Leaving the Serdahl’s on Monday morning we had a bit of excitement as the truck would not start. Dennis jumped us and we were off. (We must have left a door open or something as the battery was completely drained. We did not have any other problems with the battery for the rest of the day.) We headed back to Missouri through the rolling wooded hills of the Ozarks. Skirted around Springfield Missouri on Interstate 44 and on into Kansas. Do you know that Kansas is really, really, really flat!!! Turning the page of the atlas to Kansas, Yvonne noticed that the map of Kansas looked different from the other states through which we have driven. All of the roads on the Kansas map are directly North-South and East-West with only a couple of curves here and there. So to get across Kansas in a Northwesterly direction it requires you to stair step your way from highway to highway. The patchwork quilt of corn, wheat, alfalfa is similar to the agricultural valleys that we are familiar with but there are no mountains to frame the horizon. It creates an uneasy experience of driving without moving.
Eight hours later we arrived in Marion Kansas and Hillsboro Cove campground. This campground was well appointed and we were parked right on the water. We watched some large catfish cruise through the shallows just a few feet from the water’s edge. Once again we had no wifi but sat outside and wrote one of the blogs in Word. Then it was off to bed so we could get up early in the morning and drive to Sterling Colorado and visit with Adam and Rachel Mackintosh.
Tuesday we were up and out. Do you know that Eastern Colorado is just as flat as Kansas but you are constantly and subtly climbing toward the Rockies. Throughout Kansas and Colorado, because it was sooooooo boring, we began to listen to an audio book. It really helped the time go by. To help break up the day we stopped at the Fort Hays Kansas Natural history Museum. We were surprised to find out just how many fossil sites had been discovered in Kansas. The bulk of the collection in this museum was from a local archeologist who went on to become a professor at the University of Fort Hays. It was an interesting interlude and then we were back on the road.
Late in the day we arrived at Adam and Rachel’s home and were greeted by Kayleigh, Josiah, Zachery and Chip (a great Yellow Lab). We had a wonderful evening with them. Adam is the eldest son of our dear college friends, Doug and Jane Mackintosh, who live in Half Moon Bay. Adam and his brothers and sister have been raised with our children and there are many fond memories that bind us together. Adam left California to pursue his medical education, marry a Colorado girl and now he is one of a few doctors in Sterling Co. We have not seen him for a number of years and it was great to see him as Dr., husband, father, and a grown young man. Their children we a joy to be with and reminded us of our grandchildren that we will soon see again. They showed us the extensive remodeling work that they were doing on their house. (If I did that to Yvonne I would be sleeping with Chip but Adam is used to the Mackintosh tradition of house remodeling). As usual with this kind of visit the talking went well into the night. There just was not enough time to get all the talking done and Adam had to go to work in the morning and Rachel had to take Kayleigh to “Prairie School.”
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