Goodland, KS - the Big Easel and Mammoth Rocks

We left Kansas City on Sunday and we're headed towards Colorado Springs to be there on Tuesday. We planned it this was because the distance between the two is about 570 miles. This would be a good 12-13 hours for us. I scoped out a handful of places on I-70 across Kansas depending on the distance that we felt like driving. There were some really nice state parks, but they were all too close to Kansas City and would leave us with a long drive on Tuesday. Ultimately, we drove almost the whole way across Kansas and stopped at a KOA near the border in Goodland, KS.

Working on a Sunday, what's the world coming to?

The typo. I can't stop seeing the typo...

The KOA was passable. It was pretty empty as it was towards the end of their season. They assigned us to the longest pull-thru site that I've ever seen. This thing had to be 80' or more long. There was plenty of room for the truck and camper and lots of room on either end. We did a simple setup- no leveling, slides out, and just water and electric.

Our camp site, those 2 together are over 65' and there's space at the front
and an equivalent amount of space behind the camper

Our first order of business was dinner. It had been a long day and we didn't feel like making dinner. So we headed out. Just a mile down the road from the campground, we passed what is called the Big Easel. How could we not stop?

That's Paige and Logan down at the bottom

Family Selfie!

Looking up

Unfortunately, TripAdvisor let us down- one of the top restaurants in the area was a Mexican place and it was somewhere between bad to mediocre. Like, what are these people thinking?!

Even the drink was mostly mix and little alcohol

Anyway, we left there and headed for Dairy Queen to give the kids a treat for being so good on the drive. We pulled up to a closed/dark destination. After two disappointments in a row, we were happy to see a Sonic. Sitting at Sonic, I had to laugh when I realized that everyone at Sonic that night was in a pickup truck. And with that- it closed out our first night.

Yup, all trucks.

While researching overnight stops on RoadTrippers.com, I found a place called Mammoth Rocks. It turned out to be about an 80 mile drive, but it wasn't a bad drive. The last 6-7 miles were dirt roads. And it was well worth it! The Mammoth Rocks are chalk rock formations. They towered over us and we're pretty amazing to see.

It's a long drive back a dirt road. btw, what is the speed limit on these?

Surprise, trees! Weird little tree canopy.

Old Truck in a field

Mooooove over. Later, these cows were actually in the road.

First looks.

Mandie wasn't well and stayed home. Me and the kids.

Our first natural arch.

ALIENS! Long legs, short bodies.

Oh, that's how it's done.

Panorama.

So insightful; such thinker.

Sure, take all of the fun out of it!

Ram glamour shot!

Selfies often take multiple tries.

Yeah, no idea. That's my kid.

Catching the moon.

Rock landscape.

Solidifying our Disney overload- Paige found a hidden Mickey.

My loves.

So artsy.

So "out of this world" looking.

Yeah, we're normal. Perfectly normal.

Otherwise, Goodland was just a quick 2 night stop. We left just as easy as we arrived. The drive into Colorado Springs was pretty uneventful. Gorgeous scenery, but that isn't a story for today.

As usual, there are more photos (and a video of COWS with a hilarious Finding Nemo reference) on Flickr.