day 4: kansas

started out with continental breakfast again....this time having to listen to 70 year old men discuss viagra.  appetizing...  maybe that's why i didn't feel so great after breakfast?  i think the lack of sleep and road food was catching up to me.

left columbia, missouri this morning around 11am after debating all night about changing the direction the trip was going.  decided to go through denver, salt lake city and idaho falls instead of mt rushmore and yellowstone.  those places are so out of the way that i feel i would never had enough time at either to do them justice.

drove through kansas city, mo.

so that meant trucking through kansas today.  all day.

talk about cornfields and cows.  it reminded me of texas and how it seems to go on forever.  decided to drive on through kansas city and just drive straight to hays, kansas.

hays, kansas.  what can i say.... the first thing i noticed was how damn hot it was.  108 degrees.  and so windy it almost knocked you over.  you open the car door and it felt like your face was in an oven.  most of the hotels were sold out but finally found a room.  i had deja vu to being in holbrook, arizona a few years ago.  it's a small town not far off of I-70.  the streets of brick paved and it feels like another era.  i walked around and shot a lot of photos. the skies were amazing - partly dark and stormy, partly cloudy and sunny.

first took a drive around to find the buffalo herd.  they are apparently pretty extinct so they have them semi-contained.  it was hard to see them up close as they were towards the back of the field in a barn-like structure.  drove through fort hays and some park that was nearby.

drove around some more...

then went to eat dinner at a place called gella's diner/lb brewing co.  it was in an industrial type space with incredible lighting and design.  who would have thought that this place would be in the middle of nowhere in the midwest?!  it was fantastic.  and i must say i had the best sandwich i've ever had in my life.  it was a smoked turkey panini with a side of sweet potato fries- Tender, sliced smoked turkey breast, roasted red peppers, fresh avocado spread and provolone cheese served on grilled multi-grain bread buttered with Lb. Brewing Co.'s Pale Ale cheese spread.  

walked and drove around some more...

tomorrow, it's off to denver....