Part 2 of crosscountry trip

My favorite place may well have been the Agricultural Hall of Fame in Kansas. I don't know if you know this about me, but I am a famous art critic. And as such, I cannot help but appreciate good art whenever I see it.

Me, contemplating the enormous bronzed breasts smashed up against cattle fencing, symbolizing agricultural... bounty??

It's not just me, right?

Or maybe they are giant agricultural lungs, since everyone knows farmers sometimes wear their internal organs outside their body during extreme heat.

Moving on.

I not only appreciate art, but landscaping as well. This one was carefully cultivated by a proud master gardener.
The words are covering it up, but there are NO other plants in this bed except for this lush beauty. Clearly someone's crowning achievement.

The best part was the newly-opened National Poultry Museum!

This time I'm not being sarcastic. I love chickens.

400 year old stone chicken from China.

Why did I cross the country?

To see the Poultry Museum!

And also to see the Cummings Diesel plant in Columbus, Indiana. (Not necessarily in that order.)

This picture is for my dad, master of everything. He once repaired a cracked engine block from a diesel truck. YES, I said "repaired." Betcha thought it couldn't be done, but don't ever tell him that. "Impossible" does not exist in his vocabulary.

An exploding engine.

This might possibly be the only way I could understand how all that machinery fits together.

After Kansas, we hit Colorado! I watched the mountains approach and thought about the interrelation between geography and weather. No tornadoes once you hit the Rockies. (Or at least not as often as in Kansas.)

Our dear friends in Colorado.

And their adorable little kids: girl in front, boy, sleeping, in sling on dad's back.

We went to the Florissant Fossil beds in Colorado together to see fossilized stone in the shape of trees.

My, dear, how your eye has grown!

Then on to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado.
This is a MEAN river. During the spring runoff, it can flow anywhere from 3,000 to 12,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). Just to give you an idea of how freaking powerful that is, a 700 lb boulder can be whisked away in only 5,000 cfs. Don't try rafting this baby.

Aaand the whitest person on the planet peers over a cliff.

Then regains her senses.

Dan photographing a blue grouse booming on the side of the road.

It made a noise not unlike a heavy bass car stereo. In fact, I was annoyed, thinking, "how far away is that car!" when I suddenly realized it was not obnoxious music in the distance but Mr. Grouse.

Next: Monument Valley, Utah.

Monument Valley is owned by the Navajo.

This is for my nephews. heh heheh (cue Beevis)

I wonder how much land costs out here?

Landscaping at the Monument Valley Visitor's Center. Smart! No one is trying to grow a willow tree here. Yay. (You laugh, but I have seen willow trees in the desert. Specifically, Sedona.)

The sun sets.

Time to go.

We left Monument Valley and drove straight to Flagstaff, Arizona, about 3.5 hours. And now here we are!

Next: Arches and the St. Louis Arch. I just couldn't do it all in one post so it'll just have to be out of order.