By Aaron Lent

On Sunday we drove from Oklahoma City to Dodge City. We began the day by having a group discussion on health care in America to prepare ourselves for the meetings we have coming up in Denver. We hit the road and drove for about 45 minutes before stopping for lunch. Then we continued the drive and watched the movie “Sicko” about the health care industry. At some point we stopped on the side of the road and just walked around the wide open space that is Kansas and Middle America. It was a sight that many of us city kids have not experienced before.

a quick stop to see the wide open land in the middle of Kansas

making wheat angels in Kansas

Once we got to Dodge City, we went swimming and had free time for a while before we had dinner. After dinner we went to one of the main attractions of Dodge City…the Dairy Queen. When we got back to the hotel one of our staff members, Nat, led a discussion on gay marriage to prepare us for our meeting with the religious right in Denver.

Today we woke up and went to breakfast and hit the road from Dodge City.  It was a bit of a trip but nothing that we can’t handle.  Many people, including myself, were sleeping.  It was a good time to catch up on some of it.  I was woken up for lunch at Subway, another thing that we are use to.  For the rest of the trip we watched a controversial movie about gun control called “Bowling For Columbine.”  This movie was FAR to the left.  We finally got to Colorado and the Second Harvest Food Bank.  We got a tour and some insight into the inner workings of the organization. We also learned some of the disturbing statistics of how many people in the United States are going hungry. Many of us were shocked that a country with so much could have so many in need. They told us that 1 out of every 8 people is food insecure in America. We also learned that they can feed a family for $1 a day at the food bank.

Later we had free time on Denver’s 16th Street Mall.  The area was basically a tourist attraction.  There were a lot of interesting shops and I bought a few souvenirs.  For dinner we went to, in my opinion, the best grill we have ever been to.  I enjoyed the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich for my meal, it was the best I ever had.

Lastly, we went to an amusement park for a few hours.  At first glance the park looked like it was geared towards little children, but after one trip on the drop tower, it was apparent that there was more to it.  I went on a variety of rides and some made me feel sick because of the gravity’s force.  After my stomach settled, I went on the bumper cars for the rest of the time.  I was able to get Nat, one of the staff, to help in the sandwiching of the car of another camper.  We all lost track of time so we had to run to the bus.  By the time we got back to the hotel we were exhausted so we all went to bed, but not me, I had to type this journal.