Saturday, March 13, 2010

Spring Break 2010: Day 1

3:25 p.m.: Depart for Colorado. 

Miles traveled: 0
Miles to destination: 664 / 9 hours 50 minutes (according to mapquest)

Scott promptly falls asleep. The GPS occupies Adam and Zach for an entire three minutes. We stop in Salina to get gas and set up a movie for the boys. 

Just west of Salina on I-70, we passed Smokey Hills Wind Farm. A quick search on google revealed the wind turbines are relatively new within the last three years. I don't remember passing them on our last trip to Colorado in 2006, so that seems about right. It was really neat to see the huge "windmills" (according to Zach) turning. I tried to educate the six and seven year old crowd about the turbines, but a movie trumps anything educational. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but using a camera while operating a moving vehicle is probably frowned upon. (this photo is from the Smokey Hills Wind Farm website)

Scott entertained me with his experience testifying for an article 32 hearing, whatever that means.

We stopped in Hays to eat dinner. It was decided that we eat at IHOP because Zach said he's never eaten there before (he has). Adam had a hamburger and fruit. Scott ate a chicken sandwich and onion rings. I had scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast. Zach had eggs, sausage and five silver dollar sized pancakes. We were all members of the clean plate club.

The last hour and half of the day proved to be the most challenging. The boys were tired (they each had their first soccer game of the season earlier in the day) and bored with riding in the car. We almost made it to Colby without incident, but had to separate them with only 25 minutes left in the day's trip.

8:31 p.m.: Arrive at Holiday Inn Express, our usual preference for overnight accommodations in Colby. I announced I would be making a Starbucks run in the morning, but nobody but me seemed to care.

Miles to destination: 379
Miles traveled: 285 / 5 hours, 6 minutes

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