Drive to TX - KS Part

 I have always thought of KS as the worst state to drive through. Not much to look at...so flat...(Sorry if I've offended anyone that lives there. There just isn't much happening topographically in your state. I'm from NE. I feel your pain.) I tried to find interesting things to take pics of and tried to appreciate it a little more. At a travel center, I did learn that KS is the home of the world's largest ball of twine. Woo-hoo!

Some kind of rock quarry thingy - hey, anything is interesting in KS

I think I was excited to see green fields :)

There's a long black train, comin' down the line....

LOVED the trees in KS. Saw these beauties driving into Emporia.

This was some kind of cool highland area - almost desert like - prairie grass and lots of little hills. It was neat. The pics don't do it justice.

More of the cool part that you can't really tell from the pics.

KS Turnpike. They stole my $6.

 I got to stay with Scot, my biological dad and his family! I have 2 half brothers, Christian and Connor. It was really fun to see them again, even though I had a bad cold. We had a nice time together, but I had to be on the road in the morning so we couldn't hang out for a long time. :(

Christian

Connor

Me, Scot and Family

Me & the boyz

Me & Scot - weird how much we look alike. It's like we're related.

Funny Story:
Here's a funny story about Sunday morning. I don't have a GPS thingy, so I looked up a Mass online that wasn't too far away and wrote down the directions. I found it, but arrived pretty late (like 9:20 for a 9:00 Mass - oops) but was hoping it was only the Gospel or something. The building was really ugly on the outside and didn't really look like a Catholic Church, but I was in a rush and chalked it up to the less desirable architecture from the 1960s. I hurried inside only to see the strangest layout of a church I'd ever seen. There were several hallways, with the chapel part in the middle. I couldn't figure out how to get inside that middle part where the Mass was going on. There were no windows in the doors, so I couldn't tell where the back was (so I could slip in unnoticed). I kept trying the doors, but they just didn't make sense. They looked like doors to closets or to a gym or something. There were people standing in the hallways looking very solemn and being VERY silent - even the children (and babies). I thought maybe I had stumbled upon a Latin Mass. Then I heard a bell ringing inside. "Yep, must be a Latin Mass," I thought. "That's weird. It didn't mention that on the website." Finally, I must've looked really confused b/c a man smiled and made eye contact. I asked, "How do I get inside to the Mass?" "Well, the sacrament is going on right now, " he replied. "Yes, I know, I'm trying to get in. This is my first time at this Church." "Oh! This is your first time at a Mormon Church?" WHAAAT???? I just about started laughing at my own stupidity for not reading the sign outside or not figuring this out earlier.  "Oh no! I was looking for a Catholic Church. Is there one around here?" "Well, you're more than welcome to stay. But I think there is one a few blocks down the road." I thanked him, smiled (half laughing at myself) and got out of there. Oops! Moral of the story: READ THE SIGN, you might not feel like such an idiot. :)

On to Oklahoma!!

I love red dirt. It makes me happy. :)