Day One - the long trek West

Our day began with Pet Palace arriving at 7 am to chauffeur Biz to his home for the next three weeks - their kennel in Germantown Hills. By 7:30 we were on our way, van fully loaded. As most of you know, the drive through Iowa and Nebraska isn't particularly scenic, but we were able to see the remnants of the floods from earlier this summer. Waters were still high in many places and we were amazed to see standing water in Nebraska cornfields. Even saw some cows standing in a muddy field. We enjoyed a picnic lunch somewhere in Iowa and the boys played catch a bit while we reorganized the van.

Dave drove the entire way - afraid that I might fall asleep at the wheel. (I'm going to try to convince him to let me drive tomorrow so he can "relax" with a movie - ha!) We all stayed busy with reading, watching movies, playing Password, and playing the wii. It was so much fun to hear the boys crack up time and time again as they watched Airplane - remember that movie from the 70's? Timeless in its hilarity. After 11 hours on the road, we pulled in to the lovely Ramada Inn in North Platte, Nebraska.

It was obvious from the start that this Ramada would not put us in the lap of luxury, but it was certainly better than the one we visited in Alabama a few years ago. The pool was actually filled and the boys had a swim before going out to eat. Rooms were older, but clean. Air conditioning worked as did the remote control for the TV, so I guess we're one up on the last Ramada visit!

Tomorrow we'll get an early start b/c we have another 10+ hour day in the car. Will finish our tour of Nebraska, head through Wyoming and then down to Salt Lake City. The scenery will be better than today - and it will be our last long day of driving until we head home. The boys can't wait to see the mountains!