I know it's been a while since we've all written, so here's an attempt to fill everyone in.
The team fell in love with Colorado or more specifically, its Palisade peaches. Ever since having a taste in Rangely, we've had our eyes peeled for these juicy treats. Lucky for us, Colorado does not suffer from a lack of farmer's markets. We've been spoiled enough to enjoy the peaches' sweetness among this state's beautiful nature. I really underestimated the magnificence of the Rocky Mountains. I imagined some tall rocks, trees here and there, but I now believe that the National Park might just be one of the most stunning places in the country. Climbing up to 12,110 feet above sea level, the view could have easily convinced me that I was in the Swiss Alps. Some of us even got to see elk among the snow-capped mountains.
We're in Kansas now, and like Alex wrote, there's a lot of corn. Imagine a football stadium full of corn. Multiply that thirty fold, and then imagine twenty of those fields. Yeah, that much corn. It makes you wonder if Dorothy's yellow brick road was really just all this corn. This past week has surprised us with a variety of weather from thunderstorms to sunny skies in just a few hours. We actually missed a tornado in Elizabeth, Colorado by just two days. The flat roads of Kansas mean that sound from our headphones isn't being drowned out by our heavy panting or roaring winds (though these greedy headwinds are disinviting the mythical tailwinds from supposedly showing up). So lately, we start the day with someone recommending a podcast that we individually listen to on the ride. During dinners or drives to water parks, we've been having some thought-provoking conversations, many that never conclude with an answer or closure. Our most recent discussion was on Malcolm Gladwell's 3 part series on higher education on his show, Revisionist History. I highly recommend it.
Sidenote: We found out that some of the road markings aren't painted on, and they're actually stickers. Alyssa picked up a strip and has started making us anklets so that we can all wear a piece of Kansas wherever we go.
We've also been fortunate to stay in churches and lovely homes for the past few days, which means we've been taking advantage of their amazingly equipped kitchens and spice cabinets. Last night we made pad thai with sticky rice and mango. The day before we made risotto and a tofu vegetable stir fry. Not too bad for some scrappy college kids.
Now some things are just better experienced than told, so enjoy this small slice of the past three weeks.
Love, Olivia