Out West 2017: Kansas

Our trip home did NOT include a stop in Kansas. We were supposed to drive from Colorado Springs to St. Louis, Missouri. We had tickets to be up in the arch at the exact time that the solar eclipse was to pass through the city. Pretty impressive planning on my husband's part.

As we all know life does not always go as planned or desired. About an hour into our drive across Kansas, our van broke down. Thankfully we were at an exit when it happened and we slid into a gas station. The woman behind the counter called her friend who was a tow truck driver. Thus began our little adventure in Oakley, Kansas.

We ended up stranded in Kansas 3 days. It was a very long 3 days. We got stranded on a Sunday and were supposed to be home Tuesday night. Our girls started school that Thursday. We knew that from Clyde, Kansas we were a good 21 plus hour drive from home. As the hours and days passed we knew our drive home was gonna be quite the haul to get home in time for the start of school.

Our Toyota mini van needed a special part that the mechanic told us would take 2 weeks from Toyota to ship. Funny story, Steve ended up finding the part on Amazon and got it overnighted.

We spend 3 days in the middle of no where Kansas but were treated to the most kind and humble hospitably. Midwest life is like that. People are trustworthy and not afraid to help their neighbor out. The tow truck driver was also our mechanic. He gave us a loaner pickup and hauled us around when we needed it. The hotel manager fed us and gave the kids toys. She treated us like friends.

Waiting at the gas station for the tow truck. You can see Steve in the background...he's thrilled.

All 7 of us sandwiched into the tow truck.

Our loaner pickup. This thing was a beauty.

Out of the Mouths...

Josiah talking about a movie scene:

"That was so creepy it gave me the diabetes."

Out West 2017: Arlene's Beans

The day we went to Palmer Lake we were trying to decide where to eat lunch. I mentioned to Steve that we drove past a place called Arlene's Beans. It stood out to me because I have an aunt Arlene and you don't hear that name too often.

We checked them out online and the menu looked impressive and authentic. Us Heitlands love our Mexican food so we decided to go for it. Heitland party of 18...no small task. 😜 The food was a-ma-zing. What made it even more special was their restaurant was in the old General Store that Steve went to as a boy. He would ride his bike there and get candy, slushies, and make money off of discarded lottery tickets.

The food at Arlene's was all homemade. Our favorite part was their nacho cheese dip. I'm not normally one for cheese dip...think florescent orange or some sort of Velveeta concoction. But this stuff... white cheese with cilantro. Oh my goodness. We went back a second time and my sister-in-law Keely snapped this pic of us. We INHALED the stuff. I love the look on Greta's face. I think any intruder to this moment would have gotten SMACKED. My kids keep asking me if they think Arlene's Beans will ship us some cheese dip...

Out West 2017: Air Force Academy

Nestled into the side of the Rocky Mountains is the Air Force Academy. Such a stunning campus. Steve remembers going to their stadium for football games as a boy and was excited to show our kids around.

Aaron took this with my phone.  Love it!

Out West 2017: Garden of the Gods

The Garden of the Gods was a highly anticipated stop for our kids. Steve has many memories of going there as a boy and has talked about it for years.

This place is truly remarkable and gorgeous. The only bummer is that it is super over-run with people so the whole time you're hiking around you're dodging cars and people's photos, etc.  All in all it was a wonderful, memorable stop!

From the iPhone:

Out West 2017: Baby Ellie

Steve's brother Seth and his wife Keely had their first baby this summer.  Sweet Ellie was born just 3 weeks before she trekked from Iowa to Colorado!!  It was so fun to meet her and have her a part of us.

Out West 2017: Pikes Peak

14,000 plus feet. Enough said.

This girl would have hiked all 14,000 feet if we would have let her.

From the iPhone: