On the ROAD!

get ready

And we… are… OFF!

Sam and Kalyn stayed at our place last night, and around 9:30 this morning, the three of us loaded up into her jeep and jumped on the highway for their 2^nd day, my first, on the road from Cincinnati to Phoenix.

heading to kansas

We were pretty excited when we hit Kansas City, somehow thinking we were making pretty decent headway. It wasn’t until we hit the meat of Kansas that we quickly realized that it consisted of windmills, and ……………. Nothing else, really.

No, seriously. Kansas is flatter than a pancake, literally. Aside from the windmills, there is not a single intriguing thing to see while driving straight across this state. It took all three of us to conquer the plains of KS before I struck gold on my turn and flew past the Welcome to Colorado sign before we had a chance to celebrate it. [Don’t worry, we stopped at the border of CO & NM to capture the sign!]

colorful colorado!

Once we crossed onto the grounds of CO and in spite of Sam’s urging to find a hotel, Kalyn and I were determined to camp out. We found a KOA in Limon, CO. We checked in and found our little tent plot nestled in the midst of a crowd of RV’s. Fortunately for us, there was a wooden fence no more than 8 feet long and 7 feet high behind which we claimed our spot. Against our better judgment, we unloaded and pitched a tent in 50+mph winds and a dropping temperature of 48 degrees at that point. We found ourselves with clogged tent poles with no other option than to Macgyver the staking and climb inside as quickly as possible to help prevent the whole setup from blowing away.

If you think I’m exaggerating, I promise you, I’m not. It. Was. Cold. We had two blankets, two pillows, and a sleeping bag. Needless to say, it was an interesting night.

tenting in limon, co | bad idea.

Tomorrow is back on the road: Colorado Springs, the Rocky Mountains, and Santa Fe, NM!

Oh, and P.S. – Not to put a damper on the excitement of our journey westward, but today would’ve been Jena Fogle-Blake’s 27^th birthday. You are always missed, but never forgotten, friend. <3

xo | cmd-