I been kicked back in the sand on an Alabama beach
Shut down every bar on Bourbon Street
Colorado on a cloud 9 high
But I’m back in town just for the night
I been out in Nevada, put it all on black
Me and these boots been all over the map
So if she’s asking how I been
Just tell her that’s the state I’m in
– Jason Aldean
Monday 22 August
Left St Louis just after nine o’clock to begin our long trip north and west to Boise, Idaho for the weekend. Basically, as my friend Dave told me, we are following the Oregon Trail west, following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark and other pioneers who left St Louis – the Gateway to the West, hence the arch – and headed west, with all the hardships that entailed.
Stopped in Kansas City for Jimmy Johns – imagine a healthier Subway, with only cold-meat sandwiches that are prepared for you in the blink of an eye – for lunch, and made a couple of short stops over the 6hr 30min drive. We were on the same highway, I70, for two hundred and seven miles before taking I-29 into Iowa. A lot of flat, open road, which, as anyone who has driven around the Midwest, will know is pretty standard.
Arrived in Lincoln, home of the University of Nebraska and the second-biggest city in the state, around five o’clock. We are staying just down the road from Memorial Stadium, where the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers have played football since the early 1900s, and went for a long walk around it to stretch our legs after so many hours on the road.
The pool is closed at the hotel due to what the lady at the front counter called an “accident”, but the way she said it and the way she looked at me made pretty clear someone had done a Number Two in there. Later, we had to move off the sidewalk to allow a guy riding his Harley Davidson to go through. Welcome to Nebraska, I guess.
Memorial Stadium is a 90,000 seat venue that has been sold out for 382 consecutive games, dating right back to 1962, which is pretty incredible especially when you consider they haven’t been a national power since the late 1990s. Dinner was via a recommendation from one of Matt’s clients: we went to Leadbelly’s, a cool pub in the heart of what I guess you could call Lincoln’s restaurant/entertainment area. Good food, and nice to sit outside, watching the world go by. Early to bed tonight. Going to wake up early and go out for some exercise before we hit the road for another big day, ending up – hopefully – in Laramie, Wyoming.
Not many pictures today, as we were on the road.
kitchtrips 