only the Kansas and Oklahoma schools are closer via car than Seattle is via flight.
You're talking Kansas and Oklahoma. Half the state has never even been through airport security, yet ventured further West beyond Colorado.
It's a different world.
Warshington is southern Alaska to midwest folks.
It is a totally a different world. I have way too much family in Kansas and have flown on too many 19 seat propeller planes in to the Northwest section of the state to visit them. My mother had the good fortune of growing up right around 4.5 hours away from Kansas City and Omaha, 4:45 from Denver, 3:30 from Wichita and 3:45 from Lincoln NE. I can get to Europe easier than I can to Kansas.
If someone wants to get out may as well get out to Washington. Praise Allah my mom got out; neither of her siblings did.