Prime Rib in Omaha!

Distance traveled: 630 miles (2 day total: 1620 miles)
Time in transit: 10 hrs 10 min

After sleeping in a bit, we hit the road to Omaha Saturday morning. We had to make it through the rest of Indiana,Illinois, and Iowa, before crossing over to Nebraska.

Alyson has made it a point to take a picture of every state welcome sign on our travels, and Nebraska was no exception, except for the fact that she missed it the first time around. She claims it was due to the sun glare or something, but our second attempt around (yes, we drove back

into Iowa and around to re-enter Nebraska) was a bit better (at least we captured the sign).

Iowa was filled with windmills... lots of them, and the hills are a bit more abundant than we expected though Illinois was almost 100% FLAT.

So by 6 PM we made it to the great state of Nebraska. One of the best parts of the day was the time change, so we got an extra hour to get here, AND they are on the western edge of the time zone here, so the sun doesn't set until well after 9 PM.

Our first night here, we went to Farmer Brown's for dinner, and let me tell you, I have never had prime rib like we did there. Of course, beef is the specialty out here and I can see why. We waited over an hour to be seated, but it was worth every minute of it. The restaurant is a bit off the beaten path, only known by the locals in the area, but if you ever make it to Omaha, be sure to check it out.

Also, did I mention that we're in TORNADO country!? I don't think we are going to get to see one, which I am kind of disappointed about, but we did have several thunderstorms roll in overnight and it will hopefully get rid of some of the muggy weather. Today, perhaps visiting the zoo, and some of downtown Omaha!

-Dave

We left for Omaha yesterday morning (a little bit of a late start, but much needed as I didn't sleep at all on the ride!) I also drove another 200 miles yesterday, without stalling : ) The ride to Nebraska was so beautiful, minus the deer head and other roadkill on the side of the road.

I experienced my first time zone change, which was so neat! It's cool waking up an hour later..but I guess not when I'm going to bed at the same time...still pretty cool anyways. Iowa was definitely my favorite state with all of its flat farms, windmills, and lots of green. We actually saw the arms (are they called arms?) of a windmill on a bed of a truck when we passed a truck stop. Boy, they are huge up close!

Nebraska is quite a place to stay, especially when there are thunderstorms. You can see for miles (again, Dave was in his glory!). Diane's place is so nice too (the lady we are staying with). Her house is on the top of a hill so you can see the lightning off in the distance. There is also a tornado siren at the end of her street! Dinner last night was absolutely amazing (prime rib), and the portions were so big, I had to bring a bunch home.

Yesterday was a great day, and I am sooo excited to be out west. The scenery in person is so much better than any picture could ever take. Today we get to go to the zoo (Diane said there are monkeys, and lemurs, and gorillas, oh my!)

-Alyson

PS- Dave and I got pillows last night, so camping Monday night won't be as bad as I anticipate.