Set off from Parker to Kansas fairly uneventfully. Windy, hilly roads through small towns and countryside...nothing much to report. (Left, a standard sample of my view for hours.) I’ve started my book on tape, which has a somewhat hypnotic effect on me, and although I can drive safely, I zone out. Hit a storm before the Kansas border and, unfortunately, ended up driving with it for hours. Picture a dark raincloud over my car only. I was really paranoid about tornadoes (well, duh, I was in Kansas right? I’ve seen the Wizard of Oz enough to know what goes on out there!) so I had to turn off my book on tape and scan the local radio for weather reports. As it was perfectly normal and safe storm (and not the doom-storm I was making it out to be), the weather was not reported frequently, so this resulted in my listening to the entire radio dial scanned for at least half an hour (think 15 second snippets of every country song known to man and throw in a 15 second bible lecture between every two or three of them). Kansas also has more pro-life billboards than I’ve ever seen in my life. Every few miles there’s a huge picture of a blonde, blue-eyed baby with sayings like “God knows their souls before they’re born” and “Did you know babies can smile before they’re born?” I would venture to say they are more frequent than fast food signs here. That, and the billboards and graffiti that simply state “JESUS IS REAL”.In the animal department, Kansas apparently has a lot to offer, including a 5 legged steer, a 6 legged cow, and the world’s largest prarie dog, weighing in at 800 lbs. I would have been temped to see the latter, but was tipped off before I left that it is a stuffed animal and not worth the time. Of the animal life I did see, the most exciting was a spikey-looking turtle preparing to cross the road. Long neck and tail....I actually thought it was an iguana from a distance. Poor guy is probably no longer with us, as there were many cars behind me, and I doubt he had the manuerverability and speed to cross safely.
My bit of good luck for the day came when I realized I was about to get on a toll road (and after my Colorado experience, I avoid these like the plague). I blindly exited without a plan and tried to get myself to a place where I could study the map...and somehow wound up at a scenic highway that led straight to Lawrence, my destination for the night! No toll AND a view... bonus!
My bad luck, which followed immediately, was to get really, really lost in Lawrence trying to find Clinton Lake State Park, where I wanted to camp for the night. At least an hour was spent circling, doubling back, and asking strangers until I was finally on the right track, losing daylight quickly. I set up camp around 8:30 and used my brand new stove to heat up some water for a noodle bowl.
I never thought I would appreciate the bitter cold temps of Yellowstone car camping, but I have decided it’s much harder to fall asleep in hot, muggy cars with the windows rolled up (on account of the bugs). Around midnight I decided something had to be done and pulled out my roll of duct tape to McGuiyver a bug screen over the window so I could sleep with the window rolled down. Version #3 worked best, using my pillowcase duct taped to the ceiling, side doors, and the door itself. Worked rather nicely. (see right. yes, I took a picture, I was damn proud of my resourcefulness at midnight!)
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