April 10, 2004

Nebraska!

Waking up in Cheyenne after an evening at the Snake River Pub & Grill, we rolled over, rubbed our eyes, looked out the window, and saw ... SNOW!!! Just like yesterday morning! Kinda reminded us of Groundhog Day. It was 28 degrees and still snowing a bit, but we dusted off, got fired up, and headed east with the mantra, "We will drive out of this." Indeed we did. After crossing into Nebraska, the sun actually came out for a beautiful, but cold, day's drive.

Once on Nebraska's secondary roads, we actually saw more trains than cars. Paralleling our route for many miles were trains loaded mainly with coal, most likely heading for midwestern power plants that pollute our New England air. The amount of coal that we saw being hauled just today, and only the trains we saw, was incredible.

This is what someone would see if he were riding on the right side of the hood of the car, looking in at the passenger compartment.

Here's the Giulietta in front of the Nebraska State Forest. Honestly, this is the Nebraska State Forest - it even has a lookout tower. We were there! Honest. You say it doesn't look like much of a forest? Same here.

The photo below is for Vi. Whenever we travel together, she makes me stop next to some sort of body of water for lunch. Here we are at the edge of the Dismal River (honest) munching on sourdough bread, cheese, and bananas

The photo below is the first attempt at the photo above, except that the wind blew the camera over.

As were driving easterly on Nebraska Route 88, we passed a couple of picturesque geological formations, called Courthouse Rock and Jailhouse Rock. Below is John's view. Note the ice still on the window and the fact that my coat's still on, despite the mighty efforts of the Giulietta's heater (and the sun!).

We ended the day in Wahoo. Honest. Wahoo, Nebraska, not too far from Omaha. Had "dinner" at the Rodeo Keno Bar, the only place still open at 8pm. On Saturday night. Nuff said. Sorry that nothing very exciting happened today, but, well, this is Nebraska. Wait till tomorrow, when we'll do ... Iowa!!!

Culture of the Day

This was tough — Nebraska is one serious state. So the topic today is once again Sculpture. (Well, we think it's sculpture.) We were impressed by this artist's sense of composition and siting. Wouldn't it look great in your front yard? Somebody else's front yard?

Beer of the Day

Since we were in Nebraska, we felt it was only appropriate that we drink a wheat beer, n'est pas? This is the one we chose. Needs lime.

Our Giulietta balked at starting this morning in the damp, snowy, frigid weather. I mean, who could blame her, after the treatment she endured on yesterday? But once she got going, and we drove out of the snow, she became her happy, contented self. The only problem thus far is that the water temperature sender seems to be reporting erratic results, a common Alfa problem.

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