Saturday, June 7, 2014

Salina

During our initial planning process, Mattie and I decided we needed a stop between Little Rock and Lincoln, Nebraska. I looked at a map and found Salina, a town I have only ever heard of in an Avett Brothers song. "Mattie! The Avetts have been there, maybe!"
Turns out it was perfectly centered between our two stops and upon further research, we found there was a lavender farm in Salina. It's a secret dream of mine to get married on a lavender farm. In reality, I would never do this. It would have to be a perfectly lush farm, during harvest, and I don't really even care for the scent of lavender. I just think it would look so lovely in the evening.

Mattie agreed on Salina and we set off from Little Rock. The stretch of land between Tulsa and Wichita is the most unexpectedly pretty drive. It's not dry, flat land like they make it seem. It's rolling green hills and miles of healthy corn fields. There were hardly any cars on the road with us, giving me my first sense of open-roaded freedom and giving Mattie a chance to take a nap.




We made it to Salina around dinner time and spent our evening emailing and grooming- the things that fall by the wayside when living life on the road. We stayed in a cheap hotel next to a burger joint full of some of the fattest people I've ever seen. This prompted thorough research on the fattest US states and we were both shocked to not find Kansas on the list. As Mattie and I sauntered into the restaurant in our dresses and kicky sandals, every head turned to watch us go by. "Think we stand out?" Mattie asked. We sat politely, keeping to ourselves and gawking at the bigginses.

The king bed Mattie and I shared was the most comfortable thing since leaving home. We woke up refreshed and set out to discover Salina. "Downtown" Salina looks like a revamped version of the little western strip towns where cowboys had their duels. We ventured to a coffee shop only to discover that they not only were out of coffee but that the power was out in the whole town. In addition to this obstacle, the lavender farm I was so excited about is open to visitors by appointment only. Salina was a bust but we loved Kansas. It's big and peaceful and we loved stopping to play with cows on the backroads as we headed west to Denver.





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