Life is a Highway

24 Hours of Extremes

Last night when we arrived in Salina, Kansas it was 76 degrees and the wind was howling at over 50 mph. This morning it was upper 50's and not quite as windy, though still blustery. We headed off across Kansas, once again dispelling my misconception about the state as flat and boring. Most of Kansas is gently rolling and really quite beautiful. Early in our trip today, we came upon a giant wind farm. Dubbed the Smoky Hills Wind Project, it stretched on for miles, and with the wind blowing hard, it looked like a collection of giant pinwheels.

You can say we lead a boring life, but Marie and I were mesmerized by these giant wind turbines. Up close, they make a powerful, but quiet, whooshing sound, and to see so many of them twirling at the same time was really neat.

The drive then settled into a routine, broken by several forays off the highway into small Kansas towns. We began to notice a pattern - they lured you off the interstate with promises of unique attractions and stores. But once you arrived in town, most of the storefronts were vacant, a pretty depressing sight. One exception was Colby, Kansas, which remained pretty vital. And Oakley, Kansas - "See where the legend began" - did deliver in a way.

We entered Colorado, and as we approached the Rockies, the temperature began to drop. When it reached the low 40's, it was time to zip the legs onto my shorts. At Colorado Springs, we headed west, winding along the Arkansas River with steep canyon walls along one side of the road. Eventually, we arrived at our destination for the night, Salida, CO. The temperature was 37 degrees. We checked into the motel, then went downtown to have a burger and a beer at the Boathouse Cantina right on the river. As we left, our waitress said, "Be careful, it's snowing." Uh, yeah. As I write this, it's snowing hard - by morning we expect 2-4 inches, with another 3-5 tomorrow.Supposed to go down to 20 degrees tonight.

Our new Element is getting its first taste of snow.

We're supposed to head for Santa Fe tomorrow, but it may be tricky getting there. Stay tuned!

What Does the FBI Want With Me?

This morning, as I was connecting to the internet at our hotel in Salina, Kansas, I noticed an interesting wireless network available to me. Check out #5.

A Sobering Day

First, let me answer the question that I know is on all of your lips: yes, Marie and I approved of Princess Kate's dress. Absolutely perfect!

Second, let me admit to my ignorance of U.S. geography. Last night I said we'd be traveling through Indiana, Missouri and Kansas today. Imagine my surprise when I saw billboards for Lincoln's birthplace. "I thought Lincoln was born in ... OMG, we're in Illinois! My apologies to any Illini out there.

On a more sobering note, today was a long and humbling day, with horrific traffic accidents, massive flooding and tornado damage in plain sight. Near the Indiana/Illinois border, I looked to my left and marveled at what appeared to be one of those segmented farm sprinklers in the middle of a lake. Upon closer inspection, I realized I was looking at a flooded field. For miles and miles on either side of the highway, we saw floodwaters. At times it seemed as though we were driving in the Florida Keys.

This flooding was from the Wabash and Little Wabash rivers. A little further down the road, we drove off the highway into Mill Shoals, Illinois and saw significant flooding.

A few hours later we came upon a majestic, though man made, sight - the St. Louis Arch. Our friend Janet told us it was bigger than she expected, and she was right!

On the other side of the city, I pointed out the runways of the St. Louis airport to Marie. We both marveled at the absence of any planes taking off or landing, Then I saw a blue tarp on a nearby house, then another, then a subdivision with shear devastation, and suddenly remembered the tornado that hit there last Sunday.

Next in our day of disasters came as we entered Kansas City on I-70. Traffic came to an abrupt stop (from 70 mph), then crept along, eventually narrowing from three lanes to one as we passed the accident scene. A pickup truck going westbound had gone out of control, torn through the concrete barriers, flipped and rolled into the eastbound lanes, hitting a pickup and a tractor trailer. The driver was thrown from the vehicle and critically injured; his toddler, secured in a car seat, was only slightly injured. To see the condition of the vehicle, it's amazing anyone survived. Once through the backup, we flew along, only to stop again on the far side of Kansas City. This time the culprit was a burned out minivan.

What's next, a plague of locusts? No, just winds gusting to sixty miles an hour. Near Lawrence, Kansas, we were almost blown off our feet when we stopped for gas. Needless to say, we were happy and grateful to arrive safe and sound in Salina, KS, where we'll be spending the night. Tomorrow, we'll traverse the rest of Kansas and pass into Colorado, ending up in the small town of Salida, west of Pueblo. The forecast there calls for snow showers tomorrow; tonight, the surrounding mountains are expecting 4-8 inches of snow. Should be interesting!

 

This Time We're Serious

So, this morning we set off on our adventure to see what it would be like to live in the Southwest (as opposed to vacationing there). Specifically, we'll be spending May and June in Santa Fe, NM, settling in, developing a routine. Less eating out, fewer margaritas - you get the picture.

We left home in Union Bridge, MD this morning to the strains of the emergency management system on the radio, warning about one tornado sighting after another. Locally, nothing touched down, but it rained torrents and the wind did blow. Once out of the area, Marie and I were off to "look for America", as Simon and Garfunkel sang (yes, I'm that old).

"Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all gone to look for America
All gone to look for America
All gone to look ..." ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

At this point we realized that looking for America involved four days in the car on the way to Santa Fe. What were we thinking?  668 miles later we've settled in for the night in Haubstadt, IN, a suburb of Evansville. Aside from the numbing sameness of overpasses and exit signs (and some very minor damage to the front of our NEW car when a truck kicked up some debris), there were some interesting sights and observations along the way:

- West Virginia really is made up of hollows (or hollers). Everywhere you look there are little valleys and nooks dotted with small houses and farms. Beautiful, lush and green (at least along the interstate).

- West Virginia also has some very interesting town names. Jane Lew. Dan's Mountain. Hurricane. Big Otter. Poca. Amma. And my personal favorite, Mink Shoals. I can't even wrap my mind around that one. How does a mink find itself on a shoal. Muscle Shoals, AL I get. But Mink Shoals?

- You have to love a state with a Biscuit World.

- I was surprised to see all of the black fences and black barns and buildings on the Kentucky horse farms near Lexington. My stereotype, which holds true in Maryland, is of whitewashed fences and stately white buildings. But here was farm after farm with black fences and  buildings. It was as though Darth Vader had decided to diversify and go into horse breeding.

- Indiana not only has a town called French Lick - where, for you NBA fans, Larry Bird was born - but also a Licking River.

On a more serious note, there's a lot of flooding going on in the midwest and south. Every river we crossed was swollen and muddy. In Louisville, the Ohio River was spilling over its banks into riverside parks and a bandstand.

Later, as we drove through Indiana, we hit more heavy rain, and spotted this "vertical cloud" that spooked us a bit.

As we passed out of the storm, we were rewarded with a nice rainbow.

Tomorrow, on through Indiana and Missouri into Kansas!