Kansas

Kansas

is

long.

And

boring.

I prefer to be positive, but sometimes even if you sugar coat something, all you have is a thin layer of sucrose. We left Kansas City, MO in the late afternoon, and drove late into the night until we arrived in Hays, KS. The next morning we left early and didn't stop until Denver, which is a few hours into Colorado, but those hours in eastern Colorado were still pretty much Kansas. We tried to come up with some fun roadside attractions, destinations or landmarks, but even the Internet couldn't save this day. Most sites with travel tips had a big donut for roadside detours, and many even advocated just getting through Kansas as quickly as possible.

To make matters worse, we were driving due west into the sunset. So we let the kids watch a movie and then turned off all electronics so they could go to sleep. However, they pointed out that the sun was still up, so it wasn't bedtime. We promised them the sun would go down soon. But you know what? It didn't. It took about two hours for that sun to set. Curse you, counterspinning Earth! We did get to see some wind turbines, though. Lots of wind turbines.

Thank goodness for the Adventure Bag! I had packed a duffle bag with toys and games to entertain the kids at rest stops and the like. We had kites, soccer balls, cones for building obstacle courses, special treats, all kinds of random stuff. And I never did let the kids look inside it to see the full contents. They loved the surprise of having us pull something fun out of the Adventure Bag. It's amazing how recharged everyone feels after a 20-minute game of tag or a quick water gun fight. I recommend this one for all families on long road trips, it saved our bacon in Kansas. And I'd also echo the advise of many other travelers - get through it as quickly as possible!