September
18th, Missouri to Kansas
After a
couple days of relaxing in the laid back atmosphere of Sharon and Richard’s
home in Monett, Joyce and I headed northwest into Kansas. We didn’t get going until around noon on
Wednesday but the goal was to drive as far into Kansas as we could and into Denver
by Thursday afternoon. I was feeling
ready for a change to cooler climates and less humidity and within a couple
hours of being in Kansas the humidity dropped and the wind began to blow. And I do mean blow.
The wind never stopped and we noticed trees
permanently leaning to one side along the highway.
We got an
inkling of the type of snow drift havoc these winds could create in the winter.
Trees were planted as live wind breaks along the route to hinder snow drifts. But even with these precautions, we noted
that metal gates were at some of the ramps so the roads could be closed if the
snow got too high.
Once we
hit Interstate 70 it became apparent that if we could rig a sail onto the MINI
we’d be in Denver in no time. It sort of
felt like I was holding a helm instead of a steering wheel with a need for a
firm grip tacking to the right. The
little MINI was going at a nice clip around 80-mph across the plains. The only downfall was she was going to need a
serious bath. Bug guts peppered the
front of the car as well as the roof carrier and we had to pull over and clean
the windshield a few times during that long day of driving.
We
reached our destination by 9:00 when we pulled into Sleep Inn and Suites in Colby
in Kansas, the ‘Oasis in the Plains.’
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