Headin' west!

Hello from Sunset Inn, Laramie, WY. Whew - it took four days of driving for us to get here, although Jay thinks (perhaps he is right!) that we are not spending enough time driving. I am already totally sick of the car and ready to run like a mad woman whenever I can explode from the straight-jacket of the car seat.

We had a GREAT time in Chicago visiting friends we made in Indonesia, Anna and Jan. They took us to the top of the John Hancock Tower and we sipped cocktails and marveled at the wonderful views of the city that gave us Barack Obama! A Thai restaurant received our enthusiastic patronage and we relived tales from our trips around SE Asia. We even got some spicy food down our throats and devoured sticky rice with coconut milk and mangoes for dessert. Yum.
Yesterday was spent driving through the rolling hills of Iowa with a stop at a national wildlife refuge to check out some prairie land. It was disappointing to see that their idea of a "wildlife refuge" was so small that we could still see farmland on either side of the "prairie" but it was also wonderful to get out of the car and freeze our butts off on a quick walk.


The bulk of the day today was spent driving the pancake-flat lands of Nebraska, complete with a stop for a brisk walk at Johnson Lake State Park. After finding our mom & pop hotel in Laramie, WY, we ventured out into the town that has a sad history and found a microbrewery called Altitude. Yummy craft beers helped us get over the history of the town and now we think Laramie can still make a name for itself and move on from the past. Beer makes everything better doesn't it?

Johnson Lakes State Park - Nebraska

Heavy Maggie

Sunset in Nebraska (almost Wyoming) - view from the road

Flat farmland in Nebraska.
More photos online at Julie's picasa site....