Now THAT Was A Nice Rest
I had intended to blog, really I did, before getting way, way busy over the last couple of weeks. By hey, you didn't miss much. Most of my time was spent prepping for a big demo but I managed to put that to bed last week. Then it was straight into holiday preparations, accelerated since we decided late in the game to drive to Nebraska. Yep, drive from Seattle to Nebrska...central Nebraska...with a two-year-old.
Actually it turned out fairly well. We left Sunday afternoon after a hasty trip to the auto parts/sporting goods store (yeah, that's what I thought, too) for a Thule cartop carrier. Now that I'm traveling with two women there was no way we were going to stuff ten days worth of luggage into the car's storage compartments. The carrier (a Thule Cascade XT 1500) is a pretty slick unit, it opens and locks from either side and snaps onto the roof rack in a jiffy. I managed to arrange the load so we didn't have to get into it on the road. All our overnight stuff was in the car.
We wanted to get a few miles behind us on Sunday to break up the trip. We made it to Couer D'Alene, Idaho and stayed at the Fairfield Inn just off I-90. On day two we made it to Billings, Montana and stayed at another Fairfield Inn, once again just off I-90. The Fairfields were nice and featured free WiFi Internet access. In Billings I also got to take my wife to Cracker Barrel for the first time. (Those of you from the midwest and south know what I'm talking about. <g>) On day three we dropped down through Casper, Wyoming and then crossed into Nebraska at Scottsbluff where we stayed at the new Hampton Inn in town. They served up a free beer and wine and a tasty breakfast the next day--highly recommended. In the morning we scooted down state roads past Chimney Rock, a famous landmark on the Oregon Trail, and joined up I-80 at Ogalalla. From there in was just a couple hours to Kearney and then north to Pleasanton where my wife's folks live, quite literally on a country dirt road.
All in all it was about 1550 miles. Our daughter tackled it like a champ, thanks to our portable DVD player, stickers, magnets and books. I'm hoping we can make the trip back in three days since I need to leave immediately for Vegas on my return. Until then I'll be enjoying midwest hospitality but sadly that only comes with <gasp> dial-up Internet access. I'll have more to chat about (and provide links to) when I get back home or in Vegas if that's the next time I log on.
In the meantime, Happy Holidays to you and yours. Here's wishing you health, happiness and peace on earth!
