DAY 1

So it's about 10:30pm. I am writing this from a dumpy little Super 8 motel room in Gothenburg, Nebraska, a creepy town with 3 restaurants (1Chinese and 2 Mexican), 2 motels, 1 gas station and no coffee shops of any kind. It's run by this Indian family that used to live on Devon Ave. in Chicago. Small world. Daniel, still pissed after eating the worst "Mexican" food on the planet, asked the guy when we got back: "So, dude, how DID you end up here?" It's a legitimate question, I think. I can't imagine choosing to live here. I'd rather eat hornets.

Daniel and I drove 12 hours straight today and we are both marveling about how easy it was considering we drove straight through 2 of THE most boring states in the U.S.--Iowa and Nebraska! Sweet Mother of God! How do people live in these places?! We saw nothing but corn, cows, corn, farmhouses, horses, corn and lots of semis hauling Jayco popup campers. (According to my future father-in-law, more people are camping again because it's a cheaper way to vacation. He is right.) Anyway, maybe we're just really excited about our vacation, but between the two of us, we drove 6 hours each on and off and we feel OK.

We are having a blast listening to music and driving on the open road. I feel at my best when I'm traveling. I feel comfortable in unfamiliar environment for some reason. Never had a problem with it. I had loaded up the iPod with really good music and just let it play on shuffle all day long. That's when things got a little weird. Like it knew where where we were all the time. I mean, when we passed Merle Hay Hwy, a Merle Haggard song came on and when we passed a place called the Timberlake Lodge, a Justin Timberlake song came on. But the really freaky thing was when we were about 2 miles from the Nebraska border and a song off of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album came on! The iPod had been playing for 5 hours at that point and not a single Springsteen song from that album had played. How did it know we were near Nebraska? That's what I call "woo-woo." And I believe in "woo-woo."

Don't know what it was like in Chicago, but further west, it was hot hot HOT. 98 degrees with a heat index of 103! And super humid. I thought that it was just because we were in a black car with a black interior on a black road that the A/C didn't feel that cool. Nope. The weather was fry-an-egg-on-the-hood-of-your-car hot. I was really excited that our hotel had an indoor swimming pool and and hot tub to soak my stiff bones after being in the car all day. That desire was quickly squashed like the ketchup-and-mustard bugs on our windshield. Daniel pleaded with me not to go saying that any number of terrible things could happen to me like 1) I could catch some terrible skin disease; 2) the bikers down the hall would hit on me; 3) I could accidentally hit my head and drown and no one would be there to save me; 4) I would swim through the pee of all the kids that were in the pool just as we were getting back....and the list goes on. Then he said that if we ever had to stay in a place like this again, he would need to carry a concealed weapon. Yup, this place is that creepy.

I learned something about Daniel today as I seem to do everytime we leave town. He is full of surprises. Like when we went hiking in Tucson and he RAN down the mountain like some sort of goat (Tina and Ray can verify this)! Anyone who knows Dan would probably agree that he typically takes his time doing things; he thinks before he speaks, walks at a leisurely pace and does things in a pretty methodical way most of the time. Until he gets behind the wheel of a car. Then it's trash-talking Dukes of Hazzard time! Heeeeehaaaaawwww! Daniel's idea of cruise control is setting the thing on 75 and intimidating the hell out of any cars that are in the left lane that refuse to move out of his way, all indignant and impatient. I felt like I was dating a cab driver from Naples! Then he'd turn to me and ask every single time, "What the hell is wrong with them? [to other drivers] Move into the right lane if you want to go slow. What's the PROBLEM?" while waving his hand in the air. He actually turned off the air for about 5 minutes in 100-degree weather because the car didn't have good pickup when he was trying to pass others. Then there was the time he very skillfully cut across 2 lanes to avoid missing our exit. Now before anyone (Donald!) gets worried, let me clarify that Daniel is truly a good and careful driver. He may not drive a ton, but he's a natural. I might even add that he almost enjoys it.

We'll be up early tomorrow and on the road to Colorado. Daniel wants to go whitewater rafting somewhere near Pike's Peak. I'm a little afraid of the rafting part but I can't say no to a new adventure, so I'll probably do it if we get the chance. Can't wait to drive through the Rockies.