Omaha, Nebraska

Good morning, my friends. We're another state closer to home as I write this. We drove from the Mississippi River to the Missouri River on yesterday's trek. 

It was one of the longer days of driving, made longer when we were nearing our destination and found the interstate closed in the direction we wanted to go. No problem. We went north to turn around and head south on the road we wanted, but found that access closed off too. It meant driving farther north, just to come farther south. The only good thing about this story is that we found relatively cheap diesel at the first turn-around spot. Maybe it was all meant to be.

And here's the other part of this sad story...it requires some explanation. So, we have a combination washer and dryer. It can only wash very small loads, and so keeping up with the laundry requires running the machine almost every day. For this, we need a water and sewer hook-up. I've been looking ahead at places we're staying ever since leaving West Virginia, thinking surely we'd have full hook-ups at the next spot. (We actually did move to a full hook-up site back in Hocking Hills, but only for about half a day. I had time to wash one load there.) Each new destination brought us to yet another site with electricity only. Now, we find ourselves in Omaha. I checked the park's website a few days ago and read these words: "We have 42 full hook-up sites." Perfect. Only, when we got to our reserved site, it was electricity only! Again! 

Well, I was fit to be tied by this time. Yes, they do have 42 full hook-up sites. They also have 42 electric-only sites, and we were in one of them. Making an already too-long story shorter, we were able to work it out with the camp host to get full hook-ups, and so all is well again. Now I've happily done two loads of wash, and I'll do a few more today to get caught up. And I only bring this up to say it was a rough end to a long day. We went out for dinner at a rather upscale restaurant in Omaha. We had the best evening, with the most engaging waiter. It was very therapeutic, and we feel much more relaxed this morning.

So let's get back to yesterday's drive, shall we? As we were hitching up to go, we saw a big tug boat pushing several barges south on the Mississippi River. We'd seen something similar go through the night before, but we could only see its lights after dark. It was fun seeing it in daylight.

Here's a closer look at the tugboat. After having just visited the museum the day before, it was fun to see this in action.

In only just a couple of days, the leaves have changed quite a bit.

It's another reminder to us that we need to be heading for home before snowflakes start flying.

This next image was our last glance of Dubuque as we headed west. We enjoyed our time there. I wish we'd had a little more time to explore the area.

And, right away, we were back into the Land of Barns.

And corn. Lots and lots of corn. I'm hoping this next image can give you some idea what it's like here. We drove miles and miles and miles surrounded by acres and acres and acres of corn fields. In some places the harvest has started.

I can recall from our last drive across Iowa that we saw more barn quilts there than anyplace else.

I regret not getting an in-focus picture of this one.

To make up for the blur, I'm including this photo taken on our last trip through Iowa in 2014.

Okay, so this next one isn't a barn quilt, but it is interesting. It looks as if someone didn't read the instructions for proper orientation of the stripes on the American flag...or maybe the stars are in the wrong place. Either way...that ain't right.

But moving on...more barns.

We stopped at a very fancy rest stop where there were pots of pretty blooming things. 

Eventually, we came to the bridge spanning the Missouri River and the Nebraska state line.

When we were finally set up, the kitties enjoyed their post-travel greet and treats.

Sadie was acting all cutesy, wanting her post-travel snuggles. She was also interested in whatever Smitty was doing.

Smitty was waiting for the catio to open so he could get outside and have a first look at the Nebraska grass...or Negrasska, if you say it in Catonese.

We have today and tonight here before we move along to a new part of the state. Aside from getting caught up on the laundry, we'll be visiting Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium. We've purchased our tickets online, and so we're ready to go. Of course, I'll tell you all about it in tomorrow's post. 

In other news, we needed a part from an appliance store in Omaha so that Mike could finish repairing the convection/microwave oven. It's fixed now, and we're back in business. We'll need to pick up yet another part at an Amazon Hub locker today, and I need to find a post office to mail home a gift to Erik, who has a birthday next week. So there's plenty to keep us busy today. For now, Mike is still sleeping, and I'm going to spend some time on my slow-stitching. I haven't forgotten that I still owe you a better picture of the finished Block #5. Now that I have water and sewer again, I can get busy rinsing out the Sticky Fabri-Solvy. Look for that in tomorrow's post too.