Yesterday, I said goodbye to Colorado. After 5 years in Colorado Springs (1 year at the Prep School and 4 years at the Academy), it was very odd and weird to think I was leaving. I don't think I actually realized that I was leaving for good until I started driving East on I-70 and could no longer see mountains in my rear view mirrors. Oh and I think it really hit me when I saw the sign that said "Leaving Colorful Colorado." Anyway, here is a recap of the first day of travels, Colorado to Missouri.
We left our graduation house around 7:25 am to take my sister and my grandmother, Nanny, to the Denver International Airport. This was a pretty normal trip for me because I had made it so many times over the last 5 years. But I kept reminding myself to look back at Pike's Peak and the Academy because I wouldn't see them again for a while...at least until September when I return for IFS, Initial Flight Screening. I never really got emotional or upset or anything like that, but there was this feeling of a hole in my chest. Okay, so that sounds weird and wrong, but I just felt like I was leaving a part of me behind. In a way, I was. I was saying goodbye to 5 years of my life that I worked so hard for and to a place that had become my home. Now I couldn't even get back into the Cadet Area, the main center point of my life. It wasn't hard or anything, but I could definitely feel a chapter of my life closing.
I have too much stuff. I thought I shipped a lot of it earlier, but I still had a lot. Not to mention we had mom and dad's luggage, decorations from the graduation party, and graduation gifts. It was okay, though, because we made it work, fit everything in, and there's a small hole in the back of the car for one person to sit it.
After dropping off my sister and Nanny, we left the airport and headed east. It didn't take long AT ALL to hit flatness. Granted, we were still at like 5,000 feet above sea level, but it was really, really flat. We made our way into Kansas and stopped at the Welcome Center for a sandwich lunch. I must say the Welcome Center was very nice. Oh and during lunch we got a glimpse of a bird's nest with some babies! It was pretty cool. Then it was back to the road and flatness of Kansas.
As we drove along, the wind picked up. About a month ago, I had a piece of my window molding on the car pop off. I simply popped it back in and didn't have any other problems with it. But, the combination of 75 mph on I-70 and strong winds made it pop out again. It caught me off guard when it first happened and woke up both my parents from their naps. So, I pulled off of I-70 and popped it back in. From there, though, we knew we had to get some auto glue and put it back into place. So, when we arrived in Hays, Kansas, we stopped at WalMart, got the glue, fixed the window molding, got gas, and we were back on the road.
Dad fixing the window molding on my car before we set off again.
Along the way, we saw lots of flat land, some interesting amusement sights, and windmill farms! My favorite things were the windmills. They are SO huge and were right next to the road. Plus, they made for some great entertainment in boring Kansas. Driving through Kansas, we saw a sign where we could see the World's Largest Prairie Dog and a 5-Legged Steer. We decided to bypass them. Who knew those things really existed?
Driving across Kansas with a thunderstorm and some rain in the distance. I was happy to see some rain again!
WINDMILLS!
Driving across Kansas made me a little crazy!
Thankfully, we finally made it out of Kansas and into Missouri via Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. We saw downtown Kansas City and the Kansas City Royals stadium before stopping at a local restaurant called V's Italian Restaurante! I had Baked Lasagna and cannolli. It was delicious and no one was disappointed. We finally rested our heads in a Comfort Inn and Suites just outside of Kansas City, Missouri, before it was time to wake up for another day of driving across the great United States!
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