Day 4 - Goodland, Kansas

WE HAVE WINNERS! The Ste. Genevieve, Missouri parking lot object has been identified as a ventilation shaft (for underground lime miners).  Congratulations to Olivia and Rowan Ryan.  See Day 2 for more information.
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World's Largest Easel           Goodland, Kansas

   Since 2001 this giant easel has been a bright spot on the flat western Kansas landscape.  It stands 80 feet tall.  Atop it sits a 32 feet x 42 feet representation of Van Gogh's 3 Sunflowers in a Vase by Canadian artist Cameron Cross    It's fitting that it should be here.  Kansas is known as the Sunflower State and Goodland is the center of  its sunflower industry. The easel legs are buried 35 feet into the ground.  This art project is here to stay.  But, is this still art?  Can this painting cease to be appreciated as art because of its size, location, or representation?

Colorado sunflower

   We ate lunch at Adam's Mountain Cafe in Manitou Springs, Colorado.  The cafe subscribes to The Slow Food  International Manifesto.  This is a worldwide movement which has as its symbol a snail and seeks to rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of fast food.....developing taste rather than demeaning it. Greg chose Vegetarian Tacos and I had Senegalese Vegetables.  Really great food!
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We didn't know our 3 1/2 year old grandson had even been to  Colorado.

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  Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is never easy to visit. You have to navigate the busy streets of Manitou Springs, Colorado, go up and over 9000 feet high Monarch Pass, and then try to acclimate to the thinner air. The day before we visited the monument it was impossible to go there because of the still burning Colorado wildfires. While there we saw very rare fossilized insects (butterflies, spiders, and honeybees) as well as some excellent examples of petrified wood. A fossilized honeybee is on the park entrance sign and emblem. Whenever I see bees in the future, I will think of the ones I saw encased in stone.

Fossil Trail

Petrified Tree Stump