July 24 Salina, KS

We were going to take Mike and Louise out to dinner last night, but Louise was still hurting from her fall so we opted for take-out.  We were all set for Chinese, but when Dave and I got there, they were closed (Sunday).  We knew another restaurant around the corner, but they were also closed.  I looked down Main Street and saw that the Brew Pub was open so we brought back burgers for all.  After dinner Louise iced her ribs again, but when she got up, she was in terrible pain.  We thought at first she was having muscle spasms, but the pain just got worse.  Finally, we got her down the stairs and into the car and Mike took her to the emergency room.  Four hours later, she was diagnosed with one and possibly two fractured ribs!  They sent her home with Vicodin and recommended bed rest.

Louise was still in bed this morning when we came up and I hope she will stay there for 2 or 3 days to allow the ribs to begin the healing process.  We had a quick breakfast, stripped the beds, started a load of towels and got on the road.  The first picture is of Zoe saying good-bye to Sugar in the driveway.  We stopped in Eads for a bathroom break (the first one we had seen for miles) and to switch drivers and stopped for lunch in Kit Carson, CO at the Trading Post Cafe.  About a half hour later, we crossed the border into Kansas.  We passed a sign for Mt. Sunflower, the highest point in Kansas - didn't really expect to see a Mt. anything in Kansas as so much of it is flat.  I saw a doe and three beavers at Louise's this morning - the only other wildlife we encountered today were Angus cattle, 3 llamas, and a hawk.  We did pass lots of fields of corn, wheat, soybeans, rape weed, a few small oil wells, and some very large wind farms.  I really like the wind farms - they look peaceful and majestic and I love the fact that they are so "green".  We got onto I-70 and are stopped for the night in Salina, Kansas.  The girls opted for pool before dinner so I am watching them as I type.  They move between the pool and the hot tub and are having a good time doing forward and backwards somersaults and swimming underwater.