Driving Crosscountry 2020 : Colorado the town of Vail & the Evergreen Lodge

 Parkway through Colorado we came upon the town of Vail, which is supposedly a very popular ski resort in the Winter. We had never heard of it. But it is popular in the summer as well, and all of the hotels were filled except for one lucky room and the Evergreen lodge that had a very beautiful view with balcony! (Important in that, it IS a legal state.)

Driving Crosscountry 2020 : Driving through the Rockies a Rocky Mountain High on the Colorado River

Driving Crosscountry 2020 : Colorado Denver & the Rocky Mountains

 Colorado is one of the few places we stopped at the welcome center, which was wonderful because we learned a lot about the area. Then we saw the Denver skyline and the 1st glimpses of the rockies! We were kind of surprised at the way the rockies looked at the beginning. Very different from our own mountains, and bigger, but still more like hills. It wasn't until a bit later that we saw the rocky cliffs that we imagined. The rockies are surely beautiful in their own way!

Driving Crosscountry 2020 : Kansas at Sunset

 We saw the sunset amid the many farms of Kansas. I was a bit sad in these pictures, because Shana would not get out of the truck because of the strong smell of manure. Still, the smell is what made it an amazing experience! And then there was a beautiful angel in the clouds at sunset which complimented our trip to the cathedral earlier.

Driving Crosscountry 2020 : Kansas & a Surprise visit to the Cathedral of the Plains

 As one of those beautiful, unplanned cross country surprises, from the interstate we saw a huge church towering over the background far away. We simply asked the question, "I wonder what that is?" We looked it up and found out it was the Cathedral of the Plains, a Catholic Church, a FRANCISCAN Catholic Church, the biggest one west of the Mississippi river! We took a detour to go see it!

Driving Crosscountry 2020 : Kansas Cows & Windmills

At a gas station, I heard a few moos and saw a truck with a trailer attached. We wandered over to the trailer to see a new little calf purchased at auction! I thought it was a perfect opportunity for a Kansas picture!

 So, here is what most of Kansas looked like. So we started to wonder if Kansas was truly flatter than a pancake. Turns out that a University took on that study! And it actually is! Here are the findings:

 The reason why there is a small upslope going left is because the land slopes upward until you hit the rockies.

 And now, the windmills! Another very common sight in Kansas are windmills lining the road and all in the distance! There were so many, that we wondered about windpower in Kansas and were amazed to find that kansas's electricity is powered by wind up to almost 50%!

Driving Crosscountry 2020 : Kansas Sunflowers & Soybeans

Here begins Shana's "Dorothy" montage, as she imitates being scared by a tornado. We were surprised to see a sunflower on the Kansas sign, but found out it was the state flower. We were lucky enough to be driving through at the perfect time of year to see tiny sunflowers growing naturally all over the side of the road! Eventually, we picked a couple and wore them in our hair.

Kansas featured field after field of soybeans.