"That's weird...well we are in Kansas"

This morning did not go as planned. We decided after all to not revisit the spa, but instead we were excited to go to Remini, a breakfast cafe/ gelatto bar that we popped into the previous night. The employee assured us that they opened at 7am the next morning and tantalized us with the array of breakfast choices. We were sold. We had to go. We woke up extra early to make their soon enough that we could enjoy our morning before the long drive ahead, but to our dismay and disappointment, at 7:15, Remini was still closed. We wandered into the nearby hotel and asked the concierge. She informed us that the cafe has relaxed hours and never opens at the same time each day and that she thought it would be open in the next hour or two. :( ! Grr...so we wandered back to our own hoten and asked that concierge what he would recommend. He suggested the Little Diner and ASSURED us that it would be open. Can you guess where this is going? We arrived there and yes, it was closed, but after standing outside looking hungry and snacking on our complimentary granola bars, they opened up just for us (at "7ish). It wasn't the best breakfast ever, nor did we get our bang for our buck, but it did the trick and we left Vail with full stomachs and a longing to return again soon.

After a few minutes of being on the road and several comments from Taylor on the beautiful scenery, she began to scream. A lot! I couldn't explain it, but I reasoned in my head that she must be overjoyed with the breathtaking mountains. But then, she managed to shout, "big bug!" as she pointed to the radio. Then it all became clear. A mysterious bug, 3 inches long had, after flying in Taylor's face, landed on the power button of the stereo. After much flailing, she swatted at it and the bug, as well as the music was gone.

That excitement kept us fueled until our driving switcheroo and gas fill-up in Denver. Lea drove from there on to Goodland, KS where we ate lunch at the base of the largest Van Gogh replication in the US. On it's easel it's stands 80 feet tall. The large sunflower painting is quite striking and offered a nice view in the flat lands of Kansas. After one more stop of gas, we filled our afternoon with madlibs and the Noisettes, one of our latest favorite bands, accompanied us all the way to Park City, a suburb of Wichita, where we ate dinner at Applebees and checked into our grasshopper guarded hotel (one tried to attack Lea!-What's the deal with our bugs? Maybe they're getting revenge after their buddies got splattered on our windshield...)

It has been a long day and we look forward to some sleep, a good breakfast (yay!) and our arrival to Fort Smith, AR.