From Missouri to Colorado

The scenery these past few days has been majestic!! From the wide, open prairie to the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, the view has been nothing short of amazing!

Day 5: Kansas City, MO to Goodland, KS:

Made masks in the car.

Grasslands.

Good ol' Kansas.

Loving the rustic charm of this country...the old trains, farms, silos, and windmills all bring you back to a time past.

Windmill farms.

A lot of windmill farms.

We left early from Kansas City to try and get though some bad weather before it worsened later in the day. We had about 6 1/2 hours of driving time, and we stopped for about 2-3 hours half way at Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina, Kansas. This place was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the beauty of the vast grasslands. Jason and I agreed it was the best zoo we have been to. 

Flamingos.

Making friends.

There was even a playground.

With cool tunnels.

We saw a lot of cool animals. Some of our favorites were...

The rhinos.

And the lions.

And giraffes (especially Amaryn's favorite).

Camels.

Mountain lions.

And then somehow I ended up in the mountain lions food pen.

It was terrifying.

And Teá was there, too.

Just kidding...it was another cool tunnel.

And it didn't lead to mountain lion cages, just the monkey cages. Phew...

Like I said, coolest zoo ever.

The last leg of the drive, as beautiful as it was, was a bit of a stretch for everyone. And so, what would normally not be acceptable, all of the sudden becomes fun and games. Basically, whatever it takes to get there with at least somewhat happy people means almost anything goes. 

Even this.

We tossed all rules out the window and drove every bit of 75mph away from them for as far as the eye can see. 

And everyone is happy and having fun.

Don't worry, those were washable markers. And they totally loved it, and it was quiet for like, quite a few minutes. Score!

Goodland was a quiet, country town. It's claim to fame was a gigantic easel displaying a replica of a Van Gogh painting. 

Hmmm...okay.

The time zone changes, lack of sleep, and long days really wiped us out, so to bed at 6pm it was! 

Day 6: Goodland, KS to Keystone, CO:

What a change in scenery it was from the high plains of Kansas to the middle of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado! 

Sunflowers.

 From the plains...

To the city (Denver)...

To the start of the Rocky Mountains...

Denver in the distance.

Love.

Sidetracked a bit to see Buffalo Bills grave.

Further into the Rockies...

And, finally, in the middle of the Rockies, our stop for the night.

Dillon Lake.

Found a path, took a walk/jog.

Running buddies.

Didn't last long...we are at 9,000 ft after all! There's not a lot of oxygen up here!

But we are happy.

And found a cool park with lots of spinning devices. It was fun.

Tomorrow we head further west into the canyon lands of Utah!