My family will be the first to tell you that I have never been one to be away from familiarity for too long. With that being said, we have partaken in our fair sure of the Clark Grizwald Family vacations (if you don't know what I am talking about, you didn't have a childhood worth living). Our latest expedition was an excruciatingly long journey to Colorado. Well, I can tell you, If you have never made the drive from South Carolina to Colorado, you will be in for a real treat. While South Carolina has parts that are considered "the middle of nowhere," people from Colorado and the states between would laugh at our "middle of no where."

Welcome to beef cattle country! From rolling hills to FLAT arid land, the states of Kansas and Missouri contain everything but civilization. That may be a turn off to most people but I think every true American should see this long stretch of I-70 at least once. There is something magical about this land. It calms the soul. I stared out the window waiting for John Wayne to ride his big red horse over the hills.

The rare people who do try to inhabit this land are farmers who work to provide for this country and their families by growing cattle, corn and wheat. Here, there are more trucks than car, more cattle than people, and when the wind blows, the smell of fertilizer is distinct. Grain elevators take the place of sky scrappers, there is one church for every one hundred miles and billboards are used to advertise religious beliefs. These people and this land embody the very essences of the American dream.

So many of us are eager to travel abroad and see the world when we haven't even taken the time to see our own country and appreciate the true beauty it provides.