The first day of our roadtrips are inevitably long and uneventful. It’s the first day out, and there’s always excitement in the promise of seeing new things… but that comes later. First comes the first day’s drive, and that usually means a long haul. For this trip, it’s a 500-mi jaunt into the middle of Kansas.

I don’t mind the drive much. In this leg, the landscape just starts to hint about changes from farming to ranching. The terrain gets a little flatter, and the hints of prairie begin. It’s a good leg, with a promise of what’s to come.

We saw a huge wind tower farm today. I just don’t get why this country can’t figure out that dual-purposing this wind-swept land is a terrific use of resources. Farming and wind power can definitely co-exist, and this part of the country sure gets plenty of wind to feed power back to the grid. And it’s plenty renewable.

BTW, I’m surprised at how much Hays reminds me of Kearney NE (last year’s opening leg). It was almost like we’d slept and gone to Nebraska! 🙂

Tomorrow — the mountains!