The Great Drive, Day Five

Monday morning, Josh, Rachel, the kids, and the cats got a late start, because they had gotten in late the previous night. They woke up in Kansas City, Missouri, and when Josh called me in the afternoon he said that they really hadn't managed to get back onto the road until around noon.

Thank God for Starbucks.

Joshua Enjoys a Refreshing Starbucks Coffee

They spent much of the day driving on I-70. At 2:05 pm they passed into Kansas, but missed getting a picture of the "Welcome to Kansas" sign.

Around 3 pm they spotted and passed by the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka. The problem with this trip is that even though they're passing through quite a lot of interesting places, they can't just leave the cats alone in a locked car. Either Josh or Rachel needs to stay with the cats at all times during the day. So even though one of them could take the kids to see something, that would mean leaving the other one alone and bored for an hour. (At least, I think that's what the issue is.)

I do wish they could have seen this place, though.

Oz Museum Sign One of the many places Josh, Rachel, and the kids were unable to visit.

Then again, I'm more into Oz than they are...so now Nomi and I have a reason to visit Kansas, so we can see the Oz Museum in Wamego.

Josh and the kids did get a chance to get out of the car at a candy factory called Grandma Horner's in Alma. He sent me a picture of their sign, but it came out blurry, so I won't bother posting it here. (It's in the gallery with all the other, unposted pictures.) Josh claimed that Grandma Horner's has a website, but I can't find it; if anyone else can, let me know.

And even if they don't have a website, they apparently have horses.

Josh, Emma, and Horses

Unless that was somewhere else.

Or maybe this is the candy place.

Josh, Rosa, Emma, and Noah

It's hard for me to keep track; Josh and Rachel send pictures when they can, and I've spoken with them on the phone each day, but sometimes it's hard to figure out which picture goes with which event. Also, not every picture is clear. He took a picture of a road sign that I think is supposed to give miles or population, but the text is unreadable. Anyway, it's in the gallery if you want to see it. (There are two pictures of Rachel from today there as well, but I didn't post them because I think they originally came out mirror-reversed. However, I think I've fixed that. See the Starbucks cup in Rachel's hand? The logo was originally flipped, and I don't think they do that.)

Anyway, last night they stayed in Hays, Kansas. Josh told me that they were looking to stay in a place halfway between Kansas City and Denver, and they had contemplated staying in WaKeeny, Kansas, but their travel advisor informed them that Hays would have more of the services they would need for their long trip. (I hope no one in WaKeeny takes offense at that; from their website, it does look like a nice place as well.)

Today they drive from Hays to Arvada, a suburb of Denver, Colorado, where they'll be staying with a friend of Rachel's. And I've discovered the joy of tracing their route on Google Maps.

(Basic message repeats: Rachel is looking for a group with which to go see the new X-Files movie at the 10 pm showing on the night of Friday July 25 at the Eugene Valley River Center movie theater. She already has her ticket. Get in touch if you'd like to go see the movie with her.)

[Josh & Rachel's Trip Picture Gallery]

[IRTF] Readercon Flyer

I'm having far too much fun working on the marketing for my book.

I'll have more to say about the marketing process later, but for now, I invite you to click on the link below and view a PDF of the flyer that I created to pass out at Readercon this weekend.

And if anyone out there feels like running off color copies of your own and leaving them at science fiction bookstores, or bringing them to conventions you'll be at, go right ahead.

(I particularly like the way the Apex Publications alien head logo makes a nice watermark.)

http://www.bursteinbooks.com/IRTF_Flyer.pdf

The Great Drive, Interlude

Josh just called me; Rachel had called about three hours ago. They are in Stratton, Colorado.

Josh asked me to share some more pictures from yesterday's part of the trip, when they spotted a wind farm in Kansas. This is the best of the lot.

Wind Farm in Kansas

Either later today or tomorrow I'll post about day six, which includes a lack of Starbuckses and a story about getting coffee from McDonald's.

The Return of the Knit Dalek

When gnomi knits a Dalek, cuteness abounds.