Hays

I hated every minute of it… There is no way I’ll ever go back to Hays Kansas…

We were in our early 20’s and driving from Philadelphia to Colorado Springs. Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning we were singing (four of us in the car) to keep the driver awake, and were pulled over for driving too fast, distracted by the straight roads and sleepiness…after trying to sleep in the car at a truck stop, we drove into Hays, got a room and crashed for the night. (In bed, not the car.) That’s all I remember about Hays.

I lived in Hays for my complete high school and college career, so I have mixed feelings about it. I am glad that my parents moved away after I graduated college so now I don’t really have to call it home. But I must admit that I had a good time while I was there and despite the obvious drawbacks, I did find enough open-minded, creative, intelligent people there who became my friends. The college is definitely the best thing about Hays, but there is also a lot of history there with Fort Hays and everything.

I can’t believe Hays is one of the places listed on 43places.com. I can believe that no one has yet selected it as a destination place. The reason I know about it is that I’ve entere the 5 State Photographic Exhibit at the college here a couple times. I’ve also stopped here to spend the night once or twice.