My connection to Kansas is one that runs random and deep. For starters, I was actually born in St. louis....not quite Kansas, but close enough. Then, one my best friends from college from college was from Topeka. Then, randomly one of my roommates when I studied abroad in Rome was also from Topeka (Adam...more on him later). He moved to NYC in '02 as well and we ended up roommates for a few years. One day in 2003, with the college Kansan friend visiting and between the two of them inviting people over, I had nine Kansanites in my tiny West Village apartment in one day; That has to be a record of some sort.
Anyways, my whole family was traveling out to St. Louis for the weekend for my cousin's high school graduation (yes, this is something Indian people often do). Adam was now living back in Kansas running a pizzeria, so I figured I'd fly out a few days early and visit him to check out his new business. And so began the adventure...
I bought a roundtrip ticket to St. Louis, as I was flying out of there with the family at the end of the trip. My plan was to rent a car in St. Louis and drive on over to Manhattan, KS (yes, Adam now lives in a town/city called Manhattan in Kansas). One thing I completely forgot about the midwest: Things are really fucking far apart. I google mapped the drive and much to my chagrin, 370 miles. Mind you, I had gotten up at 6am for the airport, the flight had a stopover in Pittsburgh, it was now about 4pm, and I had at least a five hour drive ahead of me. Adam had definitely made it sound like this wasn't a big deal, yet this was like driving from Boston to almost D.C., after a whole day of flying. I'm convinced that this could be the average commute of a midwesterner.
The first thing I noticed was how much easier things are vs. New York. As anyone who's ever tried doing any basic life task in NYC, they're always a pain in the ass. I got off the plane, while waiting for my checked bag, I was able to get my rental car processed at the counter which was conveniently right next to the carousel. Right as I signed my credit card receipt for the car, my bag came out, I grabbed it and walked over the to rental car shuttle. There were no other passengers, but the driver, with a big smile offered to take me over right away. I got dropped off, went up to my car and was on the highway. I am not kidding, from getting off the plane to being on the highway, including getting a checked bag, was all done in around 20 minutes. I was getting to like this magical land already.
I was on the road and exhausted. The road from St. Louis to Manhattan, through Kansas City, is straight, flat, and long. You take I-70 the entire distance, and my Ford Focus, of course without cruise control, could barely keep up with the 18-wheelers overtaking me. Being exhausted, I undertook a steady cycle of stopping to get Diet Coke, stopping to pee, buying more Diet Coke, and repeat. This process, while time consuming, did take me into some pretty amazing truck stops.
Kansas City is about 250 miles along the way and on the border between Missouri and Kansas. As I drove through, I definitely got a second wind when I saw that Welcome to Kansas sign. I had finally reached this world I had heard so much about and Manhattan, KS was only an hour and change away (yes, my Ford Focus could go 90, which I guess isn't "really considered speeding" according to most people I talked to)
The last two hours were a pretty amazing drive as literally there is nothing around. Even flatter and straighter than the previous stretch, I am convinced I could've driven the entire thing just steering with my knees. If I had cruise control I imagine I probably could've taken a nap, woken up, and would've been fine. The main thing I noticed at this point was how massive the sky was; there is nothing blocking the horizon in any direction. One amazing part of this was I was driving through here as the sun was setting. As I was driving west at a high speed, it seems like I was chasing the sunset (I really did feel like I was living out a classic rock song at this moment) as it lasted almost the entire hour and a half of the drive.
I was right outside of Manhattan and called Adam to let him know I was close. Here's where it got interesting. I was a few miles away from his place and he told me to stop at a gas station and he'd "come get me". By coming to get me, he meant he'd drive over and then I'd follow him back to his apartment. I had GPS on my phone, but he insisted. I guess this would be like telling someone you'd pick them up at Grand Central...definitely the polite thing to do and helping the traveler avoid that last little bit of confusion? Except, being in the midwest this involved being in cars instead of walking.
I had finally arrived.
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