Eastward ho! Day 2
I now know why the Motel 6 in Evanston, Wyoming, is so inexpensive, what with the sexual jumping-jacks in the room above us and the TV noises in the room next to us.
More progress made: 1,541 miles east of Sacramento, 361 songs played, countless rolling hills covered, and two more miserably large states in the rear-view mirror. We left Evanston around 8 am, ate in Fort Bridger, Wyoming, around 9 am, stopped for lunch in Sidney, Nebraska around 3 pm, and finally rolled into Omaha at 10 pm. I was expecting to only make it to Lincoln, so we're making much better time than I thought we would. We have just under 700 miles left to Columbus, but we're expecting a lot more traffic tomorrow as we go through Illinois and Indiana, so we may not make it all the way in one day. We'll give it our best shot, though. But tonight we're relaxing. The PlayStation is hooked up, abigor60 is playing Tekken 5, and the Jack Daniels is flowing. Omaha rocks.
I forgot to mention yesterday that I passed the closest to the annual Burning Man festival that I've ever come. I think we were a couple hundred miles north, but I still feel very alternative.
Wyoming: The Manly State. Cowboy icons, "genuine" Indian paraphernalia, countless fireworks outlets, and porn mega-stores abound throughout this desolate wasteland (which I guess is how the residents of this wasteland entertain themselves). And any state that makes you slow down to 65 miles per hour in a construction zone must have lots of testosterone in the (limited) water supply.
Omaha: The Endless State. 550 miles of flat, grassy fields. I was hoping to see lots of tall corn, but we're here at the wrong time of year. I was also hoping to see Lincoln during the day again, since I remember it fondly from my last time through here, but we got there at about 9 pm. I almost applied to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, but they didn't have any professors I was interested in working with (of course, Ohio State also didn't have anybody that stood out to me, but that's beside the point). Very windy today, though. I'd say it's due to Hurricane Katrina, but I have no basis for that assertion.
Gas update, since I'm sure you're all curious: $2.59 in Fort Bridger, $2.99 in Sidney, and $2.54 in York, Nebraska. There's quite a range of prices along I-80. I don't want to think about the total gas bill I'm wracking up on this trip. But the Pathfinder seems to be getting about 20 miles per gallon, which is a hell of a lot better than I expected.
I also just found out that Batman Begins will be out on DVD October 18. Sweet!
OK, time to pick up a controller and beat the hell out of a computerized Panda Bear!