We left Wisconsin yesterday, early in the morn’. We drove down through Dubuque, Iowa – and despite the very onomatopoeic lilt to the name, it was actually not all that vomit-worthy. Pretty non-descript, really. Jim drove all the way across Iowa, and into Nebraska.
The only thing I know about Nebraska is that in the movie “Gordy,” Omaha is where Gordy the pig’s family is taken away to get slaughtered. For a kid watching the movie, this stamps a very definitive negativity on the place. We actually saw a pig truck pass us on the way into Nebraska, so that didn’t help things. I drove across Nebraska, on I-80. Now, I didn’t exactly have a great time driving on I-90 on the way over, but I-80 is much worse. I was very surprised to discover that people on I-90 don’t drive like Seattle-ites. Nobody stays in the left lane. Ever. Ever ever. You pass, you get back over. Even if you might have to slow down behind someone while someone else takes a while to pass you, you don’t stay in the left lane. It was quite pleasant – despite the 80mph speed limit (which no one pays attention to). People on I-80 are complete assholes. Actually, pretty much everyone driving in Iowa, Nebraska, and S. Wyoming are assholes. I don’t know how many people rode our bumper while we were passing – dozens. As soon as you dared get in the left lane, someone was on your tail. Trucks didn’t change their speed to pass each other, so several times I’d be behind two trucks neck in neck, with two behind me. I gave up when it got dark, and made Jim drive. I can’t take that crap.
After Nebraska was the SE corner of Wyoming. We passed through Cheyenne, and ended up in Fort Collins, CO. Ok, end of complaining about driving. We are headed to Estes Park, and the YMCA of the Rockies to stay for the weekend with Jim’s old business partner, Rob, his wife, Ann, and their two kids!
Anna A. Snook 