Nebraska/Iowa

Nebraska was different than I thought. I was expecting to see corn fields upon corn fields and boring terrain. It was actually very green with lots of trees right up to the road. There were also lots of swampy ponds which probably explains the turtle that was crossing the road! We also saw tons of deer and something else which could have been a marmot. Our stay at the "entertainment capital" was short and uneventful. We arrived sometime after 9 pm and the onsite restaurant had closed so Nick dropped us off at the hotel and came back with fast food. I'm really looking forward to a real meal, I can't tell you how sick of fast food or fried food I am. So, about the "entertainment" part....this hotel had an indoor pool and an attached tiki bar. I took Andrew swimming and he loved it.

Our plan was to be on the road by 9 am but I guess when you have kids nothing goes according to plan. It was 10:30 that we finally took off. We went through Omaha and Des Moines, Iowa and all the way to Iowa City where we're staying now. Iowa is much like Nebraska but has more hills. Nick pointed out that the rivers here look different in that the trees go right up to the water's edge rather than having a bank. We arrived somewhat early yesterday, around 5. We were starving so we just ate at the restaurant here at the hotel. Only problem was that all the options were fried and greasy. They even fry macaroni & cheese. Andrew ended up having a complete meltdown at the table because the waitress didn't bring him juice when she brought our drinks out. Poor little guy. Nick ended up taking him back to the hotel room before our food was ready so I got it all boxed up and took it back to our room. I think the kids have hit their traveling cut-off point. They're done. I can't blame them, but unfortunately we still have 1000 miles to go. So we're supposed to arrive on Saturday (tomorrow) which means that we need to drive 500 miles today and 500 miles tomorrow. We'll go through Illinois today and maybe Indiana and part of Ohio.