Toto, We're Not in Texas Anymore (Hello, Kansas!)
Texas Association of Student Special Services Programs (TASSSP) will always be special to DreamCatcher. It was our first conference as business owners and marked the first sales for our company. The positive feedback and response was beyond all expectations. Thank you, Texas TRIO! Ya'll were good to us. But it's time to hit the road to Kansas, and although that road may not be yellow bricked, it's a far shot north to somewhere over the rainbow. We're headed to Topeka for the Kansas Counselor Association conference that starts tomorrow, so it will be a looooooooooooooong day of driving before KCA the next morning. But first, coffee. Pretty sure Starbucks should be our sponsor because countless venti double-shot Americanos and grande breve lattes are in our future. We say goodbye to lovely Galveston with its palm trees and warm Gulf breezes and make our way to Houston for a quick stop at the city's most photographed site, Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park. This 64-foot U-shaped wall of a water (flowing down both the front and back) is a relaxing oasis smack in the middle of concrete-laden Houston. Being early morning, the place is peaceful with nobody around. The rushing water roars like a river rapid, drowning out all city sounds with nary a car honk or dog bark or word to be heard. Just peace. A perfect time to reflect on the previous days at TASSSP and ponder our new life as business owners. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Alright, back on the road!
Eat here! George's...a Waco original.
"Big O" Rings! With a side of ranch. Yummmmmm.
Ever watch that show Fixer Upper on HGTV? Well if you're a fan, then you know all about Magnolia Market in Waco, Texas. Given that Baylor University happens to be in the same city, it's a perfect next stop for our road trip. Perhaps now is a good time to mention our Notes From the Road section on the website? Here we have little snapshots of our travels which include places to eat, shop, visit, and sites in the region as well as overviews of the colleges we visit along the way. We've stuck these little gems in our For Students section. Check 'em out when you get a minute. That particular part of our website also has helpful (and free!) documents and info to assist students. Anyway, back to Waco! We roll into town just in time for lunch at George's, the local hangout for Baylor college students. This restaurant has been around for over 80 years! A Waco original and not to be missed. We grab a seat in the sunshine on the patio and order two of George's specialties: "Big O"onion rings (voted Best of Waco) and the "Chicken Jack" sandwich. Oh, so tasty!
Next up in Waco: a brief tour of Baylor University. See the Notes from the Road section for more deets, but the nutshell about Baylor is that it's a private Christian college founded in 1845 and the oldest continuously operating university in the state of Texas. Students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries attend Baylor, with about 16,000 students enrolled. The Baylor Bears take pride in their athletics and status as a nationally-ranked research institution. Campus is beautiful! The spire of the library, sprawling lawns, blooming flowers, and red brick buildings...like the quintessential university campus. Picture perfect. With an obligatory swing by the football stadium to balance out the academic collegiate feel of campus, we find our way to Magnolia Market! This sweet shop with its old silos next door and proximity to downtown Waco was just as imagined thanks to glimpses of it on HGTV's Fixer Upper. It was hard not to buy one of everything in the store, but we managed to pick up only a few souvenir purchases and get back on the long highway to Topeka.
We drive north on I-35 for over FIVE HOURS straight, through stretches of giant wind turbines in Oklahoma creepily rotating in what appears to be an otherworldly slow-mo landscape. The highlight of this drive: an incredible orange and magenta pink sunset behind the downtown skyline of Oklahoma City. Dark storm clouds in the distance creep into view but don't quite blot out the sunset. The colors streaking the sky were almost too beautiful to seem real, but we're too busy keeping an eye on the expressway to snap a pic. By the time we stop in Edmond, Oklahoma for a quick dinner at Qdoba, exhaustion is our middle name. It must show because while ordering food the Q staff ask if we're "on a road trip or something." Explaining our voyage and the purpose for our business (they asked!), the sweet guys behind the counter take pity on our sad state and give us dinner on the house. Plus, the Q boys seemed rather impressed with the mission of our business, stating that they wished our materials would've been around when they were in high school. Even through our weariness, hearing that little snippet of validation makes our day. Free nachos don't hurt, either. Onward north! Driving late at night through the flat dark abyss that is northern Oklahoma, we finally cross the state line into Kansas, The Sunflower State. Not sure how we stay awake for that last 2+ hour drive to Topeka, but pulling into the hotel parking lot never felt so sweet.
The next morning we check in as exhibitors for the KCA conference. Setting up the booth feels surreal: our first foray into education/counseling events rather than TRIO. Our approach in explaining the DCC materials needs altering somewhat, and setting up shop among college admissions/children's book authors/Sallie Mae college loan tables has us feeling somewhat out of place, but this is prime practice in a smaller setting and there is good traffic in the exhibit hall. The day was a success in terms of exposure, but not sales. At one point a high school principal expresses interest in our materials but admits that school budgets in Kansas have been slashed and any purchases must be approved by the superintendent. We hear similar mentions of zero funding from the many conference attendees stopping by our booth. Most still look over the products, taking cards and order forms. Overall, KCA is a good experience for us, being only our second conference.
Before leaving Topeka, we decide to visit the Kansas State Capitol, which was built in 1903 and happens to be 17 feet higher than the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. While reading the Topeka visitor's guide at our KCA booth, we learn that Kansas is the only state capitol building in the nation where the public can go to the tippy-top of the dome to walk along the outside balcony for a birds-eye view of the city. Um, challenge accepted! To get to the top of the outer dome, you climb from the fifth floor an additional 296 steps to the height of a 7-story building. This requires scaling tiny scaffolding steps with nothing beneath you. Those with a healthy fear of heights should NOT attempt. We cling to the railing with sweaty palms and tummy butterflies thanks to the vertigo-inducing climb. Reaching the door to the outside balcony is a triumph! And the view is... well... ohh-kay? So it's not exactly the most riveting view, being flat-as-a-pancake Kansas, but it was a cool experience nonetheless. Oh, and going back down those many steps? Even more terrifying than up. By the time we reach the bottom, our legs are like jelly. Upon terra firma, we practically sag from relief of surviving the climb and slowly wobble back to the car.
“We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
Last but not least, we make a brief visit to the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, near downtown Topeka at the historic Monroe Elementary School, which houses the park visitor center. Monroe was one of four segregated elementary schools for African Americans in Topeka. This site provides insight into the landmark legal case as well as background for the history of race relations in our country. If you're ever in Topeka, be sure to visit. Something about being inside that old school adds to the emotional impact while watching videos and reading the panels. A must stop.
And alas! After a week on the road (our first travels for DreamCatcher), we are going home and it feels so good. Probably because there's no place like home.