Colorado Springs to Hays, Kansas

As we were leaving Colorado Springs, Pike's Peak loomed behind us.

We were surprised how flat the landscape was in eastern Colorado with some small rolling hills.

We saw lots of wind turbines in both Colorado and Kansas.

We saw several trucks like this one and assumed the load on the trailer was a wind turbine rotor blade.

Kansas is flat as a pancake with lots of green fields.  We went through strong winds and could see a small dust storm in the distance.

The Kansas landscape was dotted with drilling rigs along I70 that could be drilling for water, oil or natural gas.











Today was a travel day for us....
     As we left Colorado Springs, it was a little hazy but Pike's Peak was visible from our car window.  We had considered taking the Pike's Peak Cog Railway to the top of the peak (14, 110 ft. elevation) but we had second thoughts.  Rita read reviews about the 3-hour trip being a white-knuckle ride and most people feeling the effects of the high elevation (headaches and nausea).  Nope, that was not for us!  We were glad we decided to go to the U.S. Air Force Academy.  
     As we drove in eastern Colorado, we were surprised by the flat landscape.  There were some small rolling hills but large farms lines both sides of the highway.  Wind turbines appeared again in the distance on small mountain ridges.  Several smaller tumbleweeds began blowing across the road and we had a small brush with one of them.  As we left Colorado, we saw another sign bidding us farewell from "Colorful Colorado" and this sign was dark brown with white letters.  We think they should change their slogan if they plan to keep those signs.
     We were welcomed to Kansas with a very colorful sign reading, 'Kansas - The Sunflower State".  Now that was a colorful sign!  Kansas is as flat as a pancake.  There were many wheat, barley and oat farms along the way.  The winds increased and we learned on the weather channel app that sustained winds could reach 40 mph.  The main worry was the chance for dust storms.  We saw some small dust storms in the fields but were thankful one did not appear suddenly on the highway as we were warned it could cause visibility to drop to 0!  Rita almost blew away while pumping gas and Angela's hands cramped from grasping the steering wheel so tightly.  The wind blowing in the wheat fields was a pretty sight. We began seeing lots of drilling rigs but were not sure what they were drilling.  Finally, we made it to Hays, Kansas for the night.  We relaxed and took a swim in the salt water pool.  As we write, the winds are very strong and roaring loudly tonight but we hope they improve and we miss some of the bad weather that is north of us. We are headed to Abilene, Kansas tomorrow to see the Eisenhower Presidential Library...then on to Independence, Missouri for the night.