Day 2: Destination goal – Lincoln, Nebraska, 869 miles. This
was rather ambitious but I felt since we would now be driving I-80 East all day
it was doable. On one hand we were helped by a 75 mph speed limit through
Wyoming and Nebraska, on the other hand, crossing from Mountain Time to Central
Time cost us an hour and made the drive feel as long as it was. Not quite the
scenery the West offered, but a bit of interesting traffic keeping up with us. My
only question is, “Why were there Indian River pure Florida Orange Juice trucks
driving east through Wyoming and Nebraska?” Perhaps pure Florida Orange Juice
is a hybrid between California and Florida???
Not too far into Wyoming, we left behind the scenery of the
Rockies. The view was now living up to what folks had said it would be “lots of
nothing.” I don’t totally agree with that assessment but I know what they
meant. I’d have to compare central and eastern Wyoming to the surface of Mars. No signs of life for hundreds of miles and mountains were
becoming hills. It was here that I determined that the official “middle of
nowhere” award should go to Arlington, Wyoming. Not sure why it even has a name
really.
Being a huge college football fan, it was nice to see some
of the “cities” where western colleges are located, but with regard to Laramie,
Wyoming, home of the University of Wyoming…WTF?? I can’t even imagine growing
up or going to school there. The prairie dogs at the truck stop were
interesting to see up close but other than that, not much to see or do I’m
guessing. Officially, Laramie is 41.8 miles from Arlington. Not long after, we
passed through Cheyenne (don’t blink), and then on into Nebraska.
In Nebraska, the hills became plains, fields and a straight-away
that spanned the state. Phil and I pretty much flew down the highway, making
great time (until the pesky time zone change). We stopped once in the afternoon
(North Platte?), the dogs relieved themselves, another McD’s, and probably the
strangest sight we saw on the trip: in the middle of the truck stop-McDonald’s
parking lot sat 3 ducks, on the pavement, not concerned with any of the
vehicles weaving in and out around them. Never flinched, probably still sitting
there. (Sorry no photo.)
By 8:30pm we reached Lincoln. We pulled into the parking lot
and found that this Motel 6 shared a parking lot with “Doctor John’s Lingerie
and Novelty Shop – Open 24 Hours”. 'Nough said, but once
again, 2 dogs, blah, blah, blah…This night did not go as smooth as the first. When
we came to a stop at the motel office, Phil noticed a problem with the vehicle,
the rubber molding was pulling up over the windshield, but after closer
inspection, nothing a little duct tape couldn’t fix in the morning. If the
nearby convenience store didn’t have any I was sure “Doctor John’s” would be
the go to place for duct tape. (The convenience store had some.)
We had driven more than halfway across the USA without
incident but Ray had had enough. He did not care for the room arrangement at
this Motel 6 and he was not shy about letting everyone know. He was spooked by all
of the noises in the hallway outside the room from shutting doors to voices to
footsteps. As the night went on he became
less tolerant and barked a little louder. Art on the other hand, reminded me of
the older sibling who just sighed and looked at Phil to do something about the
racket Ray was causing. Artie was settled in to his dog bed and probably
would’ve accepted some earplugs had I offered them to him. At one point Phil
offered to get me my own room but it was already 1am and I thought there was no
point. I might get a little more sleep but we were due for another 750 miles in
the morning and I would need Phil to drive at least part of it. We would have
to be in this together.
Eventually with more lights on and the bathroom fan running
we got about 5-6 hours sleep. Ray stayed “alert” for the rest of the night;
Phil had invited him up onto his bed which seemed to settle him down a bit.
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