Pyramids in Kansas?

Day 2 is about over. We had a very eventful day today. We were on the go from 7:00-almost midnight and tomorrow is going to be an early morning. First for the stats for today: 

States: 4 (Colorado)

Capitols: 0

Books read: Started 1

License Plates Found: 6 + 13 = 19!  (WI, AZ, MO, OH, AR, ND, TN, WA, NY, IN, MN,NM, IL)

Crunches/Squats: 0! YIKES! We ran out of time! Tomorrow we will have to do 25 + 30! 55!! 

Number of people asking us about our trip: 2

So, our day started with a wonderful breakfast at our hotel: Hampton Inn. They had a wonderful breakfast of eggs, potatoes, sausage patties and other continental breakfast items. We then had to run an errand and then mail our postcards to the winners of our game! If you have facebook and are friends with either Celeste or myself you know we are doing "Where In The World are Michelle and Celeste" We are having fun with it and I hope you are too. We are going to stay true to our word and send out postcards to the winner everyday! 

We then left for our first destination: Chalk Pyramids/Monument Rocks. I have heard them both ways. After driving on a one lane highway for 3 hours and then turning onto a dirt road for another 20 minutes we made it to our destination. These formations are in the middle of farm land! They were really cool and if you are ever driving down highway 83 in Kansas they are worth the detour (especially if you have kids who need a stretch break). 

After taking some pictures of the rocks we went to Oakley, Kansas to find some postcards and mail them to todays winners. We found this sign and in the background you can see Buffalo Bill Cody roping a buffalo!

On our way to Colorado we stopped and admired the painting that is resting on the Largest Easel. We then stopped at McDonalds for drinks and a bathroom break. Two people finally asked us about our trip. We used window chalk to write: 20 states, 20 days, 13 capitols, #capitolchallenge and we were finally asked about it!

We made it to our 4th state!!! Colorado. This was not your typical welcome sign but it works!

Look at this cool rain storm in the distance. We only got a few sprinkles but it looked dangerous!

We took the scenic route to Castle Rock.

After dinner we went to Colorado Springs to enjoy the sunset at Garden of the Gods. It was so beautiful!

We even encountered a deer up close and personal! Watch out Bambi!

Last picture for a wonderful day! Stay tuned for Day 3! Thanks for reading! 

Celeste has a blog too! Check it out! http://34justme.blogspot.com/

It's a Twister! It's a Twister!

 Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore! Day 1 is complete!! In case you are keeping track here are the stats so far:
States: 3 (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas)
Capitols: 0
Books read: 0
Magazines Read: 1
License Plates Found: 6 (TX, PN, CO, OK, KS, and FL)
Crunches/Squats: 20

Now for the good stuff! We started our day at 7:00. We needed to decorate the car so people can follow our journey. We came up with with our Twitter hashtag: #capitolchallenge That took the first 3 hours of our trip, ha ha! After a quick stop at Starbucks we were off!

 

Here is how the first 5 hours of our drive looked --

 Yep, that's right, not much to look at. But, you have to start somewhere! While driving through the boring part we thought it would be cool to try to make it to all the places in the song "This Land is Your Land" but guess what? You need to know the lyrics to the song first before you can actually make a list of places to go. Do you know the lyrics? They aren't "This Land is your land, this land is my land from the dada dadaaaa to the da dadada" See, you don't know them either! We were going to look them up but unfortunately 3G doesn't work in the middle of nowhere.

Anywhoo, here is the drive we made today:

After 5 hours of driving we made it to Shamrock Texas! This small town is along the old Route 66!

Here is an actual piece of the Blarney Stone! It was in a park... not sure if it really is legit but we still stopped and took pictures!

Old stop from Route 66. It is abandoned now but it was picturesque.

We then made it to Canadian, Texas. No, we are not in Canada... YET! Another super small town!

Then we hit construction! There were one-lane bridges where you had to stop at lights before you could go across! We had to do this 3 times.

Look! A new state!!

Guess what?? We made it to our first night's destination. Liberal, Kansas! This is the home to Dorothy's House and the Land of Oz! In this small town you can find many statues of Dorothy! They are EVERYWHERE! We made it to Dorothy's house which is on "Yellow Brick Road"! Let me tell you, if you ever have a chance to come to Liberal you must pay the money to go on this tour. You will not be disappointed... if you can make your own fun!

 Yep, that's a kitchen from the 1920s...

 If you look at the left part of the picture you will see Dorothy! She was REALLY there!!! Ok, so this is a different version of Dorothy but she told us that was her house, and her room, and her ruby slippers... please have us recreate this experience when you see Celeste and I! She hates her job.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road!

 If I only had a heart.

So, after our journey to Oz and back we went to this great Italian restaurant called Ruffino's. It was really good. The service was weird but the food was good. The restaurant is in the old train depot. A train actually went by while we were eating. You can see the tracks in the background.

After dinner we cruised around town and found many more Dorothy statues. Overall it was a fantastic day! See everyone tomorrow with another update!

Celeste has a blog too! Check her out! http://34justme.blogspot.com/html

Happy Birthday America (and me)!

July 3, 2013 -- I'm officially 29! I had a wonderful birthday! First, I went to see the Lone Ranger with my dad. It was pretty good. Not the best movie of the summer, but I would probably see it again. Then, I went to Chili's with my dad and sister. I had a great morning! 

At night, we wend to Addison to attend Kaboom Town! There is a big festival and live music. We had a great time! It was right by the Addison airport so we also enjoyed an air show before the fireworks. The only complaint would be that they set up the stage right where the fireworks were being shot off. Our view was a little obstructed. 

Now I'm off to the Melting Pot for a family birthday dinner! I've been going there for my birthday for MANY years now! 

 Part of the air show

 Live music! There was the armed forces band, the Dallas Wind Ensemble, and then a cover band. 

 Celeste and I enjoying the music

 Red and Blue "smoke" 

 Glider with its own pyrotechnics 

Cover band. We left when they started. 

Surprise Trip to Ft. Worth

"You will need walking shoes and a fully charged camera" is all the information my BFF gave me. I had a surprise afternoon planned by one of my best friends. I have never really been to Ft. Worth except to see 2 productions at TCU. Here is how my adventure went yesterday! 

We started our journey at the Mellow Mushroom to see some quirky statues! I love random quirky stuff around town! Outside this eatery there were cows/longhorns decorated for the restaurant. Awesome photo opportunity. Next time I might have to try the food. 

Our next stop took us to the new TCU stadium to meet this creepy statue! I hope I get to attend a game next season!

The big surprise was to go to the Ft. Worth Zoo! I had never been and I LOVE Zoos!!! It was really hot yesterday and I was melting in the heat. These animals had the right idea; a nap in the shade.

My favorite animal is the Elephant. I guess it is the zoo's favorite as well because they added an exclamation point to the end of Elephants! Celeste and I were just as excited to see them. In that shady area there are fans to keep you cool.

This white tiger was so amazing.

This bear creeped me out! He was dancing or taunting us. I thought he was going to leap at us! He was really scary.

More smart animals!

Well, I didn't get to go to Australia this year but this was a close second to getting there.

Texas! It was a ghost town today. Only the crazy people were out walking around in this heat! It was getting me ready for Disney World which will be next summer.

Batman!

Ol' South! This place was sooooooooo good! The best blueberry waffle I have ever had. My eggs and sausage looked like a smily face.

The last thing we did in Ft. Worth was see The Taming of the Shrew. It was very funny and the acting was GREAT!

 After the show we took pictures with this cool fountain at TCU and the new horned frog statue. It was an amazing day and I am so lucky to have such a great friend!