After an extremely long Friday of anxiously waiting (lazily in bed, for some of us) to pick up vans and participants, we were off! Taking highway 70 by storm, two vans full of terribly terrific tigers hit the road to Taos, New Mexico. But before we could get there, we took a pit stop to spend the night with our good friends in Wichita, the Adams family! Mitch Adams, a Mizzou alumni (M-I-Z!), and his wonderful family took us in for the night. We got the full treatment--air mattresses, couches, even beds! Basically, we got the five-star experience from this five-star family. Not only did they graciously house us, they provided us with the warmest welcome we could have imagined featuring three absolutely adorable dogs, delicious food, and wonderful conversation full of Mizzou memories. They had a particularly genuine and gracious way of making us feel at home. Although their son Bryce did not bring us Buffalo Wild Wings when he got off work (just kidding!), we couldn't have asked for a better night with what is sure to be with life long friends and a second family.
6 hours in the car X tigers (old + new) = bonding with the Adams Family!
With an early morning departure, we hit the road again! Sadly, the next few hours of the morning would be spent "enjoying" the Kansas countryside. After shouting, "M-I-Z! Z-O-U!" the whole way, we finally made it to Oklahoma--or as we like to call it, home of the tumbleweeds. Sighs of relief and cheers of defeat were heard from miles around. Many questions arose here. Can you hit tumbleweeds? Are dogs really allowed to ride in the bed of a truck with no latch? Who sings this song? Can you play the one from Frozen again? Should we pick up that hitchhiker? For future reference, no. Don't pick up that hitchhiker. The nearby penitentiary strongly advises against it. Seeing that "Welcome to New Mexico" sign was quite the turning point. The landscape unfolded before us and we were left staring at the rolling hills and approaching mountains. Before we knew it, we were driving through state parks in between the canyons. Stopping for pictures--rather sharply--was a must. Nick avoided a close encounter with a freezing river in order to get a picture of the group and we were once again on the road. Coming into Taos was breathtaking. The view on the way in was full of, as you can imagine, huge mountains and trees. The town of Taos itself is amazing. The low-lying buildings leave stunning views of the mountains in the near distance. The quick picturesque glimpse we got before pulling into Our Lady Guadalupe's Parish made us eager for the exploring sure to follow in the coming week. We briefly took in the convent where we would be staying and then hit the grocery store.
Tigers X (a long day of driving - kANSAS) = Hungry students with the need to stretch their legs!
Grocery store, here we come! I think we scared the workers when we abruptly came in and took over the store with our five separate shopping carts. In our earlier meetings we chose "teams" of three to cook dinner on different nights, so we split up into the dinner groups to get the necessary ingredients for our gourmet feasts to come! Nick and Cara took care of all the other necessities (such as breakfast and lunch...and paying for it) needed for the week. Guess what guys!? We kept it under $400! Which is a little more difficult than you think trying to feed twelve. Which brings us to actually feeding twelve- Cara, Sara, and Dani cooked us a delicious Ta(c)os meal, complete with a choose-your-own-toppings bar. Sitting around the table, silently devouring the delicious fare, we realized how lucky we were to be here in Taos with each other. Peace, love, and tacos.
Grocery store - $400 + hungry tigers + uncooked rice = Great first night in Taos!
Post submitted by: Your favorite English major (Michaela Cohen) and your favorite math major (Nicole Fyten)
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