Why Kansas is a Proper Noun, a State, and a Verb

It only took 10 and a half hours to get from Newton to Denver, and it was the quickest 10 and a half hours I have ever had the joy of living. Our first stop was Coronado Heights. It is supposedly where Francisco Vásquez de Coronado stopped his search for the alleged city of gold, Quivera. There is a stone fort built by the WPA in 1932 on top of a big hill to commemorate the spot. It is actually pretty cool and it has a great view from the top.
Jake and Ben then took a back road the rest of the way to I-70, allowing us to see some of Kansas that Jake had never seen before. When they got on I-70, they decided to go as far as KS-40, and then take that to some dirt roads that would eventually lead them to Mt. Sunflower. Mt. Sunflower is the highest point in Kansas,









and is home to much wildlife. Jake should tell you some of the stories.
Stories: As I was pulling the car into the dirt drive that led directly to the highpoint, three small rodents ran into a hole in the road. I immediately stopped the car, Ben grabbed his camera, and our Planet Earth shoot began. We later found out that the rodents were actually three-lined ground squirrels. My uncle Keith told us this. He is very smart. I placed some food (completely organic and natural food) outside of th
eir hole, and one brave squirrel emerged to eat. We got the shot in HD. Then, at the top of the highpoint, I mentioned how the gently rolling hills begged us to frolic over them, and to make fun of me, Ben began frolicking. Well, the joke was on him, because when he did that he almost frolicked on top of a snake. the photo below is of that snake. He is gruesome and scary. After we got back in the car, we almost ran over a 5 foot long snake, a giant red bird attacked our car, and some deer slo-mo jumped over some fences. Oh, and Ben saw a cow trying to make more cows.
Then we drove to Goodland and saw the biggest Van Gogh painting ever. We weren't really impressed, but we were glad we stopped. When we finally crossed over into Colorado, I few to sleep immediately.
While we were driving in Eastern Colorado, I mentioned to Ben that I didn't really like it. He said there is really no difference than Western Kansas. And he was right, the landscape is pretty much the same, so I was trying to figure out why I felt the way I did about Eastern Colorado. I think it is because Eastern Colorado has been disowned by the rest of its state. Looking at it, you can just sense the sorrow from it not being accepted by the rest of the state. I think I might cry.
Anyway, here are some pictures. I hope you like them.