Day ~ 40 and 41 The Drury Hotel ~ Kansas City

Day 40 ~ 41

Today we drove approximately 11-12 hours to get to Kansas City, Kansas.  We had to pull the tent down in the dark because leaving at 5:30 Eastern Standard Time was actually leaving at 3:30 AM Mountain Time.  Because we were parked about a mile away from the restrooms and at about a 100 ft. incline that was rocky and treacherous to walk in the dark, we just pulled down camp in the dark before anyone had a chance to use the restroom and get ready for the drive.  Then drove down the hill, quickly got ready for the day in about 15 minutes so we could get an early start.  It was only 46 degrees, so we were cold and had to pee and were stumbling around in the dark……

The roads around Pike’s Peak are mountainous, of course, so they are twisty-turny and steep.  As we came around one tight curve, there sat a moose in the middle of the road!  We almost hit this gigantic guy.  HUGE.  This was the first time we had seen a big moose with a rack on this trip.  Mike was able to get slowed down and swerved around, but……He said the moose wasn’t just “sitting” there, but had been hit.  Poor thing.  Who hits an animal that size and keeps going?  Because it was such a danger in the middle of the road, he called 911 in the hopes that they could get it removed so someone else wouldn’t have a wreck and hit it.  It was very sad to think that wonderful animal was ruined.

The lion’s share of the trip was through Kansas.  We had averaged a whopping 22 -24 miles to the gallon throughout the trip!  We had hoped to squeak by getting 15 miles to the gallon pulling the trailer through the mountains.  So we had been ecstatic with how well our car had done.  When we got to Kansas, Mike expected to really improve that number more…..flat land…. straight roads…. Unfortunately, Kansas’s strong 40 mile an hour wind from the East has pulled our miles per gallon average down to 20! Blah!

Sunrise over Colorado

 

I have only more thing to write, which is my little commercial for the Drury Hotels.  I love this hotel chain and wish they had hotels in every state.  The kids were really looking forward to this part of the trip.  I think it has something to do with the all you can eat “donuts” with the free breakfast in the morning at Drury Hotels.  The Drurys are America’s best kept secret as far as I am concerned.  Some of their flag ship hotels are about equal to a Marriott in size and décor, but usually only run a little more than 100.00/night.  Their other smaller properties are really nice too, just not as fancy.  We have stayed at more than 8 different Drury’s while on vacations over the years.  Never once have we ever had one that was not supremely clean and new looking.  That is very important to me.  I even take my shoes off when in the room here! 

This wasn't one of their fancy hotels, but it was still great!

Reading at the Desk





 

Watching TV

Getting Rid of Extra Calories

 

Here is what you get if you stay in a Drury:  A clean traditional looking room.  Very soft, comfortable beds.  Great showers. TV with great cable. Complimentary popcorn and soft drinks all afternoon when you arrive.  The very nicest people you have ever met work at the Drury Hotels.  It is like how Disney World employees used to be!  An exercise room that is never broken down.  A pool and hot tub.  Dinner at night.  Hot breakfast in the morning.  Oh, and did I mention the clean room?  I mean clean enough to pass inspection from the pickiest cleaner in the world? 

One more item about the Drury.   They are so clever that their dinner at night is made up of several different foods so you can mix and match to make a variety of meals.  They have hot dogs, chili, nachos, cheese, salad bar, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, baked potatoes, etc. So you can mix and match to have chili cheese dogs, chili mac, chili nachos, salad with chicken strips, ham from the salad bar and melted cheese on a baked potato, a chili cheese baked potato, hot dogs and macaroni…..and on and on and on and on…..the possibilities are endless.  Plus, you don’t have to go out for dinner when you finally make it to your hotel.  Breakfast is just as delicious and varied.  I rate the Drury Hotel chain with an A+.  Sorry for the long commentary, but I think they deserve it!

We will drive all day on the 41^st day from Kansas City to make it home to Wolcott late tonight.  There will be as much cleaning up and organizing to do after the trip as there was before the trip!  Our car and camper look like the Delorean from Back to the Future after going through the time continuum! Inside is just as awful as the outside!  We really tried hard to keep things clean and sanitary for the past 6 weeks, but let’s face it, we have been outside for the past 6 weeks! I estimate there will be approximately 16 loads of laundry to do and a bushel of dust to remove from the inside of the camper.  Happy 4^th of July to us!  LOL.  A grocery run will also be in order because I emptied out the fridge before we started our trip. 

I was reflecting last night about some of the things that people said and did that helped shape our trip personally for me. 

One big idea that shaped how I thought about our camping style was from my dear friend, Jenni Honegger, who is wise beyond her years.  She had described the way she and her husband take their big family camping……a tents, bikes, refrigerator, etc. all piled on a trailer.  She said they look like the Beverly Hillbillies going down the road, but she couldn’t care less because they are having so much fun.  I often thought about her words as our shabby little camper made its way across the American West!  I took Jenni’s lead and felt proud that we were doing this with our kids instead of feeling like a poor family living in a tent because we were desperate, which was probably how we were viewed going down the road or pulling into camp.

Jenni also told me to try putting a barrette in my hair as it grew out…….That has been a life savior for me for the past 6 weeks!

Chastity Robledo told Mike to use unscented laundry soap to keep bears away.  No bears ate us or our food the entire time we were in bear country!  Plus we loved the In and Out Burger place she also told us to try!

Kay Masterone gave us two big packs of individually wrapped nuts, in case of emergencies……We had so many food emergencies that the nuts are almost gone!  Sometimes it was very late before we got back to camp. 

Anita Burns……encouraged me to eat fast food once in a while.  I really wanted this trip to be a healthful venture, but I did have to break down several times and take Anita’s advice. 

Mike Yelton, who insisted on bringing the ugly tarp to cover camp…..that made putting up and taking down the camp so complicated……..That tarp changed the quality of camping for us many times.  It saved us from getting cold and wet in the rain.  It gave us shade when the sun was so hot and beating down.  It made us look like the Beverly Hillbillies when we were traveling with it strapped onto the camper, but it really did make a positive difference. 

Diane Smith, who has a beautiful grown and growing family, encouraged me to do this for my kids.  This was really a rather scary venture to embark upon for me because I am not really very adventurous.  She reminded me that in a few years, it will be too late to get these years back because your kids do grow up.   

Tommy and Lindsey, who guided us through Teton and Yellowstone and will probably name their first born after me……I think Lilly Marie would be a lovely name.  Ha ha ha!

Cyndi Crammer, who reads my blog….and actually laughs and still loves us.

Knowing you all were reading about our adventures kept me from giving up on journaling when I got busy or had trouble finding decent internet to upload pictures.  Because of my readers, I continued to work at the blog.  So now as a result, I have written a story of our adventure for Mike and the kids to enjoy forever.  Thank you!

Love,

Janelle