Need to keep these shorter

I spent so much time doing the blog post yesterday morning it contributed to us getting a late start.

Ali was freaking out about the predicted severe weather in Kansas for the drive there.  We did drive through some heavy rain but it was mostly in western Missouri.  By the time we got into Kansas it was all but over.  However when we crossed into Kansas and hopped out for our mandatory pose with the state sign we were blasted with some surprisingly cold air, it felt like the temps were in the low 60’s.

The drive was pretty uneventful and I was behind the wheel the entire way.  When I can listen to the Stern show it makes driving long distances much easier for me.  We saw some incredible open pastures while driving on the Kansas Turnpike.  In some spots the entire horizon was nothing but open pastures filled with nothing but grass and cows.  It was really cool.

Our stopping point last night was Wichita.  I had no idea what to expect out of a city in the middle of Kansas but it seems to be a pretty happening place.  There is a lot of road construction going on and the city itself seems to be clean and tidy.  Much of what you see is old but there also us a healthy amount of revitalization going on.

We ate in Old Wichita which is an old commercial district that has been converted to a social area filled with a lot of bars and restaurants.  We found a very nice place to eat with a beautiful outdoor patio area.   After that we drove down towards the Arkansas River area where we found a new park that is dedicated to the Wichita Indians that originally settled the area. 

Originally today we were going to push all the way to Albuquerque but we decided to opt out of the 11 hour drive and instead hit some town I never heard of in New Mexico, shaving about 3 hours off the drive today and tacking it onto our final leg of the journey tomorrow. 

While we were at dinner I said to Ali that I just realized that we could have asked my mom to come along on our road trip since she no longer had any work constraints.  I was pissed that the idea hadn’t entered into my head before now.  It would have been a nice little adventure for her.  She still could come with us on the drive back however and I am going to make the offer to her.  I already know her initial reaction will be negative towards the idea but I am hoping if she thinks about it she will realize it is actually an opportunity that she may never have again to see the countryside in a fun way.

I forgot to mention that when we went to St Louis Sadie refused to drop a deuce the entire day.  As dog owners you seem to get obsessed with a dogs bowel movements.  If they don’t have one then you always feel the need to keep taking them outside until they do.  Well of course Sadie held back until she was almost directly under the Gateway Arch to do her business.  I guess she felt the need to drop it in style.

I almost fell over dead when I calculated the mileage after filling up in the middle of Kansas yesterday.  We averaged 15 mpg!  I’ve never had a number that crossed 14 up to this point.  I am postulating that adding air to the tires yesterday morning and keeping the cruise control at a steady 70 mph contributed to the stellar gas mileage numbers.