A little trip

Mr W and I are off to the heartland tomorrow, for a few-days long road trip. I know it's going to be hot, but I've always wanted to see the Konza Prairie, a research area and remnant tallgrass prairie in Kansas. So we're renting a little (hopefully) car and going tomorrow morning.

Why Konza prairie? Well, when I worked in Toledo, Ohio, my park was close to a region called the Oak Openings, a transitional ecosystem between the tallgrass prairies of the Midwest and the Eastern Forests. It's kind of a savannah habitat out there, with beach sand in the soil from previous incarnations of Lake Erie. We'd see both prairie and forest plants in the parks. The height of the grasses (8-10' tall for some) and the variety of flower species present in prairies makes them something I want to see myself. Do I sound a little defensive? No one seems to share my passions...

But Mr W suggested a road trip and was willing to go "about 8 hours out" so I'm renting a car with good gas mileage and A/C and we're hitting the road. I called the rental place to confirm they had the reservation and an economy car and he said something like, "you'll be able to pick from what we have". I hope they have something small.

Can I tell you? I've gotten so used to staying home and doing clay stuff and sticking close to home, that the thought of preparing for a trip is a little daunting. I think that is close to the best reason to go and do it, therefore. Get out of the house and see stuff.

Sal will stay with B from the dog park, so she'll have close to her regular routine. It's hard to travel with dogs.

Oh, forgot to mention the other thing we'll do. Several years ago when I first got my iPod and was introduced to the world of podcasts, I stumbled upon one from the Kansas Historical Society called "Cool Things" where they would talk about an object from the museum and give it context. I found this so very appealing that I want to see the museum itself on our trip. It's only about an hour away from the prairie, so we'll stay a couple of nights in Topeka and see the museum. Or we'll take off that last day and go somewhere else - who knows. I want to be that flexible, and we'll see what happens. I was thinking about how different it was to travel without a smartphone. We're so connected - for better or worse.

Pending proper internet connections, I'll blog about our travels and post pictures. Yea!