LAWRENCE KANSAS-- CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS

The upside of car camping in Kansas in the summer is that you don’t wake up freezing cold. Instead, it was a balmy 78 degrees with a light breeze that made for an extremely pleasant morning. The light was beautiful and the campsite had these big patches of very picturesque tall grasses (very "Kansas" in my mind). I couldn't resist a self-timed shot of myself frolicking in the meadow, but the distance was pretty good between a camera set-up and the grass, so I had to full on sprint to get in the shot. Even then, I'm barely in the frame, but I'm not in good enough shape to do multiple retakes... I had a little breakfast, repacked, and took off towards Missouri.

I gassed up in Lawrence and had my first gas station faux pas, although I maintain it was a result of faulty equipment and not human error. As I lifted the nozzle from it’s handle to the car, it shot a spontaneous burst of gasoline all over the side of my car!! Waaaaah. I had to clean it all up and the first half an hour of my drive smelled bad.

Again, the book on tape; I can’t tell you much about the drive from the gas station to the Missouri border. I passed through the childhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower and of some astronaut I had never heard of. I saw the Gateway arch from a while away and got really exited. It’s really, really big up close. Way bigger than I expected. Which made it pretty impossible to get a good picture with it, actually. I decided to ask somebody else to get a shot for me, and the resulting photo was such a failure it is hilarious. I just thanked the guy and walked away, but I guess I should have clarified I'd like a picture of myself with the Gateway Arch, which I was conveniently standing in front of. Yeah, that silver thing in the background...I really didn't need a picture of me and sidewalk. Anyway. I also had no idea you could actually take an elevator up into it!! Had to skip that, though...no time to stand in THAT line.

I will say that Missouri has really terrible billboards. One of my personal favorites: Don’t just be a person, be a personality!! (for broadcaster positions). ...Also, there are several warning signs about slowing down in construction sites, although the presentation is a little disconcerting; they all say HIT A WORKER really big, and then $10,000 fine underneath. It seems more like an invitation, doesn’t it? It’s not IF you hit a worker, or DONT hit a worker. But hitting a worker seems like it would be a really really bad thing anyway--do people really need signs to be discouraged from this?

Missouri also has its share of pro-life billboards, but somewhat paradoxically, they have an equal amount, if not more, of XXX adult superstore billboards. Go figure.

Missouri wildlife sightings: dead armadillos on the side of the road.

Culturally: confederate flag license plates and “OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake, America” bumper stickers. Also passed through the home of David Cook, American Idol winner 2008 (no, I don’t watch the show or care, and yes, this was on an actual highway sign--this town must be really desperate for some action).

Made it to my dad's sister's husband's brother-and-his-wife's farm (follow? from here on out I'll just call them Bob and Sharon...). So much to report from farm life it'll have to have it's own entry, soon to follow...