While there are parts of Kansas and Nebraska that live up to their reputation for being flat, the landscape for much of each state consists of gently rolling hills. The general lack of trees and buildings opens up the sky, making the land seem flatter than it actually is. Southeastern Colorado, however, is flat. I stopped to take one last panorama just north of Wiley.
The flatness and lack of trees makes for good sky watching. As I recall from one of Dr. Chermack's atmospheric physics lectures, the horizon is about 26 miles away with good visibility. The clouds in this panorama (much larger photo) are the remains of the storm that I encountered in Garden City --at least 70-80 miles to the east.
From there it was a three-hour drive to Denver and the trip was done.
Hey, thanks for the Flyover People plug :).
To go with your flatland photo, here's column I wrote about the landscape in western Kansas. http://flyoverpeople.net/vanish.htm
I've been to NYC (1992). Yes, I was one of those tourists, mouth open, looking up.
Having grown up on the treeless prairie, where it's possible to be the tallest thing for miles around, walking through in shadows of skyscrapers makes one feel very tiny.
Maybe I missed it, but why were you here? What brought you to Central Plains? Was it some exciting reason... or did you just come for our Amish geography and the easy availablity of chicken-fried steak?
Posted by: Cheryl | 17 June 2006 at 04:48 PM
I had a meeting in Boulder, and was wanting to get out of NYC for a bit, so I took the opportunity to spend a few days on the Plains. Chicken-fried steaks and runzas are powerful attractions as well.
Posted by: Joe | 18 June 2006 at 03:28 PM