Day 7/60: Denver to Hays, KS

Saturday, 9/15: 355 mi, I-70

We arose at 5 a.m. Dan washed another load of clothes and wrote in his journal while I worked on the blog and performed various computer maintenance activities.
Dan gassed up car and had breakfast.
Departure 10 a.m.
We try to take an interest in every kind of scenery, but the flat, parched, featureless land of eastern Colorado and western Kansas defeated us.
We had lunch at a Subway in Burlington Colorado, near the border with Kansas. As we moved east, the land grew more fertile, until we eventually got trees and crops. There were also many oil rigs dotting the land.
We arrived in Hays at 5 p.m. It was 81 degrees.

After checking in to our motel, we drove straight to Victoria, about 12 miles away, to attend mass at St. Fidelis church. Victoria is about the plainest, most unloved looking town I ever saw, but right in the middle is a sizable Romanesque stone church, dubbed the Cathedral of the Plains, though it is not really a cathedral.

St. Fidelis, Victoria, KS
Dan's photo

Christ Gives Peter the Keys to the Kingdom
Dan's photo

Inside there are stained glass windows from Europe, very clear depictions of Biblical stories. Everything is first rate and very well maintained for 100 years. Mass was about half over. The church was about 75% full, quite a turnout. The sound system was excellent and the priest was commanding, speaking always in English and with great immediacy. The singing was good.

For restaurants we could chose between another phony corporate Mexican place and Applebee's. But next door to our motel tucked into a little building behind a gas station, I discovered a real Mexican place, run by real Mexicans, with hand-painted chairs and improbable wall decorations. The food itself was good, a little too spicy; you could probably work with them to get something excellent.

Preparing for bed I discovered I had left my gown and a housecoat at the hotel in Denver. I always leave something behind. In 2010 I lost a couple of nice garments at our hotel in Philadelphia. This time the housekeepers are supposed to send the stuff to our hotel in Indianapolis. I hope that works out.