We've arrived!!! Mountains in view!

Colorado Springs, CO

Since we got in so late last night, we decided to take it easy this morning and let the kids sleep in a bit before having breakfast (in our hotel) and then spending a little time in the pool. We hit the road around 11:15, and spent most of our day gazing out over the flat, flat plains of Kansas. Although our drive started with some hilly country around Topeka, it soon flattened out, and the road was as straight as an arrow for mile after mile. The "windmill farms" in the middle of the state helped to break up the monotony a bit, and reminded us of the ones we often see between DeMotte and Lafayette in Indiana along I-65.

As we neared the Colorado border, and our final destination, Colorado Springs, we began to see mountains sprouting up from the horizon. We were still a good hour away, but it was exciting to watch them grow bigger and bigger as we grew closer. Seth got out his guitar and we sang a few songs in the car to pass the time away. We arrived at our hotel at around 8:00 (Mountain time), after having spent a total of about 20 hours in the car over the past two days and 6 more hours at rest stops, gas stops and eating stops. We've traveled 1165 miles.

Oh, and by the way, it's Leah's birthday and we now have 3 teenagers in the family! So tonight we headed out for pizza (her choice) at the Old Chicago pizza place before calling it a night.