Left Wichita Happy, Just Arrived in Denver

I want to set the mood correctly for this leaving Wichita, KS post.

“If Dorothy tried to escape to Oz from Wichita, I am confused.  If she tried to escape from anywhere else in Kansas, it makes sense.”  

Wichita, KS was and so far is the only place we are going for just one night.  Since we stayed in a hotel, we unpacked the majority of our belongings and had to trek them upstairs.  We rearranged everything else so it was hidden underneath our visibility shield which took a lot of effort.  Lastly, we put some stuff underneath my blanket.

Thanks Mom!

Special shoutout to my mom for knowing that I would want a piece of home on my trip.  Right before I left, we took my favorite t-shirts and made them into a quilted blanket.  The company we used was Project Repat.  

Most of the quilted blankets on their website have cute color schemes, but my t-shirts were all different colors including neon and tie dye.  I spent several hours designing the order, so it would look the least crazy.  Also, I put my “pillars” at the top, so I would always see them.  When we were arranging the car, I realized the blanket had a lot of personal information on it, so I had to put the gray fleece side up.

It was highly annoying that we packed the car two days in a row.  We are going to try to avoid doing that again if possible.  We received a lot of stares from the people eating breakfast in the hotel because we had a ridiculous amount of stuff.  Our reason for waking up early a Saturday morning was so we could still have some daylight when we arrived at our next spot.  

Why were so many other people awake? I am genuinely curious.  If you wake up at 7am on a Saturday, I’d like to know why.  The hotel lobby was filled.  There were so many cars at Walmart and Starbucks already.  Who wakes up at 7am and says I need to go to Walmart? Certainly not us.

Leaving Wichita, KS

Surprisingly, I feel a little sad that we did not have more time in Wichita.  With that being said, I also feel confident that if we stayed much longer we would have regretted it.  

Leaving Wichita, we knew we were in for a boring 8 hour drive.  On one hand, there was no traffic and it was an easy drive.  On the other hand, there was not much newness to look at for several hours.  I was surprised by the lack of animals on this drive.  For some reason, every time we saw a horse or cow, I perked up.  They never did anything interesting, but it felt special to be so close to them.  (Can you tell I did not grow up on a farm?)

Besides the nothingness, a happy surprise was the amount of windmills we drove past.  I loved seeing sustainable energy.  It was not as ideal that the movement of the mills was making me carsick while I was driving.  For a while, I drove with one hand up blocking the sight of them.

At one of the rest areas, there was a corn field.  We could not miss the opportunity to have a photoshoot with the fields in the background.  In all of the other locations we saw corn, it was private property.  As the biggest crop of the area, I think, it felt like a nice way to say goodbye to take a picture with it.

We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

I am excited to announce of next location: Denver, CO! We will be here for six weeks.

One thing that no one talks about, which makes obvious sense, is that the terrain does not immediately change because there is a state border.  Up until we were close to Denver, the land was very flat and uninteresting in Colorado.  Also, in the same way that people from North and South Jersey are still both from New Jersey, you can’t judge an area based on what state it is located in.  Its surrounding areas are important.

The Big Rock Candy Mountain

I am trying to listen to music that is about or mentions each location we are driving through.  This is my intention for 2 reasons.

1. Tying music to a memory, in my opinion (and potentially there is science to back) helps strengthen the memory and makes it harder to forget
2. I will take any opportunity that presents itself to enhance the moment, no matter how corny 

Challenge

Find a way to incorporate tying music to memories in your life. Create a playlist and then forget about it. When you find it again years later, all of your cherished memories will flood your brain.