Kansas Thoughts

We did make it into Kansas yesterday ... and into the Central Time Zone ... all the way to beautiful Oakley, KS. Today we awoke to heavy fog. Yep - whoda thunk it could get foggy in western Kansas? Well it can. We got on the road around 9:00 AM in spite of the fog and it started lifting within a half hour or so as we drove east.

Our drive across Kansas has been uneventful - just the way I like it. A slight breeze from the southwest, a few rolling hills with a general decrease in elevation from around 5,000 feet at the western boundary to more like 1,300 feet in the eastern part of the state. Winne is liking this traveling much better than those mountains in Colorado and is rewarding me with better fuel mileage.

We have driven to just south of Topeka and plan to take a day off from serious travel tomorrow to visit a bit with our RV friends Terry and Randy Guiler who happen to be staying nearby at Hillsdale State Park. Our plan is to drive over to Hillsdale tomorrow late morning (about 60 miles) and find us a spot at the State Park Campground before meeting up with Terry and Randy. We're looking forward to a semi-non travel day and to the visit with good friends.

Now for a few observations from our last week of travel:

While driving through northern Arizona and southern Colorado you can't help but notice the high population of folks of native american ethnicity. This only makes sense since this area has been Navajo and Ute tribal lands for centuries. What I found interesting was the names of the high school mascots in the small towns we traveled through. How can it be that these folks are not upset by their children being associated with mascots like the "Warriors" or the "Redskins" ... yet those same names will raise great ire from the good citizens of Maine (and many other eastern states)?

You sure can tell it's almost election time in Nevada and Colorado. The Anti-Romney and Anti-Obama ads are all over the local TV stations. Yet I didn't notice that many in California or here in Kansas. When it comes to presidential elections it's a shame ... but it's true ... if you live in a solid red state and you vote blue - your vote means very little. The same hold true for voting red in a solid blue state. I encourage all you folks in those "swing" states to pay attention and make sure you vote (especially if you vote for my guy). For the rest of ya'll ... get informed and get out and vote anyway! Your vote counts a lot for everything else (House of Reps, Senate, State and local races, etc.). 

In my humble opinion - assuming we keep the whole Electoral College thing in the first place - every state should award Electoral Votes like Maine (and Nebraska) ... by majority vote in each Congressional District. At least that would more accurately reflect the "will of the people."

[Actually ... Maine has 4 Electoral Votes - 2 are awarded by statewide popular vote and the other two are awarded by Congressional District Popular Vote (Maine has 2 Congressional Districts) ... but I like my idea better!]