Nebraska - Day Eight- September 27th, 2010

It was an earlier morning than usual due to the fact that we had to go through Denver to get to the only non-toll road that we knew of, and we heard that Denver traffic can get pretty bad in the morning. Using our iPhones we navigated our way to where we thought we should be. We headed east and then all of a sudden the lane that we were in flipped around and said west! We didn’t notice the sign that showed this, or maybe there hadn’t been one. But now we were on a freeway going the opposite way that we wanted to. I had my head down, nose pressed against my phone trying to figure out how to make the correction in direction. Dennis took the first exit that was available and we navigated our way through a round about. AHHH we got out of the round about too soon! Instead of going ¾ of the way through we only went ½ way through. Dennis was every angry that we missed it and took a heavy left! The only thing between us and the on ramp was a 200 foot stretch of barren land. I expected Dennis to flip a U turn and take the paved road back. But NOPE… he decided to surprise me and just drive direct to the ramp. Trailer in tow we were 4x4in’ it to the on ramp. Once on the freeway we were able to find our way to Nebraska.
Now I had never been to Nebraska, and I had no idea what to expect. The only thing that I didn’t expect was SOY! I had no clue how you grow soy, or what soy looks like but if you want to see how Soy is grown go to Nebraska. There is more SOY and Corn than any person would ever want to see. I would say we had a good 6-8 hours of Soy and Corn. Toss a train in the mix and I guess that would sum up Nebraska’s economy?
OK… Ok… Now Nebraska had no lack of excitement. We had decided to get off of the main freeway and take a more scenic route. It hadn’t added any more time onto our drive so why not enjoy what there is to see. There were lots of trains, and the normal things that I had imagined would be in an area like this. It reminded me of wizard of oz… minus the yellow brick road, lions, tin men, and flying monkeys. I guess I didn’t see any lollipop kids either but that is all beside the point. There were silohs like I had seen in cartoons. And old houses that were about to fall over but still looked great in the yellow fields. All of these sites were great until we were about 100 feet from a rail road crossing and the lights were flashing but the bars didn’t come down. I know that in Alaska all of the railroad crossings have the big white flashing arms that come down. NOT IN NEBRASKA! There were NO ARMS and we were still going about 50 miles an hour! Dennis floored it as we heard the train honk its horn loudly to our right. AHHH… we crossed the track and not too far behind us was TRAIN. Whew… Dennis and I both looked at each other. “NO Things” Dennis said with his eyes wide open. I wasn’t even sure what to say. I had just experienced my first close call with a train. Although it wasn’t as close as it felt in that moment. I still learned a lesson! Flashing red lights can happen with “no things” coming down.
Not too much further down the road we made a pit stop at a rest area. Dennis was using the facilities so I went for a walk to stretch my legs. There was a cute little path that meandered through the grass and had random plaques of information. I skipped down the path absentmindedly (as usual) until I looked down and there were bugs everywhere. They would jump just seconds before my feet would land. I have never been a big fan of the creepy or the crawly and here I was, all alone on a windy path of creepy crawly insects. I paused for a moment and held completely still trying to analyze the situation. Then I heard something that resembled a baby rattle. I started screaming and did some sort of dance that resembled the running man and then hauled butt back to the car. After slamming the car door closed I figured out that there were a TON of grasshoppers on the path and the rattle had not been the snake that I had suspected but instead the noise that a grasshopper or cricket would make. I immediately called my parents to tell them of my experience.
The whole purpose of driving through Nebraska was to go see my Aunt Conny and Uncle Doug. I had always seen pictures of her home and heard stories of turkeys and bunnies and other random animals that had made appearances at her house. I was excited to see what her life was and if the picture I had painted in my mind was accurate.
Conny had sent me a map and some directions how to get to her house so there were no issues with finding the place. Doug had just happened to be in the yard which confirmed that we were in the correct place. The yard was perfect for the place they lived, different grasses and large shade trees. They had small sculptures all over the places welcoming people. The front of their house looked out on a field of soy beans and each side was surrounded in fields of corn. The grass was perfectly mowed and everything had its place.
I had never seen corn growing before. So of course I wanted to go and check it out. Neat rows of corn stalk lined the road, I would say they were about a foot apart. Each stalk had 2-5 corn husks on it. When I took a peek inside of the corn it wasn’t the type of corn that I would usually eat. The kernels were hard and didn’t look edible in the slightest. Conny later explained to me that this type of corn was used to make ethanol for gas and she might have said animal feed. I don’t remember now.
We got the full tour of the house, the yard, the shop, and the trailer. The house was much larger than it looked from the outside. I was happy to see many pictures of our family displayed through out the house. Dennis and I had our own bedroom right across the hall from Conny and Doug's room. My favorite part of Conny’s house was the stuffed animal room. One room of the house, I think it was for crafting, had stuffed animals everywhere. Not excessive, but tastefully placed throughout the room. I have always loved my stuffed animals so I was attracted to that room like a moth to light.
Dinner was served and we happily gobbled everything that was placed in front of us. Dennis of course was instantly attracted to the bread. Conny had prebuttered the bread, which was unexpected by Dennis. Now I get the constant request of “Do it like Aunt Conny” when I start to heat any bread. Although I still haven’t figured out exactly how she does it! I prebutter, wrap in foil and then heat and my butter never melts!
The night concluded with us all sitting in the living room telling stories. It was so wonderful to finally get to see the house that I had always heard of, but Dennis and I were much too tired to stay up late, so off to bed we went. I am sure that Conny and Doug stayed up at least an hour or two later than us. But I guess we have aged more quickly than normal people (we go to bed around 8 every night!).