Travel Day 5: Nebraska.

Nebraska, the "Cornhusker" state.  Named "Ni Bråske" by the Iowa tribe of Sioux Indians, this is the kind of place where you can drive all day and not see another state.  A Triply-Landlocked State, Nebraska is surrounded on all four sides by states that are also landlocked.  It makes me wonder, do Nebraskans know about the oceans?  Can they swim?

Leaving Des Moines early in the morning we were soon treated to the spectacular view of downtown Omaha.  Then Lincoln.  Then... nothing.  Just corn, soy, corn, cattle, and rolling hills, of corn.

Some say the best thing to come out of Nebraska is I-80 West.  Some say Nebraska is "boring".  I say Nebraska is the kind of place where you can drop in behind an 18-Wheeler, set your U-Haul on cruise control, and not have to move a muscle for 3 hours.  It was just what I needed.  Linda was not happy.  She needed coffee, lots of coffee.

Linda managed to find every Starbucks along the route.  This took very little time.  Between Lincoln and Grand Island there are exactly four Starbucks.  She didn't like Nebraska, and over the 10 hour drive she became more aggravated by the lack of stimuli.

While Linda and Jaik stopped repeatedly for coffee, then bathrooms, then coffee again, Laila and I talked about all of the challenges awaiting us in Utah since our travels were getting closer to completion.  This was the beginning of the end.  In a few days we'd be pulling into the apartment complex, unloading, unpacking, and settling in to a new place.

The questions started to roll.  Will it be hard to make friends?  Will the people there like me?  Will the different pollen and allergens bother my asthma?  Could I get new posters for my room?  I went on and on until Laila politely asked me to calm down.  She told me everything would work out and as long as I just kept being myself nothing much would change.  Only the scenery.  She reassured me that I'd adjust to the bigger mountains for skiing in time, and that because of the dry climate my asthma could very possibly get better.  I started to feel like everything was going to be OK.  The drive was calming.  There are no surprises here. It's a place where you know exactly what lies beyond the next gentle rolling hill on the highway. More highway.

Nebraska is an empty, wide open, blank section of canvas on the mural of America.  This is where you can reflect, think, hope, and dream at 85 miles per hour.  The Rocky Mountains are waiting for you over the horizon, a daunting maze of summits and valleys that will test your determination and endurance.  Nebraska is where you prepare.  It's also where you find Oreo Cookie Trucks.

North Platte came into view like a concrete oasis in the golden prairie. Billboards warned us of it's impending arrival.  Slowing down for the exit we coasted into the parking lot of our hotel and listened to the sound of cattle moving through their corrals across the street.  Herded together before their next journey they reminded me of the cars and traffic creeping along the crowded highways back home.  And steak.  So we got steak for dinner, and it was amazing.

The only explanation for this delicious meal that I could speculate was the IBPF, or the "immediate bovine proximity factor."   The cows were right there!  The restaurant is right here!  We even got it to go so we could eat in our hotel room and it was still the most incredible piece of red meat I've ever eaten.  Savory.

Unfortunately for Linda and Jaik, they missed the exit.  In any other state in the U.S. this would mean you'd get off the highway a mile or two later and turn around.  In Nebraska, it means you'll get off the highway an hour or two later and turn around.  This was the last straw for Linda, and for Jaik.  She was done with driving in Nebraska and he was done with driving with mom.

A delicious meal.  A good night sleep.  And a day of driving in no direction but straight for 7 hours.  It was exactly what I needed before the Colorado experience would begin.