andy