Behold! The Rocky Mountains!

Behold! The Rocky Mountains...

6-22-16

DAY 4

We woke up in Topeka, KS after spending the night at the Ramada Inn which was an awesome hotel. Maya and James spend 1.5 hours playing on the water slide. Breakfast was included, so we spent over an hour dining on all of the yummy food (waffles, Fruit Loops, sausage, muffins, etc). I'll sure the hotel lost money on us. There was also a hotel guest that thought that my mom and I were sisters which made us laugh. Most of the rest of our trip we'll be camping, so we'll have to burn this place into our brains.

Next, we visited the Brown vs Board of Education Historical Site. I thought it was really well done and I learned a lot. We met a couple from California that told us they made sure that their route went through Topeka so that they could go to this site. They were impressed that we were there. I'm really glad that we were able to check it out.

Everyone has told us that the drive through Kansas would be really boring, but we thought it was interesting since the landscape was new to us. All fo the wheat field, giant farm equipment, cows & horses grazing on the plains, and really long trains were cool to see. It's crazy how far you can see. The fact that the temps were in the triple digits wasn't too bad since we were in an air conditioned car, but it sure was hot when we got out!

Getting to Colorado felt like quite an accomplishment and we all remarked at how the trip hadn't been tough. We kept looking and looking for the Rockies, but it was all still so flat! We took a super rural, off the beaten path road and we didn't see any other cars or houses for a long time. Then finally, we could see these big, dark mounds in the distance. Behold! The Rockies! All was well until we got into Colorado Springs. When we were less than 10 miles away, James and Maya went a little nuts, so my mom kicked them out of the car until they cooled down. When we got to my mom's friend's home, it was great. Courtney, George, and Lily were so welcoming and their house was luxurious. Everyone ate and slept well.