Memphis-ish to Wichita

I have heard, and I believe it, that Pennsylvania has the worst roads of any state in the country. Oklahoma and Arkansas, though, could give PA a run for its money. Imagine the rib cages of 90-mile-long dinosaurs laid sporadically along lengths of American highway. Then imagine driving over them. That was sort of like what large portions of yesterday's roads were like. Other than the lack of upkeep on the highways, though, the trip here to Wichita was pretty easy. It's actually feeling like these days of driving are passing really quickly. The drive here certainly didn't feel as tedious as nine hours should have, for which we were both very grateful. Kirsten said on the way in that what she would most like to eat was a big bowl of pasta, and as it happened, we went the wrong way on the exit for our hotel, found a mall immediately, and found an Old Chicago restaurant outside the mall. Kirsten had Chicken Alfredo, I had Chicken Parmesan, and then we came back here to the hotel. I finally got to sleep about 4 hours later. Kirsten was pretty much asleep when we walked in the door. And then the sun woke me up bright and early this morning (I didn't have a windowless bathroom to sleep in like at Christopher and Bethany's house), and I'm feeling good and ready to get to Denver. Kansas and Oklahoma have actually not been as ugly and boring as I've heard, actually more sweeping and grand, really, but some big mountains will be a good change of pace all the same. Thanks for keeping up with the travels. I'll write from Denver.

Kent